HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0898.001 2014-2016 Murashige, Laura
From: Eoff, Karen
Sent: Wednesday,June 01, 2016 5:39 PM
To: Council Testimony
Cc: Baez,Wendy
Subject: Fwd: Resolution 535-16, Hakalau Point
:)
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: Robert Nishimoto <bobbynishimoto@gmail.com>
Date: June 1, 2016 at 5:22:53 PM HST
To: karen.eoff@hawaiicounty.gov vs)s
Cc: "Poindexter, Valerie" <valerie.poindexter@hawaiicounty.gov>
Subject: Resolution 535-16, Hakalau Point
Dear Chairperson Eoff;
I am in full support of Resolution 535-16 for the acquisition of these parcels for incorporation
into a cultural park.
I was born and raised in Ninole, where my parents owned and operated a general store in a
plantation community, managed by C. Brewer. After serving in the US Peace Corps, followed
by graduate schools on the US mainland, I returned home to work for the Department of Land&
Natural Resources as the Hawaii Island Aquatic (=Fisheries) Biologist, and later as a senior
Program Manager for 33 years. I am also a subsistent fisherman who grew up harvesting the
nearshore resources for family/community.
I support this Resolution to help the locals preserve coastal sites, which are systematically being
developed into clif-side communities. Mile Marker 20 mega-mansion and the development at
MM19 is a glaring example of what we don't want our Hamakua coastline to become. The gated
development at MM 16 is a resort destination, not for locals but for outsiders. These homes are
far out of the range for locals to purchase and we are beginning to witness a steady rise in our
property taxes.
Growing up in a plantation community has been invaluable and I look forward to seeing a
cultural park, honoring our plantation past. Most of us along the Hamakua Coast owe our
successes to our family and friends who toiled on the plantation. There is little left of any
indication of our host culture along this coast, but the plantation community still exists, but will
soon be lost after our generation is gone. Now is the time to invest in order to preserve this
culture, which many of us hold dear to our hearts.
Hakalau Bay is a valuable recreational resource for surfing and fishing. Hakalau Bay has been
the birthing sites for our native Hawaiian Monk Seal and serves as a foraging site for female
Hawksbill Turtle, a threatened species. After the major landslide at the MM 16 subdivision
Feif, 1
1 Comm No.
Ref. To:
Ref. Date JUN 0 2 2n16
January, 2015, the coastal beaches on the north side are now inaccessible to fishing and the opihi
habitat has been completely obliterated. The proposed subdivision on the south side of Hakalau
Bay may result in the same habitat loss because of coastal instability.
The future development of a cultural park at this site will not only honor our past but help to
preserve the pristine costal habitat.
2