HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0595.120 2020-2022 COUNT CLERK
C(lWUNT1 OF HMNAH
Testimony opposing Bills I12and 215:
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Aloha:
My name is Charles Young, I reside in Kealia South Kona and I am testifying in opposition to bills 112 and
115 to rezone lands from Ag to Urban in Waikoloa specifically for the purpose of building time share
units. I provided similar testimony in a previous Planning Committee meeting.
First let me say that three minutes is not enough time to query a decision that sends us further down a
path that so negatively impacts the quality oflife for generations tocome. Please consider the long term
effect of developments such as the one being proposed have already taken us. We don't need to stop
development,just reshape it.
k4ytestimony today isdirected atCouncil members onsubject ofthe social contract that you and | share
as residents of this county and on the social contract that you and I have agreed too as our mutual
responsibilities to one another. I'm 75, 1 am retired. I began working at age 12 after my mom took me to
the Department of Labor to apply for a work permit for minors. My parents instilled in me the values of
hard work and working toward improving my personal station in life and how one's personal
contribution can impact society overall. | completed college and asa single parent raised three children
and managed to see each of them graduate college,get jobs and begin to fulfill their social contract.The
successful execution of our social contract should lead to a better life experience for us all.
As elected council members,folks like me depend on you to fulfill your portion of the social contract.
We look to you to create policies and practices that set a direction where after 55 years of working,
paying my taxes, raising my children and keeping my nose clean I can look back at my 12 year old self
and say it was all worth it. Of course this is not about me, its'about my three mo'opuna.
The examples I will use are these. I built my house 32 years ago. A house on my street just sold for over
three times what| paid for myhouse inl980.That house ia7years older. Why have housing prices
gone upthree fold and inmost have become unaffordab|efor usall? | know ofnojobs inthe tourist
industry offering to pay 3 times the salary I was making in 1980. In 1980 it was a leisurely Y2drive to
Kailua,today it can be over an hour of frustrating stops and starts.There is a noticeable depletion of our
near shore resources inpart due tothe impacts ofnear shore developments. Our community beach
park is overrun and tourists park wherever they can find space, even in the residential areas in residents
yards and driveways. Residents complain and malihini reply where's the Aloha.These examples have not
arisen out of organic growth. We are making conscious decisions with our authorities to invite more of
the same for our mo'npuna. | amnot being nostalgic about days gone by, I'm just very disappointed.
I recommend that the County Council consider several conditions to the rezoning.
1. That all the affordable housing and work force housing shall be developed prior to any rezoning
for time shares.
Z. That the applicant identify how much water will be required, identify how the water will be used
and require that all waste water returned to the land be restored to a quality equal or better
than its' original state.
3. Require that the applicant contribute in efforts to increase the recharge rates to offset the net
amount ofwater taken.
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4. Conduct a baseline study on the quality and biomass of the near shore waters fed by the aquifer
from which the water is taken and conduct subsequent studies to determine impacts from the
development.
5. Consult with native practitioners who possess knowledge of the customary and traditional
fishing practices of the area and who can identify the current conditions relative to historical
norms.
6. The applicant develop and implement mitigation plans on the impacts that increasing the levels
of tourism resulting from their development of time shares will have in West Hawaii.
Mahalo