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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0941.048 2022-2024August 5, 2024 1' 1 To: Hawaii County Council From: Deborah Ward Re: Resolution 561-24 Requesting approval to use PONC funds to purchase 68.84 Acres locally know as Royal Vistas in Kailua Kona, Hawaii Aloha, Council Chair and members, Myna me is Deborah Ward. I am a forty year resident of the island and owner of a farm in Puna District. 1 am also a commissioner on the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Commission representing upper Puna. 1 was a member of the public interaction group (PInG) site visit to the subject property and I wrote the description of this property for the Mayor's annual report. When this resolution passes, the owner of this property will have the option to be paid fair market value for the property. Purchase by the county would not be a "taking", nor is it eminent domain. The decision to sell would be up to the owner, even if the property should pass to a new owner at some point. I believe that it would be in the county's best interest to purchase this property for a number of reasons. The county already owns a narrow winding TMKthrough the middle of the property. This strangely shaped TMK once was thought to represent a sole waterway through the property, and was conveyed many years ago. FEMA maps make it clear that there are multiple waterways through the property, and the TMK sliver that the County owns is only part of one of them. Further, it appears that the County is obliged to take the liability for flooding from the County -owned TMK parcel, and would actually have to channel the floodway and construct bridges over the channel if the proposed development is approved. The proposed development would be in close proximity of a known and documented floodway, and given the severity of the storms in recent years due to climate change, the County's liability could increase with every event. While the developer claims that water generated on their project would be contained somehow on the property, it is not at all clear how the County's "TMK waterway" and the waters from developer's hardened surfaces, roads, roofs and streets would be distinguished. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service has provided its expert opinion that the parcel should remain in open space to mitigate flood damage that could result downstream. The Cultural Advisory Committee fielded several hours nftestimony from cultural and lineal descendants attesting to the significance to local native Hawaiian n8m|deDtS. The testimony and site visits convinced the committee to iooU8 and D8g8tiV8 recommendation. The owners opted to ignore the Leeward Planning Commission review, and thus received a negative recommendation regarding the proposed development. It is not clear why the Planning Department would forward a favorable recommendation, knowing full well that the County will incur further infrastructure expense and substantially increased liability should the proposed development beapproved. For all of these reasons, it seems most prudent to pass Resolution 561-24, so that the land can be preserved in open space, the waterways can remain naturally unchanneted, and the downstream properties will incur none to reduced damage. The County's willingness to purchase will be a net benefit to the current owner, and the opportunity would pass on to a new owner ifitwere sold tOanother entity. Thank you for considering my testimony.