HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0936.008 2008-2010 Page 1 of 1
p/PWC Murashige, Laura
From: Caleb Yamanaka [Iubs2003 @gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 10:48 AM `' ;
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: Testimony on Comm 936 (Bill 298)
Attachments: SCAN1520_000.pdf
Hello,
Attached please find a copy of my testimony for tomorrow's public works committee meeting.
Thank you,
Caleb Yamanaka
Caleb Yamanaka (R), BIC
Yamanaka Enterprises Inc.
1266 Kamehameha Ave.
Hilo, HI96720
(808) 935 -9766 office
(808) 969 -1783 fax
(808) 938 -2926 cell
Comre, into, q 3
Ref. To
Reit Date, 2010
10/18/2010
YfltiflNIIKii ENTERPRISES, INC.
Councilman Guy Enriques
Hawaii County Council
Committee on Public Works & Intergovernmental Relations
25 Aupuni St.
Hilo, HI 96720
Re: Communication 936 (Bill 298) Ordinance to Amend Chapter 27
Dear Councilman Enriques,
The purpose of this letter is to voice my support for the proposed Communication 936
(Bill 298) Ordinance to Amend Chapter 27, Article 2, and Article 4 of the Hawaii County
Code 1983 (2005 Editions, as Amended relating to Floodplain Management.
Specifically I would like to talk about changing the 10 -year recapture of past
improvements back to the prior Code's 3 -year recapture. As landowner's in Downtown
Hilo (within the inundation area) and other coastal communities, the current ordinance
has a drastic effect on our ability to maintain and preserve our current buildings. In
Downtown Hilo specifically, the public says that they want to maintain a certain look and
would prefer that our buildings are maintained and renovated rather then removed and
replaced. The 10 -year recapture makes that impossible; we are talking about buildings
that are well over 50 years old. Maintenance and repair is on a day -by -day basis, a
necessity like replacing a roof theoretically could mandate that no other major repairs
could be performed on a building for 10- years. For this reason, if you drive around
Downtown Hilo you will see Landowner's making the decision to forgo cosmetic repairs
of their buildings (which increases aesthetic and overall beauty of the area), just in case
they could have a major repair /renovation within the next 10- years.
In short the 10 -year recapture rate is a burden on Landowner's and the overall community
at large. The 3 -year recapture rate will have a positive effect on these areas, because
Landowner's will be able to better plan for improving their properties and maintaining
the buildings we already have.
Secondly, 1 would like to talk about the 50 foot buffer in regards to its effect on
Landowner's who live near river and stream beds. The 50 foot buffer is an arbitrary
number without any scientific data to support it. This buffer while not supported by any
sort of data does have an economic effect on affected Landowner's, more specifically a
residential landowner. The reason for this is that the buffer does not consider elevation in
regards to its application. A person wanting to build a house in an area on their property
near a stream can be effected by this 50 foot buffer inadvertently, because even though
their house pad may be 30 feet above the flood area, the 50 foot buffer may touch their
building area and thus force the Landowner to prove that their property is not in a flood
THE HILO IRON WORKS BUILDING 1266 Kamehameha Avenue Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Telephone: (808) 935 -9766 FAX (808) 969 -1783
area. What is needed is for the Landowner to hire an engineer to do an elevation study
and to certify the house pad is not in the flood area. This is not cheap and is a further cost
imposed on the Landowner by the County with no data to support "why ".
Inclosing I would like to reiterate that I support Comm 936 (Bill 298) as it will help to
ease the burden on both Landowner's and the Community at large.
Sincerely,
Caleb atnanaka (R), BIC
Yaman ca Enterprises Inc.