HomeMy WebLinkAboutRobin Worley Testimony 06.29.23 From: robin worlev
To: W PCtesti mono
Subject: Public testimony regarding PL-SSP-2022-000016
Date: Thursday,June 29,2023 2:40:02 PM
Aloha
I am writing this as public testimony for PL-SSP-2022-000016
In regards to Robert Silber and property he owns at 13-2060 Lolia Place (TMK ) 11-
3-002-140)
1 am a long time lower Puna resident. I lived for several years next door to Lolia Place
at 13-6558 Kalapana-Kapoho Beach Road in a home owned by my friend Tim Furst.
I was present before and during the original excavation, subdivision and development
of Mr. Silber's 25 acre parcel situated on Kalapana Kapoho Beach Road.
During the time that Mr. Silber was creating the road which is now named Lolia Place,
I had several unpleasant run-ins that felt to me like threats, harassment and gas
lighting.
Here is one:
The driveway for 13-6558 Kalapana Kapoho Road is the beginning of the old farm
road that once went between two separate 25 acre Macadamia Nut farms. When the
farms were in operation the road was shared. When the property was sold, the survey
clearly shows that the entire farm road was located on the opposite side of the
dividing line from Robert Silbers property except a small sliver of the road at the very
bottom where it meets Kalapana Kapoho Road amounting to about approximately 4
feet tapering to zero - by 10 feet of our driveway. Because of this Mr Silver felt he had
all legal rights to send his construction traffic up that road, my driveway, rather than
the one he was building. The reason for this is because his original plan was to build
a cement road that could not handle the weight of the many big trucks. He battled but
we did not back down. He changed the plans for his road and paved with asphalt.
His unpleasant interactions with me included telling me that I should watch it as he
comes from a family of lawyers.
He went ahead and built his retreat center with multiple campsites and a couple
dormitories he rents, before getting any permits to do so. He has held large events
there that are a disturbance to his neighbors.
There were so many strange and unpleasant situations. More than I can relate here.
I am myself someone who cooks for Art and other creative retreats in the Puna area.
The large scale gatherings that are rumored to be planned for Lolia if they are giving
their special use permit will not benefit the local community, but rather only bring
disruption and conflict to a small quiet area.
My interactions with Robert Silber cause me to have a lack of trust with him. I find him
to be manipulative and at times not completely honest. He plays as though he is
upstanding.
I have not lived next door to Lolia since the 2018 lava evacuations. I would prefer he
not know I wrote this, so I do not suffer repercussions. I am doing it out of love for the
neighbors around the proposed retreat center.
With Aloha,
Robin Worley