HomeMy WebLinkAboutHepburn, Cecilia
Tsuneda, Kaci
From:cissy hepburn <bittybat@hotmail.com>
Sent:Friday, September 11, 2026 6:51 AM
To:Council Testimony
Subject:Testimony in OPPOSITION to Bills 186 and 187 (Applicant: Waikoloa Green LLC)
Aloha Councilmembers,
My name is Cecilia Hepburn and I am a resident of Waikōloa Village.
I am wri?ng in opposi?on 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 un?l the County has funded, scheduled commitments for the
infrastructure that keeps residents safe during a wildfire, star?ng 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 evacua?on, residents sat in traffic for over an
hour just to reach Waikōloa Road, and our popula?on was smaller then. The state A?orney General's Lāhainā
inves?ga?on 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 ma?ers most. We have raised the reliability of that supply during emergencies
with the Public U?li?es Commission, and it remains an open ques?on there in the ongoing Act 258 rulemaking. Before
approving more growth, the Council should examine whether the water system can meet firefigh?ng 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 un?l these infrastructure needs are met with real commitments, funding, and a
?meline, not just plans. Housing and safe infrastructure should move forward together.
Mahalo nui,
Cecilia Hepburn
Waikoloa Village
Submi?ed Sept. 11, 2026
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