HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0148.002 2006-2008 4:_
March 9, 2007 L:}UZ (TJ~i(~ U 7 Ei tj
Chairman Hoffman and Members of the County Council
County of Hawaii ' .Q; )i', ~ - ~ ,
25 Aupuni St
Hilo, HI 96720
Subject Resolution 60 07 PostQonintr Pendine Auction of County lands in Pa'auilo
My name is Jeffrey Melrose and I am a land use planner by profession with over 25 years of land
use and management experience on the Island of Hawaii. I am very familiar with the lands that
the County holds on the Hamakua Coast and have watched for more than a decade as County
indecision on these properties has lead them to sit idle, out of the County's RPT tax base, while
several Administrations and multiple Councils have pondered their future. I have no surrounding
real estate interest and no other axes to grind. I am simply a taxpayer with an opinion on this
topic.
I was pleased to see that the Kim Administration has now taken the many steps required to
prepare the Pa'auilo properties for sale. The County has invested over $100K of taxpayer's
money to prepare EA's, conduct surveys, improve access and conduct appraisals. It is time to get
on with that process. No more second-guessing, no more wattling.
The thought that these lands might somehow be deployed to contribute to an undefined affordable
housing solution for the Hamakua coast is troubling. There are two key issues here. First the land
is located far from any identified growth area on the General Plan and therefore inappropriate
from a planning perspective for urban type affordable product. The County needs to be the first
to standby it GP LUPAG maps and in this case the matter is cut and dried.
Secondly, the cost of installing new regional infrastructure, most importantly domestic water,
waste water disposal and standard County access roads, which would be required for any
affordable housing product, makes me wonder if the supporters of the Resolution understand even
the basic economic realities of affordable housing development. Accomplishing affordable
housing is a very difficult task even when the land is free and major infrastructure is nearby. In
the case of the Pa'auilo lands, the facts are clearly stacked against affordability and we should
spend no further funds or government effort on the topic.
If the County wants to direct revenues from the sale of these lands to an affordable housing fund
or to the Open Space acquisition fund, that might make some sense. To stop the sales process
now while we wait for some new insight about how to develop these remote, un-served lands into
affordable units is simply not a constructive direction.
I urge the Council to recommend that the Administration stay the course in their efforts to recover
maximum public value from the sale of all the former Hamakua Sugaz lands and to do so as soon
as possible.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony.
Comm. No.
Ref. ToPfO
Ref. Dute AR 0 9 2007