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MRR-27-2001 11:09 AM BONNIE GOODELL 96T 0293 P. 01 f.- , r, . BOt1el~000d~~~_ WWW.(DOfIRIalo00ddL001i1i ~lt~l~iit7mfil8i~ida~.blllty tan t, Vdaarre HI Nfl0-000! (g0{) K7-T1)61~r tIr67606) orrrpMrt~rrtwprro.rrat r March 27, 2001 TESTIMONY r , TO. James Atakaki, Council Chair And member of the ooumy wunctl RE: Evidaoce of Violation of HRS 343 in the Keaau Hypos P1alming, relating td Shlpman Zoning request now before the County Council. I sent, to you and County Planning, confidmdal communications a mlmth ago about this issue of vioLtions of the State Envtronmerttal Roview Law by the Hawaii Deparmlmt oC Trwpostatlon in the planning of the Kea'su Bypass. Evidently, the County declines to look ttrto this l feel i must make the public aware of nay fludiags I have examined the Bypau planning documems and the W H Shipman Boundary Amendment Alen at the Planning I)epartmml. i found what appears to be s serious vioLtion of HRS 343 in Ibc plsrming otthe Keaau Bypass That vrolabon, combined with county approval of rho W.H. Shipman's Otrteway shopping center, creadag a four- wsy intersection at thc Bypass Junction with Highway 11, would, i believe, leave the 9tste and Courny treble for resulting losses suffered by Kea'au merchants In 1992, before rho Alignment Study and the Environmental Assessment, W H Shipman lud already planned thc shopping center at that location, iachtdiag the access road as an exbenaion of Kea'au Road. W H Shipmsn's plarmer, Hill Moore confirmed this last fiall at s Puna TraA9c Safety Meeting Yet, neither the aligmmettt study nor the EA recognize the location of thu shopping center or its relationship to one of the bypass aligrrrrrerrta, even though consideration of that information in the study would have sigaiflcently changed the alignment analysis. And, as I understand Chapter 343, failure to include the impact on that imersection was "segmenting," a serious violation of Chapter 343. At the same time, there was en EA finding that there was no stgntficant impact to Kaa'au merchants ltom the Bypass, becnure their losses from the Bypass would be o!'fset by the development of new, large, residential subdivisions by W H Shipman, in Kea'au, developments which have not occurred. So the merchants have been doubly harmed rn finding no significstn impact on them They have every right to feel double-crossed I have attached a timeline At least, a new envitDntnental review is requited, that could have boon avoided had the otiglnal review been done properly However, if done properly, it is likely that a different alignment would hsvc resulted. To avoid an additional review or Lability for Kea`su merchants losses, it appears to me that t.raM,vay, if approved, at the very lcast, could not change the current configuration of either that Bypass/Hwy 11 intersection or nearby intersections This particular abuse of the public process symptomatic of the steahh planning that demea Puna owners and residents the thorough, ua-segmented analysis of ALL plans, so they can make educated choices about their preferred flitnre, as is their right Q' Comm. Na ' ~ U File No. Ref. To: Rer. Hate MAR 2 7