|
The Applicant originally purchased the property, and he went to the County Planning
<br />Department with an agricultural base commercial—to get an agricultural based commercial
<br />operation certification, and based on ag land, that's something that you can do, and you can
<br />basically sell a majority of ag products. Due to the fact that he sold various products that didn't
<br />quite fit that criteria i.e. like a, you know, a herbicide or, you know, dog food, it didn't quite
<br />match up. When he originally purchased the property, he thought that he would be able to do
<br />that and get in, you know, have his business there.
<br />I think it's very important to understand that this application is primarily agriculture in nature.
<br />It's being deemed a commercial operation which by right, it is, but it's agricultural based, a
<br />commercial operation that's needed on ag land. And, if he didn't sell a few of these things that
<br />are needed in the community—dog wormers, cat wormers, dog food, etc., he'd be able to operate
<br />there just under ag without needing a Special Permit. So, Mr. Quinn bought the land went in
<br />there thinking he could get the agriculture operation certification done. Basically, it got said no
<br />you can't do that and the only way to do it is by way of a Special Permit. He contacted me, we
<br />talked about it. We realized that the location of this area does have some challenges. If he was
<br />going to be doing a convenience store, we would not be sitting here, but because this is primarily
<br />ag based, we're here to make our argument, and we have some people here that have a long
<br />history and knowledge of the Pahoa area, the community development plan, and they will be
<br />able to share some of their insight. But, before we get into more of the details on it, I'd like to
<br />have Mr. Quinn tell his story. Mr. Quinn?
<br />QUINN: Mr. Chairman and the Commission, thank you very much for this opportunity. My
<br />name is William Quinn. I've been in Hawaii for 45 years, married for 43, four children ranging
<br />in ages from 27 to 42, 8 grandchildren. I currently work at Pahoa Feed & Fertilizer. We are a
<br />small family owned and operated business with seven employees. We have been serving this
<br />community for the past 19 years, and it has been a privilege and an honor for our family to serve
<br />the community. We served the community through the housing crisis and recession. We served
<br />the community through 2014's lava flow, and we're still serving the community through May's
<br />lava flow.
<br />Fifty percent of our business is a nursery; fifty percent is retail. I don't know if you folks have a
<br />list of our nursery items, but it is kind of extensive. On November 2nd, I received some
<br />documents from the Planning Department. There are a few issues in this document that I would
<br />like to clarify.
<br />First of all, on page 1, under Findings of Fact, item 1, the first paragraph, they forgot to mention
<br />that 400 feet southwest of the parcel, there is a traffic light which is located near the Pahoa High
<br />School at an intersection that has been controlled by this traffic light for the traffic flow. On
<br />page 2, hours of operation. I just now let Zendo know that we will close on Sunday. Item
<br />number 6 supporting information, the Ogasawara family and the Hoota family are not involved
<br />in this project. It is our family solely.
<br />Planning Department Exhibit 4. We received a letter from the Department of Transportation on
<br />Punchbowl Street in Honolulu. In the first paragraph, it is noted that 45 miles and 55 miles is the
<br />speed limit posted on the Pahoa Bypass. The Pahoa Bypass section of road that's in question
<br />EXHIBIT E
<br />7
<br />
|