HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0349.447 2006-2008 r
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P.O. Box 690
Na'alehu, HI 96772
808-929-8364
ruthmariebass(a~yahoo.com
June 19, 2007
Honorable Council members
I am Ruth Marie Bass. I live in Ka'u and I still support Resolution 169-07.
I drove an hour and a half to share 4 minutes of view point with you on the
"community benefits package" under negotiations with the developers and O Ka'u
Kakou and to find out what the latest master plan is for Sea Mountain. The master
plan keeps changing and so do the developers' promises to the community.
When Pat Blew, Ken Carey and George Atta began organizing the
community group O Ka'u Kakou, they made it clear that they needed community
support to get SMA approval. I'd like to share with you how they wheedled that
support.
Acknowledging that many local residents lacked the skills to fill hundreds of
construction jobs required for the project, they said that they would provide job
training. But a month later, they retracted, saying that they wouldn't actually
provide the vocational training, but would help residents connect with other
organizations that possibly could.
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Another example of their finagling involves the Cultural Educational Center.
At first the developers were agreeable to building this center, with possibly a
theatre and market place for local crafts. Later, they reneged saying they wouldn't
build the center, but they'd set aside land for a community group to build it. And
NOW: They'll help a community group find land elsewhere to build the cultural
center.
Today these developers will be recorded by camera, and although they are
not under oath, it is important to pin them down on a few questions. The
community benefits package is well and good as a dangling carrot. $1,000,000
once they get their SMA approval!! $1,000,000 once issued a grading permit!!
But, without the release of the Final EIS which reveals various impacts including
that of the "secondary population increase", it is premature for O Ka'u Kakou to
negotiate a community benefits package. This benefits package should not be in
lieu of fair share contributions, impact fees or concurrency.
Mr. Atta said he wants to create a "community", not just a "bedroom
community". Sea Mountain will be the size of Pahala and Na'alehu combined. Yet
where in their master plan are the library, post office, community center, police
substation, fire and emergency medical station? Pahala, Na'alehu and Ocean
View all have these facilities within their community. Developers must provide
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these buildings for the community they create. The increased tax revenues could
then fund the personnel needed to staff these on-site facilities.
In summary, I have four questions for the developers:
1. The road to the existing boat ramp passes through the land zoned for Jean-
Michel Cousteau's hotel, will the fishermen continue to have free access to
launch at Punalu'u?
2. Current zoning conditions require workforce housing for 25% of the hotel
employees. When will the 125 houses be built to comply with this
workforce housing provision?
3. The rezoning of the mauka lands for 250 houses triggers an affordable
housing requirement for 50 so-called "affordable" houses. When and where
will they be built?
4. Ka•u deserves the same highway safety as provided by Kukio, Four Seasons,
Waikoloa and other Kona resorts. When will the EIS for a four lane
highway, in cooperation with the Hawaii DOT and the Federal Highway
Administration, begin?
Mahalo,
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