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4:_ <br /> <br /> March 9, 2007 L:}UZ (TJ~i(~ U 7 Ei tj <br /> Chairman Hoffman and Members of the County Council <br /> County of Hawaii ' .Q; )i', ~ - ~ , <br /> 25 Aupuni St <br /> Hilo, HI 96720 <br /> Subject Resolution 60 07 PostQonintr Pendine Auction of County lands in Pa'auilo <br /> My name is Jeffrey Melrose and I am a land use planner by profession with over 25 years of land <br /> use and management experience on the Island of Hawaii. I am very familiar with the lands that <br /> the County holds on the Hamakua Coast and have watched for more than a decade as County <br /> indecision on these properties has lead them to sit idle, out of the County's RPT tax base, while <br /> several Administrations and multiple Councils have pondered their future. I have no surrounding <br /> real estate interest and no other axes to grind. I am simply a taxpayer with an opinion on this <br /> topic. <br /> I was pleased to see that the Kim Administration has now taken the many steps required to <br /> prepare the Pa'auilo properties for sale. The County has invested over $100K of taxpayer's <br /> money to prepare EA's, conduct surveys, improve access and conduct appraisals. It is time to get <br /> on with that process. No more second-guessing, no more wattling. <br /> The thought that these lands might somehow be deployed to contribute to an undefined affordable <br /> housing solution for the Hamakua coast is troubling. There are two key issues here. First the land <br /> is located far from any identified growth area on the General Plan and therefore inappropriate <br /> from a planning perspective for urban type affordable product. The County needs to be the first <br /> to standby it GP LUPAG maps and in this case the matter is cut and dried. <br /> Secondly, the cost of installing new regional infrastructure, most importantly domestic water, <br /> waste water disposal and standard County access roads, which would be required for any <br /> affordable housing product, makes me wonder if the supporters of the Resolution understand even <br /> the basic economic realities of affordable housing development. Accomplishing affordable <br /> housing is a very difficult task even when the land is free and major infrastructure is nearby. In <br /> the case of the Pa'auilo lands, the facts are clearly stacked against affordability and we should <br /> spend no further funds or government effort on the topic. <br /> If the County wants to direct revenues from the sale of these lands to an affordable housing fund <br /> or to the Open Space acquisition fund, that might make some sense. To stop the sales process <br /> now while we wait for some new insight about how to develop these remote, un-served lands into <br /> affordable units is simply not a constructive direction. <br /> I urge the Council to recommend that the Administration stay the course in their efforts to recover <br /> maximum public value from the sale of all the former Hamakua Sugaz lands and to do so as soon <br /> as possible. <br /> Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony. <br /> Comm. No. <br /> Ref. ToPfO <br /> Ref. Dute AR 0 9 2007 <br /> <br />