HomeMy WebLinkAboutPL-SMA-2022-000018, PL-SPP-2022-000018 01.04.23 B. ROBINSON TESTIMONYDeVera, Ashley
From: Beth Thoma Robinson, R(B) <beth@hawaiilife.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 4, 2023 12:34 PM
To: LPCtestimony
Subject: Applicant Ahu Pohaku Ho'omaluhia LLC - Amendments to SMA Special Use Permit
and Special Permit
Aloha Commissioners:
I am writing with testimony on the first two agenda items coming before the Leeward
Planning Commission on January 19, 2023 regarding the applications by Ahu Pohaku Ho'omaluhia
LLC to amend permits thereby increasing the number of rooms allowed at Hawaii Island Retreat in
Kohala.
As a disclosure, I am a Broker -in -Charge and Director, Conservation and Legacy Lands with Hawaii
Life Real Estate, and in this capacity the members of Ahu Pohaku Ho'omaluhia LLC are my clients. I
am writing, however, as a member of the Kohala Community who is and has been an active
volunteer with multiple community groups beginning with my participation in the creation of the
2008 North Kohala Community Development Plan - as a member of the logistics team doing
community interviews in 2006, and as a focus group member working with the consultant and
Steering Committee in 2007.
I am currently part of a working group for the "Kohala Community Plan", an effort to recreate the
community input process used for our 2008 CDP, and work with existing CDP subcommittees to
update goals from the 2008 plan. From our initial "talk story" sessions and meetings with the
subcommittees, we are currently hearing a very different community opinion around facilities
such as Hawaii Island Retreat than the sentiment reflected in the 2008 NKCDP.
Page 20 of the 2008 NKCDP addressed community concern over the number of special permits
issued in the 2000s, of which 10 were for overnight accommodations:
One of the issues that has raised the most concern with Kohala residents is that of Special Permits,
especially those that allow overnight accommodations, such as "retreats." While it is true that 10
of the 17 Special Permits issued in the 2000s do allow overnight accommodations, 8 of those 10
are parcels owned by one owner (the New Moon Foundation). Therefore, the bigger problem may
be those land owners who are allowing overnight visitors without the appropriate permits.
Still, community sentiment is generally that Special Permits that allow large-scale overnight
accommodations should not be approved, due to the negative impacts that such developments
have on the area's limited infrastructure and small-town feel.
The concern at the time was that the approved special permits would collectively equal a small
hotel in excess of 300 rooms. Here are key points of what has changed since this was written in
2007:
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• Only two of the four landowners with special permits for overnight accommodations have
completed the anticipated construction. One is the applicant with 16 rooms. The other is
the "New Moon Foundation" property, now 'Iole under the ownership of Hawaii
Community Foundation, consisting of 10 new bungalows and a 40 -bed dorm (the renovated
Girls School). Both of these entities serve primarily educational and non-profit groups
rather than individual travelers.
• Two of the four special permits have lapsed. One was for a camp housing 75 persons, on a
parcel just mauka of Hawaii Island Retreat on Lokahi Road. The other was the Vipassana
Hawaii planned retreat center of 100 rooms in Halawa. I was the listing agent for both of
these properties when they sold to new owners who allowed the permits to lapse.
• The Kohala Club Hotel, located at the turn-off to Hawaii Island Retreat from Akoni Pule
Highway, is being converted into a medical facility, a loss of 9 rooms primarily booked by
local families.
• Licensed accomodations in Hawi town include the Kohala Village Inn withl8 rooms, the
Plantation House B&B with five rooms and Puakea Ranch with four guest cottages.
• The majority of the overnight visitors to Kohala are being housed in hosted short term
vacation rentals (transient accommodations rentals). Hosted rentals were required to
obtain licenses in 2018. Proposed regulation of unhosted rentals will mean most of those in
operation in Kohala will not qualify and will no longer be able to operate for a variety of
reasons: ag zoning, unpermitted construction, failure to have paid GET and TAT.
In summary, the large-scale building of tourist accommodations feared by the community did not
occur. The facilities offering overnight accommodations, including Hawaii Island Retreat, have
proven to be good community partners. In the case of Hawaii Island Retreat, the 'aina is in better
shape and producing food as was intended as a condition of their permit; they host community
fundraising events; and they maintain shoreline public access and steward cultural sites.
Current Community sentiment as expressed in our Kohala Community Plan talk story sessions
strongly favors concentrating visitor accommodations at the existing inns and retreats, as opposed
to the proliferation of TARs. The business model of Hawaii Island Retreat is also in keeping with
the broader emphasis on regenerative tourism across Hawaii.
As a final observation, the Applicant has been proactive in presenting the proposed amendments
in advance of this Commission hearing. Applicant met with the CDP Growth Management
Subcommittee on December 14, 2022 to present the applications and answer questions. At that
meeting Applicant agreed to also work with the CDP Community Access Group to review the
terms of their grant of public access, which was one of the first in Kohala, to answer any concerns
that group might have given that subsequent grants might have additional or different provisions
preferred by the Community. Our Kohala Community Plan working group has as one of its goals
the engagement of all stakeholders, so that future planning decisions for our community will be
vetted through a more collaborative process than has been the case historically. We hope that
encouraging landowners to engage more proactively as this Applicant has done will aid you as
Commissioners in having the information you need to make informed decisions.
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Thank you for your consideration.
Beth Thoma Robinson, R(B)
Director, Conservation and Legacy Lands
HAWAI'1 LIFE
beth@hawaiilife.com
808-443-4588 (Direct)
69-201 Waikoloa Beach Dr, Suite 2F14, Waikoloa, HI 96738
HAWAI'I ISLAND 1 O'AHU 1 MAUI 1 KAUAI 1 HAWAIILIFE.COM
FOUNDING MEMBER OF FORBES GLOBAL PROPERTIES
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