HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0107.006 1996-1998 January 28, Lg97
SUBJECl': BiLLs ~ , 372, & 373 (Oceanside L250's ilLages at Hokukano)
To: Chairman and I'Iembers, Hawaii County Council Planning Committee
From: Kona Conservation Group
I+'e urge yyou to defer action on ail matters concerning Oceanside L250's
villages at llokukano project until the six new members of this Council
have had time to review the entire project and its potential impacts,
Some of the concerns that should be reviewed are:
1, Leek nf~yQ~_~~, There is no regional plan for this
area despite strong interest shown by residents to develop one,
we urge you NOT to continue the unplanned, piecemean spot-
zoning of Kona as we have seen in approvals of OpihihaLe golf course,
KDC and the Riviera resortpmjects, Let's first develop a regional
pta$ with the community s vision and consideration d the cumulative im-
pacts before acting on the major rezoning bills no~v before yyou,
Lacking a regional plan, hundreds o£ residents HAVE expressed
their opposition to this project by singing petitions that were presented
to this bod;r a year or tvro ago. These residents want to keep this area's
stable, cohesive community with a highly-valued rural atmosphere and do
not want this intrusion in this area. urther, this project is the open-
ing,wedge to similar urban proJ'ects further south, changin „the character
of South Kona forever, As stated by the UH Environmental ~ nter, "the
J cumulative effect of the Life st Les promoted and employment generated
are not rural in character....°(~omment to $aft EIS on this project)
The County General Pian identifies the areas where pprimary
resort centers are to be Located as Hi Lo, North Kona and South nohala
but not Central or South Kona. Let`s follow the General Plan.
;0 2, Pollution of Class AA waters and KeaLakekua Bay. The State
m ~ ~ Office of Planning expressed concern abort nonpoint pollution, and even
the developer co ceded that "enforcement (~n the use of chemicals) may
~ ~ not be practicai~ in residential Lots, and}that °there is a potential
i_ threat that those chemicals applied as part o£ the landscape and golf
course maintenance, if persistently and/or improperly appLi.ed, could
potentially migrate to the area of the coastal waters," lF'inaL EIS~p,7)
KeaLakekua Bay is only L,3 miles away.
T Fntu re wa'kar cn nnly, w
K 8~ 3, here wiLL this project get the water
it needs for its entire project? wiLL it negatively impact residents?
q, 9utturai attes, Preservation o£ cultural sites must be
meaningful, not merely physically. The integrity of the many sites wiLL
be severely compromised by this project, About 289 of the 473 sites may
be destroyed after data ~ecovery. In ~:~ha~ con~ext w~LL hej~au and the
many buri~Ls be preserved' What about the ona ietd ystem
s4. UL7.Z:-tax11713~~.G1ekL1~Ci_L.l.-Q1~s8~hP ;nr'roa caA +av ha ao, If more
than 30~ of the residents in this project are in-migrants to the State,
the public costs generated to provide health care, education, and other
services wiLL far ~,utweigh the revenues anticipated from sales tax, state
income tax, etc, urther, the developer does not intend to pay for any
medical, education, fire or police protection costs, stating in the EIS
that the normal planning for grovrth by the government will take care of V _
them, At +he county Level, increased tax base also includes the raised O,
property taxes of nearby residents, who are also affected.
rh.en the developer concedes, stating in the r~inal Lld: "A ~
residential development could conceivably affect the assessment of nearby R
properties, either by providing amenities to some immediately adjacent
Properties or by making the area more valuable to potential buyers Lead- d
ing to higher market prices, f course, this means higher proper~y taxes, Z c
Y' S. hhe ~~bvrass11 road,~~ The "bypass" part is that the road, if
constructed, will bypass the towns of KainaLiu and KeaLakekua and cause
their decline, as the Kuakini Highway did to Keauhou. Cther than that, j
this will not be a bypass, straight-through kind of road, since the County ~
has agreed to reimburse the developer for the cost of the road as develop-4
ment occurs along this road, according to ordinances passed, _
For these reasons, we urge you not to apurove the bills under consider-
ation, but to defer them.
Thank you for this opportunity to pre ent thistestimony.
Lo~ ~`L~~TyLer, vice President ~6~IV
C-fe'~,0~