Comm No 0021.001 - Testimony - CA-7 - PONC fund and Maintenance fund

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//141111)'' .f,3 01111111N III3 0 //141111111,„1111) 1113 rad 112 J),1 "'haII BJP Consulting yIr°o IP°off IIs,��IIIh, /,'uce r'haIIr Hawaiian Electric Dr„ lgo IIIIIC Iru°o lru°o h,�r, G �Il rasa 11 l Molokai General Hospital StaInford S„ Carr Stanford Carr Development I H� Ih li it°off IIa,a, a rte Karat_ o ka Aina School Kamehameha Schools Steve IIK.eIIII'/' James Campbell Company LLC Mark 11„„.IIInscott Kaiser Permanente Pulama Lana`i �a°lalru°o�asalr°oa°la „ r°Mean Farmer, Rancher, Landowner Gregory ll° c; II„IiePr,;,;;.r;;IPri Pietsch Properties LLC Ih;lilra�h,lilr°o II'°��asalr°o�a,ia NAVFAC Pacific Gregg °4"'ragaIr 1 Morgan Stanley fOr II;I1II'°oa°ll.Ily Howard Hughes Corp. Tom II'°Iree acre Conservationist Alicll'riae `u;, `u;,p1IIa Iilr°off)! Michael Spalding Realty C 1roI Author THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND'S TESTIMONY IN OPPOSITION TO COMM. NO. 21 TRANSMITTING CA -7 FOR INITIAL APPROVAL; PROPOSAL TO AMEND SECTION 10-15 AND SECTION 10-16, BY REPEALING AND REPLACING PROVISIONS FOR THE PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION FUND AND MAINTENANCE FUND, RESPECTIVELY, AS SUBMITTED BY COMMISSIONER HAMANO HAWAII COUNTY CHARTER COMMISSION 1:30 P.M., NOVEMBER 9, 2018 WEST HAWAII CIVIC CENTER Aloha Chair Adams and Commission Members: The Trust for Public Land, in general, opposes advancing CA -7 for initial approval. The Trust for Public Land was originally involved in and supported the creation of the PONC fund through its 501(c)(4) organization, the Conservation Campaign. The Trust for Public Land thanks the staff of the PONC 2% fund and the volunteers who serve on the PONC Commission for their hard work in advancing the wishes of the voters of Hawaii County who voted for the 2% Fund. We appreciate the work of the Ad Hoc Committee in reviewing Charter provisions that established the 2% fund, but recommend that more work and analysis be completed — interviewing the staff of the 2% fund, the volunteers of the PONC commission, the groups who have applied is maintenance/management funding, and other stakeholders with special expertise in land conservation such as The Trust for Public Land, The Nature Conservancy, and The Hawaiian Islands Land Trust. As discussed below, The Trust for Public Land in general opposes initial approval of CA - 7. Specifically, • The Trust for Public Land opposes reductions to land acquisition fund amount and opposes capping the amount. Land is very expensive in Hawai'i and where opportunities arise where land that the community wants to preserve is available for sale, the County needs to be prepared to act. If the fund's balances had not built up, it would never have been able to purchase the seven Kaiholena parcels in North Kohaala for $10.5 million. The Trust for Public Land works with conservation partners throughout the nation to conserve land. A steady source of funding is necessary to build up sufficient capital to quickly move on significant properties that the community wants to protect. We know from working with Kaua'i County, which has a lower percentage for its open space fund, that it takes many years for the fund to build up enough money to purchase land or contribute to a purchase of land that the community wants very badly to preserve. Landowners are not willing to wait for the fund's reserves to build up and opportunities for conservation have been lost. The Trust for Public Land also understands that there are competing budgetary priorities. There will always be competing budget priorities. But the voters in Hawai'i County have repeatedly re -affirmed that land protection and conservation is a very high priority for them. Comm. No. 21.1