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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0314.011 2020-2022 August 1. 2U21: UPDATED WRITTEN TESTIMONY ON August 2, 2021 Dear County of Hawaii Council Members, County Commissioner and County Committee, Aloha, myname i9 Kiyoko /MOrOOUe\ N8DDi. born and raised iOHO1U@]oa. Kona, H| (District 88. | 8nna3rd generation community member 0fH0|UakJ8. Kona, 8child OfKona coffee farmers, proud ofour heritage and decades ofliving inrural HO|ua|O8. Over the decades, many changes have occurred to our lovely Kona, county-wide,particularly, District 8 and []iEthCt 7. being of the greatest CODCeOl to One. I herewith give my written testimony for both Bill 52 and Bill 53, in this one document, as both bills pertain to the lot purchased by the Wards who, in both bills are aiming for land development of the 3.99 acreage they purchased a year and a half ago, per their statement at the July 28, 2O21County Council Committee also attended byLand Planning committee member, Jeff ' � Darryl, John Pipin and applicants of Bill 52 and 53, Tim and Kay Ward at this online meeting, chaired byCouncil Member, Ashley Ni8rkievviCZ. Item 1, Bill 52 Ustrongly oppose the bill's purpose iochange the lot purchased bxThe Wards ofNebraska, from 3ghouKun8 to urban status for the fOUDvvng reasons: w Keep 8g |@Dd as ag land, preserve more Open Sp8C8e for better future usage. • Give @ bigger voice to the |oC@| people Of Havv8ii, bO[O and raised here and not to off island |8Od owners who are most OfteD. part-time residents with intentions far less ideal towards the |Vc8| iS|@Dd c0nn[DUDiiy. who are very hard-pressed to DvVD or rent a home. w The 3.39 acre |0t purchased by the VV@PdS' as other pieces of land in this location is on sloping downward land and | feel the raking and scraping away of the flora' fauna, trees and shrubs OD it will eSC8|at0 flowing water damage from heavy [8inf8|| [D8uko of the lot, which Often travels rapidly all the way down tOVvaPdS the n8@St|ine. and negatively affect our 8qUifinr/grOund Vv8to[ system with adverse result to Our already fragile ecosystem. Item 2, Bill 53 U strongly oppose this bill which provisions are set to divide the one lot into G lots, for the purpose of providing 'affordable houSin8', which incidentally was not o|e8dy defined by applicant Kay VV8nd when asked by Council nleOob8[' HO|ek3 Inaba and further questioned by Council Member Rebecca Vi||eg8S and COnCu[F8d by Council Member Aaron Chung.. • In listening to every individual at the July 28 2021 Hawaii County Council meeting, it is my feeling and obS8n/@DC8 of the diSCUSSioDS regarding both bi||S, and the body |8Ogu8OS of John Pippin' Jeff Oe[ry| and especially Kay Ward, that it remains unlikely that good result will nnateri8|ize, should a motion carry forward to subdivide this property. m | @nl COOCe[Ded with the un-affordable housing market for |OO@| people in Kona, which SoenOs only affordable to outsiders, SO many who pu[Ch@S8 |GDd Sight unseen and in Comm. No. 3m 01 Ref. T Ref. Date AUG ] i cash. Council members, Land Planning Commission members, what about our own people, who can't meet the loan requirements to purchase a home and which they often see have been snatched away by a cash purchase. • At the May 20 Leeward Planning Commission meeting, Kay Ward was quoted in West Hawaii Todaynewsparer to say, "We want to be good neighbors and good stewards". And yet, at the July 28 2021 Council meeting, Council member Holeka Inaba mentioned that the average hard working person here is not able to get a place in Hawaii and we need to be mindful of that as we all have value and love to own land, most people here cannot afford it. So, when the opportunity presents itself, like this, I think we can have fruitful discussion and I'll be asking for this postponement. • The fact that Council Chair Ashley Kierkiewicz mentioned at this same meeting at closure that she was glad Jeff Darryl brought up our role which is to make a determination on what is or isn't the proper use on the matter before Council and wants to make certain this is continuously guiding our work and often times what infrastructure assets exists or don't really begin to hone in what is prescribed what is doable on the property. She also voiced to Planning Commission, Jeff, if we could begin to build into these ordinances some sort of accountability around filing of annual reports or something of that nature because oftentimes we pass these ordinances and don't know what happens unless there is a request that is coming back before this body such as a time extension or a rezone. She wants to request that this be part of the discussion, potentially that Mr. Inaba will be having with the applicant. This is a new level of transparency I highly recommend, as well. • Questionable and disdainful to me is the unclear answer given by Jeff Darryl to Council member Holeka Inaba when he was questioned about Leeward Planning Commission Director, Zendo Kerns' connection with this project, being that he has a relationship with the applicants. Jeff Darryl's response was very revealing in unseemly professional relationships that can adversely affect the outcome of Bill 53, particularly if both Council and Planning Commission's deep understanding of their kuleana to the people of Hawaii is to be of public service for the good of the people, and not to swerve to the machinations of off island people seeking to make a profit, and may even turn around and sell off some of the 6 lots within a short time to other off islanders, the only ones who can afford the climbing cost of housing in Kona. • Lastly I have this to add. I want to mention and praise the brave words from Council member, Rebecca Villegas, who eloquently said to a response to someone who said to her, "Hey, so you're in politics, and I like to say, no, I'm in public service. Rebecca went on to say the definition of politics is actually the science of government, but we have accidentally gotten to this point where the term politics becomes a disclaimer for the shucking and jiving and the backroom deals so we'll ignore that and we'll give you this or how about the other, but when we look at the overall broad spectrum of the needs of the community (I myself, reiterate community) to me it doesn't necessarily mean perpetuating this capitalist society. . . we live in a free country, this could be contested whether .hmm.. Hawaii, I'm going to digress here, I just find some real concerns on the issues related to this property, to the purchase, to it, in 1 year or 10 years of any amount of time just turning into another big investment, where somebody comes in, you know, subdivides, build 6 homes, umm, the avoidance of utilizing and creating 7 lots to use all 7 water credits in order to not having to put in the infrastructure required with 6 versus 7, concerns me. WELL THIS CONCERNS ME, TOO.