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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0941.036 2022-20240 SIERRA CLUB HAWAII ISLAND GROUP August 6, 2024 Hawai'i County Council 25 Aupuni St Hilo HI 96720 Re: Support for Resolution 561-24 Aloha Madam Chair and members of the county council, The inference that passage of this resolution is somehow a "takings" is disservice to the general public because it is misinformation. Kona Three LLC purchased this property for $600,000. This price likely reflected the fact that the property had no entitlements other than an order from the Land Use Commission and an expired county rezoning. The ability to obtaining further approvals was speculative. It also likely reflected the fact the county General Plan and Kona Community Development Plan call for properties containing or adjacent FEMA floodways to be a greenway open spaces. This property contains two FEMA floodways. Resolution 561-24 does not encumber the title or property rights the owner already has. It only allows the county Department of Finance to enter into negotiations with the owner in a timely manner if the owner ever chooses to sell the property to the public or to place it on the market. There is no "taking" of property rights. Any further suggestion that this resolution does so is spreading disinformation. With regard to the current county General Plan and the GP2045 (July 2024 draft), I urge the council members to read the following language contained within both documents that make it clear the highest and best use of this property is open space. [emphasis added] Please support Resolution 561-24. Mahalo for this opportunity to testify. F, C X I I I I i I c) 1 I 1 9 6 7 2 1 1, 13 7 1 1 i r- r r,ic I U 0 V�7 I WJ-i iisn(,-]sir-rrae.lu mail corn rn 2 General Plan Section 5, Flooding and Other Natural Hazards 5A STANDARDS (a) "Storm Drainage Standards," County of Hawaii, October, 1970, and as revised. (b) Applicable standards and regulations of Chapter 27, "Flood Control," of the Hawaii County Code. (c) Applicable standards and regulations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). (d) Applicable standards and regulations of Chapter 10, "Erosion and Sedimentation Control," of the Hawaii County Code. (e) Applicable standards and regulations of the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts. 5.5.7 North Kona 5.5.7.1 Profile The North Kona district can be divided into two watershed areas. The area north of Keahole Point and the summit of Hualalai have very low rainfall and runoff. Rainfall for this area reaches a maximum average of 40 inches per year, but most of the area receives less than 20 inches per year. The soils in the area are extremely permeable and there is no record of hazardous flooding in this area. The southern area, extending; southward from Keahole Point, contains most of the urban development and is subject to increasing hazards from floodwater damages as land is more intensively utilized. The area is characterized by dry vegetative growth along the coastal areas and thick tropical vegetation in the upper forest reserves. The ground slope is steep, averaging approximately 15 per cent. The steep slopes, shallow soils, frequent high intensity rains, and the lack of well-defined draina eways make many areas in the North Kona district susceptible to flooding and overland flows. Flash floods, primarily from overflows of the Keopu/Hienaloli, Waiaha, Kaumalumalu and the Holualoa/Horseshoe Bend drainagLeways, have been identified by the Natural Resources Conservation Service's "North Kona Flood Plain Management Study." Flood water and sediment damage occurs along the entire coffee belt with the Kainaliu, Holualoa and Kailua village areas experiencing the heaviest damage. The entire coastline of the North Kona district is subject to inundation by tsunamis. Kailua and Keauhou have recorded run up and damage from tsunami activity in the past. In addition, the coastline has also been subject to damage from storm waves. 5.5.7.2 Courses of Action (a) Drainage systems for the Keopu/Hienaloli, Waiaha, Kaumalumalu and the Holualoa/ Horseshoe Bend drainageways shall be studied and remapped to determine the actions necessary to mitigate negative impacts. (b) Establish and maintain appropriate vegetative cover in high rainfall, sediment and debris producing areas. (c) Encourage the mapping of the floodways in North Kona to develop more effective flood control programs. (d) Encourage the use of natural draina eways as greenways in the development of the region. (e) Maintain and re-establish forest cover in mauka areas to improve the capacity of the ground to absorb heavy rainfall. General Plan 2045 (July 2024 draft) Collaborative Biocultural Stewardship Action l.n: Develop and establish Open Space Network Overlay for natural landscape features, such as beaches and dunes, forests, streams, floodplains, wetlands, estuaries, or recharge areas that have the inherent capacity to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the impacts of climate change. Addressing Climate Change for Island -Wide Health Policy 8.7: Prioritize the preservation and restoration of natural landscape features, such as reefs, beaches and dunes, forests, rangelands, streams, floodplains, wetlands, and aquifer recharge areas that have the inherent capacity to prevent, minimize, or mitigate the impacts of climate change. Public Utilities Policy 28.d: Develop drainage master plans from a watershed perspective that considers non- structural alternatives, minimizes channelization, protects wetlands that serve drainage functions, coordinates the regulation of construction and agricultural operation, and encourages the establishment of floodplains as public greenways. Collaborative Biocultural Stewardship Action l.d: Revise floodplain management requirements to require consideration of nature - based solutions as alternatives for all projects that have the potential to affect floodplains or wetlands. (DPW Project) 1.n Develop and establish Open Space Network Overlay for natural landscape features, such as beaches and dunes, forests, streams, floodplains, wetlands, estuaries, or recharge areas that have the inherent capacity to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the impacts of climate change. (Planning Dept. Project) Implementation, Public Utilities Action 28.d: Develop drainage master plans from a watershed perspective that considers nonstructural alternatives, minimizes channelization, protects wetlands that serve drainage functions, coordinates the regulation of construction and agricultural operation, and encourages the establishment of floodplains as public greenways. (DPW Project)