HomeMy WebLinkAboutPL-SPP-2022-000016 P. and J. Tama Testimony 01.02.23 From: Pedro Tama
To: W PCtesti mono
Subject: Special Permit Appl PL-SPP-2022-000016-Jan 6th hearing
Date: Monday,January 2, 2023 8:22:51 PM
Date: January 2, 2023
To: Hawai'i County Planning Department and Windward Planning Commission
From: Neighbors of Special Permit Application PL-SPP-2022-000016
Re: Written Testimony for January 6th Planning Commission Meeting
In October of 2022 1 and my wife submitted testimony in this case stating: "We
support the Applicant's proposed project with some appropriate conditions." Now we
have changed our mind. We oppose the application for a Special Permit and strongly
request the Planning Commission to deny it. This case should go back to the Board of
Appeals where it belongs.
What has changed? For us, new information has come to light about the Applicant's
past self-serving deceptions to both the County and his neighbors. And recent events
have been equally disturbing so as to convince us the applicant cannot be trusted to
keep agreements, no matter how many conditions the County imposes.
Does the Planning Commission know that for his first subdivision for Lolia Place in
2014 he never posted visible signage on the Red Road, the closest public road, as
legally required? Do they know that for his most recent subdivision, Kaulupomauka
LLC, next to Lolia Place, he never posted visible signage on the Red Road, as legally
required. And do they know, as they should, that for the first attempted hearing for
this Special Permit in November he deliberately posted the required signage at his
property at the end of private, gated, Lolia Place, 900 ft from the Red Road. Three in
a row.. He has made concertd effort to suppress public awareness, knowledge and
public comments — and therefore potential criticism — of his real estate developments
and now Special Permit application There is so much the Planning Derpartment and
Planning Commission don't know, and so much the neighbors do know about the
proposed project.
My wife was one of the original complainants in 2019. We watched in frustration and
astonishment as the county granted numerous requests to delay his appeal over
nearly three years. We did not move here to get involved in this kind of conflict, but
we never antiipated a neighbor who could so easily pull the rug over the County's
eyes, month after month after month, year after year.
Now he is making another attempt with a whitewashed Application that never gets to
the heart of the activities there. The Application uses "retreat" over and over. Yes,
there will be retreats, many different kinds, some that would be quite eye-opening to
the Planning Commission.. But there is also the actuality of daily classes and
workshops, with the attendant traffic. How much? Soon there may be just one or two
classes a day. Eventually the there will be three, four, five classes per day,
sometimes at the same times as a retreat, but at another part of the property. When
fully functioning in a few years, at 15 participants per class, sometimes more, do the
arithmetic: 45, 60, 75 participants coming and going in 25, 35, 45 vehicles, far more
than the application states on p.33. And far more than we neighbors can tolerate.
In 2012 my wife and I bought our 3+ acre lot in a a 5-lot Ag-residential subdivision just
Kapoho side of where the Special Permit applicant's property lies. It was totally
peaceful and quiet then, and there was only one other residence. Since then two
more residences bought in, and they too were peaceful, quiet, easygoing, friendly.
But over the last eight years we saw the gradual development— illegal development —
of Lolia Eco Village. Now, it is asking to expand its activities — classes, workshops,
retreats, dances, music — build more 2-story buildings, truck in water, set absolutely
no limits on daily noise, such as amplified electronic music which is a main feature of
many gatherings. We can't live wih that.
So we have changed our mind. Deny the Special Permit. This case needs to go
back to the Board of Appeals.
Sincerely and Aloha,
G. Pedro Tama and Jane Tama
13-6516 Kalapana-Kapoho Beach Rd
Pahoa, 96778
(808) 938-5618
TMK: 1-3-002-118