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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0056.040 2006-2008 a Kim Tavares Fern Forest, Glenwood PO Box 338 -Volcano, HI 96785 808-985-9070 kimtavares@yahoo.com 06 February, 2007 To: Council Chairman Pete Hoffmann, Vice Chair Angel Pilago, and Hawaii County Council Members CC: Mayor Harry Kim Re: In Opposition to Bills 220 & 221 Greetings Council Members, With relation to the controversial Bills 220 and 221, I ask you once again to please oppose them both. Please vote them down on the second reading, and put an end to haphazard commercial sprawl once and for all. Commercial and other developments need to be done in an organized way. Planning for this is the job of the Planning Department, and they are doing this today by way of the CDP process. It intends to produce a good plan for the future development of Puna. Bills like 220 8c 221 that up zone lands adjacent to highways and agricultural lands to commercial-industrial or whatever, prevent the Planning Department from implementing a good plan. I can not imagine a good reason for the Council to ignore the investments of the Planning Department and the residents involved with the CDP, over land use issues at this point in time. What's happening here today is of key importance. Up zoning agricultural land now, in the middle of the CDP process, directly ignores all of the work of the Community Development Pans, Planning Department recommendations, and the General Plan. The Puna CDP working groups will produce recommendations such as the locations of future village design centers, village commercial centers, industrial parks and agricultural parks, that will likely be off the highway, not on essential ag lands (unless for that purpose) and not over stands of native forest, that will provide the necessary space throughout Puna for all sorts of commerce and industry, closer to where it is most needed. I encourage you to please heed the advice of the Planning Department, and support the CDP process by listening to the people who have provided community input during the last yeaz and many who have been at it even longer, to plan a better future for twice the population we have today, while protecting cultural resources, preserving natural resources and ensuring the replenishment of clean air and water for future generations. Locally, around my neighborhood from Glenwood to Mountain View, I am seeing many public and social service needs, as well as the need for much more public works involvement. Stands Comm. No. S b' Ref. To: Ref. Uate EB^____ 7_ Z~~l of forest are being leveled, unregulated and unchecked, at an alarming pace. Often times it is not the right lot. Post offices have more mail in general delivery than they do in PO boxes. So many people are building that it is difficult to find a contractor to do minor repairs. Schools are bursting with children very close to the highway. There aze many needs. Rental storage comes up for newcomers, snowbirds (summering in our neighborhoods), and people who are in between homes. But schools, medical services and farmers mazkets are what we hear most about, from long time residents. We don't want to travel far, because many of us don't have vehicles, and the bus only work for people who can flex to its once per day schedule and don't mind hitch- hiking or walking a few miles from the drop off back home. If the County wants to see its people, it needs to have more gathering places. There are many reasons to have more community centers, gathering place where communities in substandard subdivisions can assemble together for things such as CDP meetings, County Council meetings (on satellite feed) and any other kind of activity people would gather for. A sustainable one would have a certified kitchen, lots of showers, lots of rooms and activities options, and could serve as an emergency shelter whenever it was needed. Daily it would be an educational center, where nearby residents could be on hand to provide the outreach and education that is most needed today, to all of our welcomed guests and new residents. Imagine it, in part, as a library with interne[, visitor center and "Neighborhood Place" fot the greater Mountain View area. New residents and/or realtors and visitors might walk in looking for information about how to get something done or who to contact for whatever permitting process exists for their proposed projects, etc. There might be a presentation or class of some kind at night that people could attend and learn something useful from, as well as a way to meet neighbors. Classes could provide an education about the environment and living in the forest, what good or bad plants look like, basic fast aid training, volunteer fuefighting, etc., the list goes on. Or, it would go on and on, if there were such a place to do it. To see all of this ignored in favor of up zoning ag lands to satisfy a proposal from a privately owned commercial enterprise that would add an unsightly, hazardous burden to the landscape and public infrastructure, is very sad. It shows no respect for the land, or for the people who have been good stewards of this land and, in their way, creating a very special atmosphere for the Puna district that has attracted more people, good stewards and exploiters, to come experience as they will. I strongly urge you to support good planning efforts and to be the champions of good land stewardship for Hawaii County. Please fmd it in your best interest to oppose bills 220 & 221 and support the Planning Department & the Puna CDP. Sincerely, Kim Tavares Fern Forest Resident Puna CDP Steering Committee 2