HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0896.060 2022-2024 P/LAAc
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CO LINTY R C,OHM.
-COUNTY OF IIA ;A
Kona3 LLC Testimony—June 18, 2024 70211 J h i 13 r i .
Aloha. I am Joel Gimpel, a Vice President of the Board of the Pualani Estates at Kona Homeowners
Association, a subdivision of 362 single-family homes several hundred yards north of the proposed
Royal Vistas Project(Kona 3 LLC).
As a retired attorney, I'll be brief, and as a professional musician, I hope to achieve harmony.
I and the other numerous opponents of Bill 169 who attended your June 4 meeting applauded
Councilwoman Villegas. We wholeheartedly agreed with her concerns regarding the absence of
necessary infrastructure to support the development, her support of the clear findings and
recommendation of the Cultural Resources Commission, and her remarks about the questionable, false
assertions that have been made by the applicant.
The infrastructure shortcomings include,but are not limited to traffic issues, which have been the focus
of my concerns and objections through the years. For example, Highway 11,between Henry Street and
King Kamehameha Road often looks like a parking lot on weekdays during the am and pm high traffic
hours. The road needs to be widened, and several principal intersections, including Lako Street and the
Kuakini-Highway access are particularly troublesome. Unfortunately,no improvements to Highway 11
are planned,much less funded, and the proposed single access point of a"full movement channelized
intersection" for the 900 cars and other vehicles (school buses, delivery vans, etc.) for Kona 3 LLC will
add immensely to the problem.
Furthermore, there are additional applications for rezoning filed years ago by Suffolk Investment LLC
and Pua'a Development LLC to permit commercial and residential developments on the makai side of
Highway 11,between Puapuaanui Sty.And Kuakini Highway. Those applications were approved in
December 2020, subject to compliance with amendments designed to appeal with many serious traffic
and other concerns, including the need for affordable housing on-site, drainage, sewer, solid waste, and
other environmental issues. Nothing has been accomplished since then.
Other testifiers have and will continue to voice their concerns regarding the Kona 3 LLC project's
damage to cultural resources and other environmental issues that have not been recognized or
adequately addressed by the applicant.
Although we would have preferred that the Committee adopt the recommendation by Councilwoman
Villegas to deny the Kona 3 LLC application for an additional 10 years to an application for rezoning
that was first filed 40 years ago, the postponement gave us all another chance to voice our strong and
unanimous opposition. I therefore strongly urge you to forward this to council with an unfavorable
recommendation, thereby denying the application for a 10 year time extension..
Mahalo for your attention. I'll be happy to answer any questions.
Joel Gimpel
75-628 N. Mea Lanakila Pl.
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
Comm. No.
Ref. To:
Ref. Date 1 8 2024