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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0330.004 2014-2016Murashige, Laura From: claves <daves@agroforestrydesign.net> Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2015 9:45 AM To: Council Testimony Subject: Dear County Councilors, RE: Freitas rezoning Testimony for Freitas rezoning in Mountain View F1 awrim. COLI P1. � (Caen ✓' C) 2015 JUL 23 p1 9` 56 I would like to encourage you to deny Judge Frietas subdision because this would set the precedent which would start a domino effect as people seek to "farm" the real estate value by converting more farmland into homesites with no infrastructure to support the people in a safe and healthy way. This action would set the stage for Mountain view to become another Paradise Park full of chaos, absentee landlords, and health hazards. Even worse, this radical change it would fuel Hawai'i Island's real estate market which will ultimately create a place in which Kanaka Maoli and locals cannot afford to live. Those in real estate would be the beneficiaries from the proposed change to the concurrency law, while everyone else will be drowning the in sea of people moving here from California. As HawaiTs ag land continues to have it's fruit trees bulldozed off and be soil paved over, we import 90% of our food, much of it from California which has been in an epic drought for 4 years. Reservoirs are at historic lows and wells are failing in the Central Valley. We are already in a food crisis --did you know food in Hawai'i and Alaska cost about the same amount? The people of Hawai'i are paying some of the prices for food in the world --in a place where food grows when it is dropped on the ground. Something isn't right with that math. If the California doesn't get snow in the mountains next winter, you can rely on food prices spiking and locally grown food being shipped off to the highest bidder. Young, old, sick and poor will pay the price through malnutrition, they already do. You can learn more about how the drought may affect Hawai'i here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=2145&v=FeWjiNW5UlY I hear many people talk about food security, councilors, here is your chance to protect what we have by simply not opening up the door to Hawai'i for Mainland USA to buy what they consider cheap land in their inflated real estate markets to do everything wrong with the land as outsiders have done consistently. If you value local culture and look fondly to the plantation days, please vote no rezone. According to the Hawaii Tribune Herald "The Planning Department said the application doesn't meet minimum water concurrency requirements and runs afoul of Puna Community Development Plan policies discouraging further subdivisions of agriculture land. It's also against county General Plan policies requiring adequate water utilities and it has substandard road conditions, county planners said. Onishi is in the meantime drafting an amendment to the county's 2011 concurrency law to change water requirements for areas that meet certain rainfall levels, such as East Hawaii. Planning Committee Chairman Ilagan said he'd waive the bill through his committee to move it along more quickly. Hilo attorney Ted Hong, representing Freitas, urged the council to approve his client's application first, saying the concurrency law is flawed and approving the rezoning would send a clear message that changes are needed. The council is the policymaking body, he said." Comm. Pilo. 3 n Ref. To: El (,DU.n LA Ref. Date tt a 2©t5 You can approve the application," Hong said. "What you're saying, is you see the need to change the concurrency law.... Pass this. Use it as an impetus to spark a change." Councilors need to govern in ways that benefit all the people and the land, and not change laws to accommodate powerful connections who seek to develop real estate that goes against the current zoning and planning commission recommendations. There is no doubt in my mind that Judge Frietas is receiving special treatment, I must wonder who in the real estate industry stands behind the scenes ready for this handout. Mahalo for voting No to the rezone. David Sansone Agroforestry Consultant Owner of Agroforestry Design, LLC. offering sustainable agriculture, agroforestry, and permaculture consultation to gardeners, farmers, and land managers www.agroforestrydesign.net