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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0314.027 2020-2022 60162 From: Jaime Sent: Monday, August 16, 2021 10:28 AM To: Council Testimony Subject: Written testimony re: bill 52 and 53 j August 16, 2021 Aloha County Council Planning Committee, My name is Jaime Funakoshi and I oppose Bill 52 and 53, the re designation and rezoning of TMK 3-7,3-005.015. I share a boundary with this property and have seen it go through the first out of state developer who took a bulldozer to it and destroyed most of the archaeological sites on the property. I am now seeing another out of state developer trying to build a subdivision with total disregard for the community, our culture, and the land. First I would like to start by saying that this property is vertically inline with Kona Acres. It will use Kona Acres as an entrance and exit to its subdivision. It will connect its utilities to Kona Acres. Kona Acres is a subdivision that consists of one acre or more ag properties. The people in this community purchased their land going back 50 years knowing that they are building an ag community. Yes, there are small family farms in Kona Acres. I've heard so much opinion over the soil and the lack of small urban ag farms here but the fact is, if you don't live here or deal with these farms then you can't know the truth. Our neighbors and ourselves sell fruits, vegetables, and flowers to restaurants you've probably eaten at, farmers markets you've probably shopped at (yes some farm stands also buy produce from other local farmers for their own stands), flower shops you may have purchased from, and grocery stores you shop at like KTA (if you've bought local fruit from there you may have bought some from our neighborhood.) We may not have rows and rows of lettuce but that is NOT the only form of farming there is! There are avocado, maenuts, lychee, lemon, lime, oranges, protea, honey and more. Everyone talks about sustainability so I ask you as Council members are you willing to help us become more sustainable? We rely too heavily on shipments from the mainland. As seen during covid it can stop for any reason. What happens then? When we fill all our ag lands with residential housing and take away small ag farms? We will rely only on huge farms in areas like waimea who are susceptible to drought and fire as we are seeing now, disease, and pests? We need both diversity and sustainability. Next I would like to address that before the Leeward Planning Commission meeting, the neighbors and I requested and met with John Pipan. During this meeting not once did he mention affordable housing. In fact when asked directly what the Ward's intentions were for this property he said it was an investment property, meaning real estate purchased with the intent to make money. He also stated it is was ripe for development. He in fact made reference to it NOT being affordable housing. I gave him the name of a Maui developer who has been really successful at creating affordable housing developments for the residents there hoping one day he will change his heart. During the Leeward Planning Commission meeting there was no talk of affordable housing either. Not one word. I was shocked to hear the term affordable used during the last Council Committee meeting. When asked what affordable means to them not one answer could be given. No paperwork was brought in. Now, the developers have stated to Councilman Inaba that if they don't get this rezoning and Ohana they will build a "monster house". No matter which way you look at it this statement was clearly meant to threaten the community and the council. In response to their Ohana, an Ohana only serves to increase their income. This goes against the recommendation of the leeward planning commission who decided on the condition of no chanas to mitigate traffic and short term rentals in an already inundated area. One of the commission members is a resident of the area and drives it daily. He recognized the impact this subdivision will have on our community immediately. If you know the area you are definitely aware of the struggles we deal with daily. Comm. No. lbA- 1 Ref.To:_�I Lb 1AA Gl Ref. Date AUG1 8 2021 There would be no possible way to regulate what happens in an Ohana. Vacation rentals are the main reason why we have no long term rentals on this island. Ohanas are prime vacation rentals and are rarely used for anything else. Vacation rentals on this island are not regulated like they are on Kaua'i and Maui. Try to find a vacation rental on those islands in a residential area. It's rare and/or non existent. They exist mostly in resort areas. I strongly believe if we care about our local residents who are hurting for long term rentals something must be done regarding the issue of vacation rentals. The archaeological sites on the property were also an issue that the leeward planning commission decided on. The reason I bring this up is not only to show the character of these developers but also the importance of being diligent in regards to rezoning apps that come in to the planning department. There is an existing Preservation Plan that had been accepted by SHPD and in place since 2016. The Ward's purchased the property knowing there was a preservation plan (in the deed). Pipan also knowing there was a plan tried to pretend it didn't exist and attempted to get away with data recovery so they could bulldoze over the sites and build their money-making homes. Basically they would like you to believe they offered graciously to protect the archaeological sites. However they were actually forced to comply with the accepted preservation plan during the commission meeting. If you watched the meeting it's clear preservation was not their intention nor their desire. Right before the commission meeting, our community came out and signed up to testify. I got a call from Pipan who offered traffic safety measures for our neighborhood in exchange for pulling my testimony and supporting their project. In doing this it would force the to choose between traffic safety for my neighbors and the archeological sites. This left me with a bad feeling that I still cannot believe seems accepted as a norm. I ask the council, are you okay with this kind of treatment of our community members from outside developers? Will we perpetually allow this to happen to our residents not only in Kona but across the island? What precedent does this set going forward? Who will hold these developers accountable for their actions with regard to our culture, land, and communities they know or care nothing about? How can we keep people accountable for responsible development? The leeward planning commission spent a lot of time discussing this development and came up with solutions that would mitigate numerous issues. Instead of being satisfied and respecting the decisions, these developers felt the need to once again ask for more so they can make more money. What was previously a typical money making real estate investment then turned into a manipulation for the much bigger issue of affordable housing which I believe further disrespects our community. There are people in our community hurting right now because of the issue of affordable housing and to throw around this word with no intention to actually execute it is underhanded. In the end, this development will not solve the housing crisis. It will harm it further by creating more inventory for the wealthy to move to Hawaii which will in turn increase ever growing housing prices. Hardworking local people in our community (our teachers, healthcare workers, firemen, police, hotel workers, etc. need help to compete with the influx of malihini moving here that are overbidding and buying with cash. How do we instead help our residents compete with out of state buyers when more houses keep getting built and going for record highs? Who are we really helping then? In closing I ask that you please vote no to Bill 52 and Bill 53. I am not opposed to development as many can attest to, I am only opposed to irresponsible and disreputable development tactics that are apparent in this case. I believe developers should be mindful and respect the laws of the land, the state, it's people, and it's processes. Mahalo nui for your time and consideration. Aloha, Jaime Funakoshi Sent from my iPhone 2