HomeMy WebLinkAboutKeene, Cathleen
Tsuneda, Kaci
From:Cathleen Keene <cathikeene@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, September 8, 2026 4:22 PM
To:Council Testimony
Subject:Testimony in OPPOSITION to Bills 186 and 187 (Applicant: Waikoloa Green LLC)
Aloha Councilmembers,
My name is Cathleen Keene and I live in Waikōloa Village.
I am writing in opposition to Bills 186 and 187. I am not opposed to
building new housing in Waikoloa. We need more homes,
especially affordable homes. I am asking you to withhold approval
until the County has funded scheduled commitments for the
infrastructure that keeps residents safe during a wildfire, starting
with a second access road.
Waikōloa Village has one, single lane road in and out for nearly
7,000 residents. The County's 2008 Community Development Plan
named a second access road a very high priority. During the 2021
Mana fire evacuation, residents sat in traffic for over an hour just to
reach Waikōloa Road, and our population was smaller then. The
state Attorney General's Lāhainā investigation rated Waikōloa's
wildfire risk higher than any other place in the country. Adding
hundreds of homes before a second road exists puts current and
future residents in danger. Do not let our residents die while sitting
in their cars trying to evacuate the village during a fire, as
happened in Lahina.
Water supply during a fire is part of the same concern. When
wildfire threatens the Village, firefighters depend on a water system
that can deliver when it matters most. We have raised the reliability
of that supply during emergencies with the Public Utilities
Commission, and it remains an open question there in the ongoing
1
Act 258 rulemaking. Before approving more growth, the Council
must examine whether the water system can meet firefighting
demand during an emergency across all of the development
planned for the Waimea Aquifer, not this project alone.
The same risk reaches our children. Waikōloa Elementary and
Middle School has no buses on site during the school day, so in a
fast-moving fire, students depend on the same single road as
everyone else. The County's Community Development Plan
recognized the need for a second school as the Village grows, yet it
named the second road a community priority even before a second
school. The road has to come first.
Please do not approve Bills 186 and 187 until these infrastructure
needs are met with real commitments, funding, and a timeline, not
just plans. Housing and safe infrastructure should move forward
together.
Mahalo nui,
Cathleen Keene
68-1718 Hulu Street (POB 385488)
Waikoloa Village
2