HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0896.047 2022-2024 p/ SAC-
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Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2024 4:07 PM
To: Liysa Swart
Cc: Council Testimony
Subject: RE: Congestion re Kona Vista
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From: Liysa Swart
Sent:Thursday, May 30, 2024 3:57 PM
Subject:Congestion re Kona Vista
We saw in Lahaina how having limited corridors can lead to tragedy. Adding developments like the one
proposed at Royal Vistas(and others) particularly without attaching a requirement to provide
additional highway footage/routes allows developers to profit while increased congestion,with no
solutions, seriously negatively impacting residents.
Furthermore,what the island needs is more"workforce housing" permitted and priced, particularly close
to the work hubs.
Right now, so much of the workforce lives in HOVE and drives the narrow and dangerous road back and
forth to work.We need more homes closer to the hub to help ease some of that traffic.
In other words,we need units and homes that will allow families to live,while working for the
salaries that most of the service industry provides.
That means, in real world numbers,that a person who is working for$18/hour(by 2028) (currently it's
only$14 per hour) @ 40 hours per week can currently only afford $746/month and by 2028, $960/month
if the 1/3 of salary for housing rule is followed.
For a couple,that would be a maximum rent or mortgage of$1920/month for a home in 4 years.
If we want to eliminate some of the staffing and houseless issues that we face,this is where to start. Ir,
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In addition to a requirement setting aside corridors for roads, permits for any subsequent development
on this island should have a 1:1 ratio of a workforce home for residents who have been employed for 10
or more years, (demonstrated by tax returns) for every million-dollar home the developer builds.
Is that going to make the price of the non-workforce houses go up?Of course. But for the many affluent
buyers who use these as second homes,that is just the cost of doing business. And you could grant
them air b and b permits, since the higher cost of the home is actually helping to ensure individual local
families remain here rather than moving to Vegas.
Thank you for your time.
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