HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0980.002 2014-2016 Pict
C-(430
Murashige, Laura
From: Ken Forbes <forbeskrf@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2016 11:23 AM
To: Council Testimony
Cc: Susan Forbes
Subject: Support for Resolution 592-16
Attachments: CDP Reso testimony.pdf
Please see the attached
•
CD
isCo
Gomm. No.
Ref. To: ?WC.
Ref. Date AUG 1 6 2016
1
August 16, 2016
Honorable, Greggor Ilagan, Chair, Planning Committee
Hawaii County Council
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawai'i 96720
RE: Resolution 592-16 Related to Postponing Council Action on Rezoning
Applications in the Hamakua District Until the Hamakua Community Development
Plan is Adopted
Chair Ilagan and Members of the County Planning Committee:
I was born in Honokaa and raised on the Hamakua coast and Hilo. After a career on Oahu I
moved back and now live in Hakalau. I've seen how the coast has changed. Some of it good,
I think, some not so good.
About a year and a half ago, I read a commentary in the Tribune Herald by a Hamakua land
developer that got me to thinking. I didn't agree with it, fundamentally. I thought that many
other local folks would agree with me -most, I thought. So I did what I never thought I'd
ever do. I wrote a letter to the editor. And one of the things I said was that I was looking
forward to the completion of the Hamakua CDP. I had just started to learn about it and
expected that the community input to it would be mostly consistent with my own views.
Now, a year and half later, I'm more aware of rezoning decisions that might be made in the
months ahead and I'm concerned that the "people's voice" -the CDP-will not be properly
heard in time to guide these decisions. If, for example,the County approves a high-end
subdivision right beside a bluff beside a Bay,there is no going back.
So I would like to offer one way to look at this resolution. On the one hand, a months-long
postponement on rezoning would cause a delay for someone intent on developing a piece of
land. If it turned out that the CDP had no material effect on an eventual rezoning approval,
then that would be a regrettable delay for the landowner. On the other hand, consider what
could happen without this postponement. A rezoning might be approved during this
period for something truly unwanted by the Hamakua community as indicated by the CDP.
That would not be good. Which outcome would be worse? An unfortunate delay for a
landowner or an irrevocable mistake with consequences for the whole community, present
and future?
Respectfully submitted,
Ken Forbes
PO Box 199
Hakalau, Hawai'i 96710