HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0162.001 2008-2010
March 17, 2009
Hawaii County Council
Committee on Planning
Re: Comm. 162
Testimony in Opposition
Aloha Chair Ikeda, Vice Chair Enriques and esteemed committee members,
I would like to offer testimony concerning the makeup of the Ka'u CDP Steering Committee
appointments. My testimony today is presented on behalf of landowners that represent nearly 20,000
acres of privately held lands in Ka'u. Overall, we think the list contains many good representatives of the
Ka'u District, however my testimony today is focused on what is not present, rather than what is. There
are no large landowners on the committee.
The CDP is rightly designed to be an open and collaborative process. I believe Ron Whitmore and the
planning department have gone to great lengths to help to ensure that. However, the community of
large landowners is an important sector of the community that is not represented on the list of
appointees.
How can an effective planning effort conduct meetings, have conversations, and indeed, create plans
that may include general plan amendments, concerning privately held lands without the inclusion of
affected the landowners?
Landowners have a unique perspective and resources that will aid the CDP process. We possess an
array of local, technical and historical knowledge. We understand agriculture, business, historical and
cultural preservation, land use law, land and resource management, entitlements, utilities, access,
topography, drainage, development costs, federal, state and county jurisdictional authority, land
planning and a host of other disciplines required to put forth and effective and implementable CDP.
One only needs to look to recent history to see an illustration of this critical point. In the case of the
Kona CDP, the chair was a well known planning consultant that typically represents landowners. In Puna,
landowners were excluded which compromised the process and has put forth a plan that is less easily
implemented. We would like to avoid the pitfalls experienced in Puna.
Landowners would like to be good collaborative partners in the CDP process and offer our knowledge,
experience and expertise. In Ka'u, we would like to participate in an open and collaborative process by
which all sectors of the community are truly represented.
Thank you r t is opportunity to test'
Chris Manfredi n C. Cross
Ka'u Farm and Ranch Co, LLC Edmund C. Olson Trust II
Comm. No.
Ref. Tofr'enente P(i
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n41
Ref. Date MAR 17 20