HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0898.069 2020-2022 P
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From: Sally Cheung
Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2023 4:22 PM 7023 APR } 7 All �.
To: Council Testimony
Subject: I Support Bill 194
Aloha members of Hawai'i County Council, -
Thank you for this opportunity to comment.
I am asking you to vote in favor of overriding Mayor Roth's Veto in support of Bill 194.The repercussions it seeks to address
remain significant to our island.
The need for this bill was created because many of our residents noted expired rezoning applications being granted as
extensions without due process, especially in the Special Management Areas,where contested case hearings and mishandled
procedures stopped development for cause in the first place. Planning director Kern has unleashed new rounds of highly
controversial developments all along Ali'i Drive, many of which the Police Chief helped to stop due to significant public safety
issues.
For example,tsunami evacuation concerns were at the top of this list after several failed attempts to mobilize residents and
visitors to evacuate the area were experienced.
Therefore,this bill remains a strong need,and I urge your further consideration and support.lt is essential that we increase
transparency for future development around our island. It is empowering when our residents submit testimony with backyard
knowledge, especially when conditions appear not to have been met in good faith. For example,when the time agreed upon
within the original rezoning ordinance application expires.To allow applicants to come back with a two-step process via a
simple resolution,without revisiting contemporary conditions(such as threats from climate change,special management areas
&archeological
surveys) is a cheap trick on the public interest.
After three draft revisions, Bill 194 still remains faithful to its intentions for enhanced transparency and opportunities to
address current impact concerns. It also allows for contested case hearings,as well as appropriate reviews, and rectifications,
before,extending or granting new rezoning applications.
Thus far,the Mayor's veto has demonstrated an unwise and undemocratic impulse. Our island is at an inflection point. Should
we allow our planning department to extend expired rezoning applications without contemporary review opportunities?
If so, residents and lineal descendants of these lands,who have been involved in litigations in the past,will be effectively
silenced.As a result,we will be watching our backyards being bulldozed all the more quickly!
I remain in strong support of Bill 194.
Please continue to exert your leadership capabilities.Thank you!
Sally Cheung
96740
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