HomeMy WebLinkAboutEdmunds, Dee
Tsuneda, Kaci
From:dee edmunds <dre413a@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, September 8, 2026 7:46 PM
To:Council Testimony
Subject:Testimony in OPPOSITION to Bills 186 and 187 (Applicant: Waikoloa Green LLC)
Aloha Councilmembers,
My name is Dee R Edmunds and I have been a resident of Waikōloa Village for forty Years.
I am writing in opposition to Bills 186 and 187. I am not opposed to housing. Waikōloa needs more
homes, including 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 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.
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 Act 258 rulemaking. Before approving more growth, the Council should 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 continues to grow, 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,
Dee R Edmunds
68-3727 Ehako St
Waikoloa, HI 96738
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