HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0044.119 2020-2022 COMMA I
Mayor-elect Mitch Roth and Maile David, Chair, Hawaii County Council
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November 28, 2020
COUNTY CLERK
coUNTY ,OF HAWAIII
Re: Zendo KernRECEIVED
Time 10.0ayn,
Aloha Mayor-elect Roth and Ms. David,
Date JAN 1. 4 2021
First of all, congratulations on your recent elections! However, we are writing to you at
this time to express our concerns as to Mayor-elect Roth's decision to appoint Zendo Kern to
head the Hawaii County Planning Department. We would like to provide you with the
reasoning for our concerns,
We are full time residents in Kohala Ranch, which is located in the Agricultural district,
and have lived in the Ranch long term. We decided to locate here because we wanted to live
in a quiet rural residential community. One of us also operates a substantial agricultural
business in Kohala Ranch. Unfortunately, during recent years (and prior to Covid) we have
had significant problems with an influx of Short Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs) into Kohala
Ranch. As you know, this has been a big problem for many other residential communities on
the Big Island as well. In our community, we have repeatedly been disturbed by noisy and
inconsiderate vacation renters who generally do not care about the concerns of the neighbors
and who are usually in vacation mode with lots of noise and light pollution coming from large
resort-style homes with numerous occupants.Also, the owners of these properties have often
been unresponsive to the concerns of the neighbors. Thus, we were initially relieved when
Hawaii County enacted Ordinance 18-114(Bill 108) in April 2019 which does not allow STVRs
in Ag-zoned lands such as Kohala Ranch without a Nonconforming Use Certificate (NUC).
Some of the STVR owners in Kohala Ranch (and elsewhere) subsequently applied for NUCs
but they were denied by the County.
This brings us to Zendo Kern. A group of ten STVR owners in Kohala Ranch (and at least
50 other individuals or trust entities on the Big Island) hired Mr. Kern as a consultantflobbyist
to advocate for them in an effort to enable them to continue to pursue their STVR activities.
As the representative of those property owners, Mr. Kern submitted their initial NUC
applications. The subsequent NUC denials were then appealed by Mr. Kern and as of this
time, those appeals have been stayed and have yet to be heard by the County Board of
Appeals. In the interim, the current Director of the Planning Department of the County of
Hawaii, Michael Yee, and members of his Department successfully argued their case before
the State Land Use Commission and confirmed that STVRs are not a permitted use in the
Ag-district and pursuant to HRS 205 (LUC case DR20-69). The LUC decision was unanimous.
Thus, based on his representation of a number of clients seeking a NUC within the
Agricultural district, including at least ten owners of properties within Kohala Ranch who do
not even reside in the state, we believe that Mr. Kern, if he were to be confirmed as the
Planning Director, would have a very substantial conflict of interest in this matter. This is
because his efforts in this matter have been in direct opposition to the efforts of the current
Planning Director, who has been the prime mover in bringing about the disallowance of
STVRs outside of resort-specific zoning. 4u-M
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Ref.Date .. ,_.__.
Therefore, we would urge your support in enforcing Ordinance 18-114. While we do
recognize that otherMi6s 'qualified individuals such as Mr. Kern may have had business
relationships in the past that posed conflicts of interest, we feel it is essential that if confirmed
as the new Planning Director Mr. Kern acts totally impartially and complies fully with current
State and County law-as-it pertains to the issue of STVRs. For your information, the Board of
Appeals STVR/NUC cases that have been stayed and that are especially of concern to us in
this regard are cases NUC 19-1568 through 1576 and NUC 19-1765.
We would be pleased to discuss this further and would be available to meet with you at your
convenience if you would care to do so.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
J I-XI
Stephen Bell
Kamuela, Hl 96743
Email: : l et rv�`;dai rs,la? 3 rt,yW`s�;corn
Lynn Krieger
Kamueia, Hl 96743
Email: lynnekrieger@gmail.com
Peter Eising
Kamuela, HI 96743
Email: pesing@aol.com