HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0400.084 2002-2004
05/04/04 TUE 15:12 FAR 8083233056 Larry & Brenda Ford 002
i
~~oy r~~Y s io
May 3, 2004
To: James Y. Arakaki, Chairman r0~~~i~.l i ~
Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member
Leningrad E;larionoff, Member
Fred C. Holschuh, Member
Bob Jacobson, Member
Joe Reynolds, Member
Gary Safarik, Member
Michael Tulang, Member
J. Curtis Tyler III, Vice-Chairman
Subject: Bi11178
Aloha Members of the County Council,
I am opposed to Bill 178, as c~ urently proposed, for three reasons:
L The applicant cutrentl}' has the property listed for sale.
2. The 20°/a commitment to affordable housing will not result in affordable housing
units being built.
3. Traffic levels of service will be worsened, not improved by the proposed
rezoning.
Property is for sale.
Since the property is for sale, it should be cleaz that the applicant has no intention
whatsoever of developing the applicant's property. If the Council approves the rezoning,
it will be continuing its failed policy of government welfare assistance to private
developers at the expense of tlds County's taxpayers.
Local affordable housing dem:md will remain unmet.
The local real estate mazket abrady has sufficient available commercia!/retail space and
hotel rooms. What it does not have is an affordable housing inventory that meets HUD
guidelines for affordability. Therefore, the applicant should be proposing an affordable
h::asing project to meet the hu ~e local residential demand for convenient affordable
housing.
Bill 178 requires 20% of the proposed 240 residential units to be affordable housing.
While this percentage is l0% more than required for the proposed residential units, it
does not assess whether this percentage meets the affordable housing needs being
generated by the proposed 300 hotel rooms and 400,000 sq. ft. of commereiaUretail
space.
Finally, it is very unlikely the proposed rezoning will result in affordable housing units
being built. What is most likely is that in lieu fees of only $226,560 (240 units times
20% times $4,720 in lieu fees/ snit) will be paid.
Comm. No, ~ ,
Ref. To: Preseeted
Ref. Date
05/04/04 TILE 15:13 FAX 8083233058 Larr9 & Brenda Ford I~003
Area traffic levels of service ate unacceptable.
Traffic levels of service in the area ol'the appficant's property are already rated "D",
unacceptable, to "F", failure. Adding high-volume commercial all-day traffic into this
area will cause intolerable hazciships to all businesses, families, and tourists in the Kuna
area. On the other hand, an affordable housing project would result in: 1) relatively low-
volume traffic, 2) a significant reduction the number of commuter miles being driven in
Kona, and 3) a decrease is traffic.
Today, the Kailua-Kona community is a community in crisis. This crisis exists solely
because the County govemmeut has subsidized favored business interests to privatize
profits, while spreading their investment risk onto the taxpayers of this County. Further,
the affordable housing element. of all rezonings approved by the County Council over the
past five years has been a fraud perpetrated on the taxpayers of this County. No
affordable housing has been built.
If the County Council is truly interested in meeting the needs of this community, then it
will vote against Bill 178. If the applicant and the County Council are truly interested in
meeting the needs of this commmunity, then they will work to draft a new Bill that
proposes an affordable housing; project at O'oma that meets HUD guidelines and
provides for the continuation of public access to the O'oma shoreline area.
Sincerely,
Chazles Flaherty
P O Box 922
Captain Cook HI 96704