HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0595.053 2020-2022 P/pC,
bill 912
Comm.nq5 I
From: Jolene Mears
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2022 3:55 PM
To: Council Testimony; Kimball, Heather, Chung, Aaron; Lee Loy, Sue; Kierkiewicz, Ashley;
Kanealii-Kleinfelder, Matt; David, Maile;Villegas, Rebecca; Inaba, Holeka; Richards, Tim
Subject: Testimony in strong support of Kumu Hou
a
Dear Hawaii County Council Planning Committee Chair, Ashley Kierkiewicz &the Hawaii County ncit large,
Aloha, my name is Jolene Furuto Mears, and I am a kama'aina of the west side of the Big Island for oyR 30I
am the Director of Human Resources for Luana Hospitality Group. Our company is kama'aina-owned and op< ed,
and we currently operate a restaurant(Lava Lava Beach Club) at the historic Anaeho'omalu Bay, with' °the Wfflkoloa r
Land Company area. j
I have read, and strongly support the plans for Kumu Hou at Waikoloa for the following reasons:
• As a business struggling to adapt/survive in the time of COVID, one of our single greatest challenges (chronic
short staffing) is almost exclusively due to a severe lack of affordable housing in the Waikoloa area.
• We have staff who catch a Hele-On bus daily, in the early 5 o'clock hour, and spend close to 5-6 hours day,
commuting to and from the restaurant from Hilo (where affordable housing is more readily available). Our
staff are desperate to avoid this time-consuming commute, and would gladly relocate to Waikoloa if more
affordable housing options were available.
• Stili others make the commute in personal vehicles, which costs them an undesirable amount of fuel/wear and
tear on their vehicles... It is also unsafe for the community having so many staff from the resort-
community driving for hours at the end of a long shift.
• Because the proposed housing infrastructure is clearly designated as rentals, it will help to ensure kama'aina
such as our staff will have bettertcontinued access to these units for perpetuity(they will not be resold and
become unattainable).
• Their proposal of adding timeshare units will also bring much-needed dollars to the local businesses in the
area- activity vendors, grocery stores, restaurants, retailers, etc. This will bring hundreds of jobs to the area.
• I am also impressed by the much-needed added infrastructure they are proposing- more businesses to support
residents, walking trails/open parks, stewardship of the 'aina via cultural education, etc. Waikoloa can feel
very much like a resort-community that is unaffordable to most who live/work there, and their plan helps to
change that.
And last but not least, I had the distinct pleasure of working alongside Waikoloa Land's management team(which
includes Scott Head, their VP of Operations) during COVID. The Waikoloa Land team sought out the
funding/manpower to help feed the local community with generous/healthy meal boxes for MONTHS during the
worst of the pandemic. The team's generous spirit and honest desire to helps support/improve the community is
genuine. They can truly be entrusted to steward our 'aina for the betterment of all.
Mahalo nui loa for your consideration of this request/testimony. I appreciate your commitment and desire to malama
the 'aina and our kama'aina.
Comm. Flo. ��'{�•"J.!
RAE. To: PCe --
Ref. Deate 2099
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