HomeMy WebLinkAboutLilly, Nāpahu
68-1745 WAIKOLOA RD APT K202
MAIL BOX 21
WAIKOLOA, HI 96738-5537
August 13, 2026
Re: Letter of Support Waikoloa Green (Change of Zone and Special Use Applications)
Dear Chairperson Kimball and Members of the Committee on Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions,
Waikoloa Green project, and to ask the Commission to consider approving it.
I have lived in South Kohala for almost 6 years. When I first moved to Waikoloa, it was because I got a security
officer job at Mauna Lani. Prior to that, I was living in my childhood home in Hilo on the Waiakea side of town.
Because of the long daily commute from Hilo, I slept in my truck in the Mauna Lani employee parking lot for
the duration of the 5-day work week of my first year of employment there.
It was so rough. Rainy season especially. Even in good weather, I would often need to strategize finding a spot
to feel safe and able to rest without bright lights shining in my eyes as I tried to sleep. I was thankful for the
locker rooms and cafeteria lunches provided by the hotel, but with regard to the extended days of the work
week; I decided to chalk all that struggle up to building character. I eventually improved my career with the
State of Hawaii hiring me to be a Conservation Resource Officer with DLNR Kona office. I now live in my
They are veryaged (both are 84 years old) and L ķƚ ƓƚƷ ŷğǝĻ ğ ƭƚƌǒƷźƚƓ for how to afford living in the area I
work as the rent amounts are too high to afford. This is a major source of worry for me as I need to keep my
housing in order to maintain a strong reputation for reliability at work in my new career.
Waikoloa Green offers a real solution. Four hundred attainable rental homes, built within a commuting
distance to my place of work, designed for the workforce that makes this community run. That is not a small
thing. That is a meaningful change in the right direction.
grow food and build a livelihood on land that has sat idle for too long.
I urge the Commission to approve Waikoloa Green. I need affordable housing and I need food security.
Mahalo for your time and for your service to our community,
Resident and Community First Responder for the Waikoloa Community