HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0050.013 2020-2022f '
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Cct ti l Y ,L V ERKen Melrose COMI1.,50
CO S i 1 Y O4nF•h
Kealakekua, HI 96750
717.1 AN 29 WI 45
E-Mail: kencprimavera.farm
January 29, 2021
TO: Hawaii County Council
Subject: Support for Palamanui
My name is Ken Melrose, resident of Kealakekua.
I support the Palamanui project and ask you to approve their pending application for
amendments to their existing Project District zoning.
The proposed new housing will add to much needed inventory in an under supplied
Kona housing market. Current sales price escalations are the result of a lack of
new supply coming into the housing pipeline.
Palamanui has done much to develop infrastructure to serve both its needs and those
of the University. Access Road, water service with fire flow and connectivity cabling are
part of their investments in the successful opening of the West Hawaii campus. The
University is at the end of the road and lacks a sense of community and surrounding
support services that Palamanui has always been intended to provide.
The zoning.for Palamanui was approved before the Kona CDP was adopted and the
site was designated as a TOD on the KCDP land use maps. The developer has worked
to adjust its plans to mesh with the "draft" Village Design Guidelines. Those guidelines
were intended to evolve over time as the template of a national standard was adapted
to the unique conditions of Kona and the sense of community envisioned by, each
project. Only a couple of the designated TODs have single ownership title, like
Palamanui, which make the guidelines implementable.
The realities of the cyclical and shallow market in Kona necessitate the phased
implementation of projects, with infrastructure staged to serve each phase and
positioned to integrate to future phases and broader community needs. Palamanui has
done a good job of figuring that puzzle out. Absent substantial investment by the
County to extend and oversize infrastructure, the County has relied on individual
projects to carry the load. The Kona CDP intended for this historical trend to be
supplanted.by a regional infrastructure financing plan that the County has so far failed
to adopt. The infrastructure Palamanui has committed to providing meshes with the
regional networks and creates substantial benefits to the Kona region. This project
should have your support.
Please vote to approve this application.
pp Pp
Respectfully Submitted,
Ken SO Melrose .`
Former Chair of the Kona CDP Steering and Action Committees comm. No.
Ref.To:
Ref. Date FEB - 2 2021