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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0560.015 2002-2004 r JJ/ Good afternoon Mr. Chairperson and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this issue. All of the residential and commercial areas surrounding the proposed Terrace project are long standing and stable. As such, we have watched the impact of more traffic -its noise, pollution and disruption -coming and going to other developing neighborhoods. We are unique in that our streets are the hub of how Hilo gets to where it goes. In all discussions preceding this one, the Terrace has been discussed as if it is a stand alone entity -unaffected by its neighbors - us, and, as if all negative impacts on its neighbors - us, have been addressed. The first part of that statement is apparently true -the Terrace is unaffected by us. Neighbors attended community meetings at the onset of the project proposal and found the lack of a detailed, realistic and well-thought out plan obvious from the start. The contradictions are: In the first meeting, the developer was going to fully develop the project from start to finish • In the second meeting, the developer was only going to put in the basic infrastructure and then sell to sub- developers • Maybe there would be 300 single family homes, then maybe 600 single family homes • People who worked at Hilo Medical Center would need housing. Most of us know that the majority of their staff already have housing ' Professors, observatory personnel and UH students would occupy the "transient housing" or condos. In order to keep out the "riff raft", Mike Teramoto, one of the developer's representatives, said that these units would Comm. No. W • Ref. To:P Ref. Uote be priced so high the "riff raff" wouldn't be able to afford them. Mr. Teramoto also stated that there were 2 successful "Urban Villages", the original concept of the Terrace, already completed in Mokuleia, Oahu and Poipu, Kauai. Mokuleia Ranch is fenced, vacant and unproductive. Poipu consists of residential/vacation condos only. No vast commercial space or single family homes exist in either site. None of the development team even mentioned affordable housing unless prompted by questions from our Planning Director Chris Yuen in the Planning Commission meetings. Mr Yamashiro is later quoted by Kevin Dayton in the Honolulu Advertiser "that the condos would be affordable housing and would start at about $200,000 each". Monday's tv news says Oahu's median price for condos is $219,000. I ask you, what is the Terrace, you know, the project priced to keep the "riff raff" out? Is this affordable or not for Hilo? Mr Elarionoff, in the May 4 Council hearing, expressed concern, and rightly so, that the Council didn't want a repeat of what happened to the corner lot at Kanoelehua/Puainako to happen at the Terrace if approval was given. Specifically, he cited that the developer gave his assurances that the property would be fully developed with flooding and traffic issues fully addressed. The Council approved it and within weeks it was up for sale. We testified that it was the developer's intent to get approval and sell it off. Mr. Yamashiro stated that was the intent. The only difference I can see between the Kanoelehua developer and Mr. Yamashiro is that Mr Yamashiro is telling you he's going to sell it off and not complete the development. So if you don't want a repeat, deny approval. • Early on I happened to meet Mayor Harry Kim and asked if he would help the community surrounding the project and he replied that as mayor he couldn't take a stand. Two weeks later, the Hawaii Tribune Herald quotes him as opposed to the Clifto's project, citing inadequate infrastructure as the reason. How does the infrastructure surrounding the Terrace differ? In the Tribune Herald's mayoral candidate interviews just prior to the election, Mayor Kim stated that he was in favor of the Terrace to provide additional housing. The developer is talking about a very tenuous plan at best for 750 residential units that are questionable as to affordability for Hilo. Add to that a commercial area the size of Prince Kuhio Plaza's main structure that includes from Macy's on the Hamakua side to Macy's on the Puna side and the surrounding parking lot. This will be at the intersection at Ponahawai/Komohana where the proposed Ponahawai extension will begin. And what streets does Hilo use to get where it goes? • Mr. Yamashiro says we need more commercial space. Have you seen the vacant spaces in downtown Hilo. How about the Kuhio Plaza? How about the anywhere in East Hawaii? Who will fill the Terrace that can't fill what's vacant now? • Numerous letters and testimony expressing great concern over flooding issues, specifically from the Ponahawai Medical Center group and the subdivisions immediately bordering the project -Sunrise Ridge, Sunrise Estates, lower Kaumana, Punahele, Huali Place and Kukuau/Inia Lane -have been submitted and heard, yet the only vehicle to "contain" water on the project site are dry wells. How is it that property once only suitable for a golf course because of flooding issues is now suitable for housing and huge commercial development? • On May 4, Mr Yamashiro told me that this project wasn't about money and he could develop it right now with the condos abutting upper Punahele Street and 10 story buildings at Ponahawai/Komohana. He said he had the right. I asked if having the legal right superseded the moral right if it would cause such substantial harm to the community -the people who returned him to office so many times. He didn't answer. Prior to the Council meeting, a group of concerned community members met with Mr. Tulang to discuss our issues. Mr. Tulang indicated that he stood with us on the flooding and would see what other issues could be resolved via a "charette" that he would be proposing and did on Mayo at the Council meeting. On May 5, I contacted Kamomi from Mr. Tulang's office offering to assist him in securing community participants in the charette. I received a message later from Kamomi that Mr. Tulang would be conferring with people on the make up of the group and would call within 2 weeks. Approximately 1 month later I called Mr. Tulang again since I hadn't heard from him. This was a Monday. He said that the charette was scheduled for Thursday of that week. I was surprised since we hadn't been notified. He said that "we decided that it was to include only public agencies"...I asked who "we" was and he just repeated himself. I asked again who "we" was and why the community wasn't involved since we first raised the concerns that would be discussed with the agencies. His reply was again that "we" decided the community would have its own charette with Planning Director Yuen to discuss the buffer zones. I protested saying that these were not the issues of primary concern to us and, again he refused to identify the "we". I ask you now Mr. Tulang who is your "we" and why weren't community representatives included in the charette? The second part of the statement, "...and, as if all negative impacts on its neighbors - us, have been addressed... "gives me pause. • Within a radius of a few miles, we have everything - 6 schools, 1 hospital, several medical clinics, lots of doctor's offices, 2 supermarkets, about 7 churches, police and fire stations and, oh yes, even a jail. We also have a lot of other small businesses and many, many neighborhoods, the soccer fields and the heavily used Carvatho Park. When there is a disaster, how will all of our people be evacuated? The Terrace isn't by itself in the hub any more. What will the developer contribute to the people infrastructure? Police, fire, Civil Defense and EMTs will be sorely taxed. The attendant noise of business with its delivery and trash trucks; the density of people and vehicles in the area and their noise are substantial impacts based on sheer numbers. • Over 400 signatures are part of a petition submitted to you asking you to deny approval of this project. Other than my previous statement on May 4, of this year, no reference has been made to the fact that over 400 neighbors and your constituents don't want the project. I have submitted additional signatures today and will continue to collect signatures until this issue is resolved. Maybe I should have asked how many signatures will it take to stop this. On behalf of my neighbors, I ask the Council to hear that our community does not want an unnecessary, overly dense, potentially hazardous and, at best, ill planned development. We urge you to deny or at least defer action to allow more time for better research and planning on a project that will surely have a substantial, adverse impact on the whole community if allowed to proceed now. Thank you