HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0112.045 2010-2012 Page 1 of 1
PI COUNCIL.
Murashige, Laura
From: Deborah Chang [hkulaiwi @yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2011 8:45 AM
� � ' i
'. t] f 1 .6
ti
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us (
Subject: Bill 30 - County Budget and Open Space Network f .,
cOUN
Aloha Hawai'i County Council Members,
You are being asked to include funding for the identification and creation of an Open Space Network for the
Kona Region in Bill 30. Instead, I ask you to earmark funding for a report to the County Council on how an
Islandwide Open Space Network could be structured and institutionalized within the County system. Adopting
an Open Space Network for just one region of the island when it is an islandwide need, opens the County to
special interest groups and divisiveness.
An Open Space Network sounds like a great idea, but who will do it? Which County agency will be responsible
to administer the Network? As it is, public access easements that have already been granted to and accepted by
the County remain closed to the public, largely because no County agency is assigned to and willing to assume
management and maintenance responsibilities over the easements. Many of these easements have been "on the
books" for nearly a decade. In Pu'u Anahulu, North Kona District, easements that were granted to the County in
1994 for public trails remain un -built and unopened!
As long as the opening and managing of public accesses are not included in any agency's budget or planning
process, these public access easements will remain on paper only. You've heard of "paper roads." We are
creating "paper trails."
Public access easements are important components of any Open Space Network, so why not begin with the
easements that have already been granted to the County?
For years the public has been lamenting the loss of public access to areas that were once accessible. Newly
created public access easements would help compensate for the losses. In difficult economic times, access to the
mountains and ocean for fishing and hunting has traditionally helped feed local families, a tradition that is
threatened by lack of access. Properly managed public accesses also provide affordable recreational opportunities
and promote the stated Open Space Network goal of "building healthy communities."
I urge you to become part of the solution to the public's ever growing needs for open spaces and access to them.
You can do that by helping the County to develop a comprehensive, islandwide Open Space Network that
contains clear management responsibilities and is coordinated amongst the various County agencies.
Mahalo for the opportunity to give testimony,
Deborah Chang
(Born in North Kohala and resident of Hamakua.)
776 -1516 (res. & bus.)
hkulaiwi @yahoo.com
P.S.
I would gladly provide specific Tax Map Key locations for public access easements that have been granted to the
County but remain unopened, particularly in Kona and North Kohala Districts.
Comm. No. 1/Z S'S
Ref. Tot 4 4$14. /
Ref. Date jt IN 1 21111
5/30/2011