HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-03-03 PL-SMA-2023-000046 Hauola Roback Opposition Testimony From: Hauola Roback
To: WPCtestimony
Subject: Punalu'u Testimony
Date: Sunday,March 3,2024 9:58:52 PM
Attachments: Testimony Against Punalu'u Development.odf
Aloha e,
Attached here is a testimony of the development of Punalu'u written by me, Hauola Roback,
and my sister, Haley Roback.
-Hauola
03/03/2024
Testimony Against Punalu`u Development
Aloha e, I would like to formally testify against the proposal of the "Black Sand Beach
LCC of Punalu`u Village" development that would cover hundreds of acres. I would like to
explain some of the reasons why I strongly oppose this potential desecration of the historically
significant and personally important land known as Punalu`u. I was born and raised in the district
of Ka`u and Punalu`u beach has always been like my second home. Punalu`u has been my
`ohana`s definition of Pu`uhonua for generations where our family beach house resides, giving
me direct lineage ties to this place. This house and `aina has not only been our home but our
place of congregation and refuge.
This development would immensely shift the environment of Punalu`u and the
surrounding acres in a drastically negative way. There is historical heiau in the Ninole area,
petroglyphs, and very important alkaline ponds that are crucial to the ecosystem.
"Black Sand Beach LCC" would undoubtedly overwhelm the coastline with a mass increase of
visitor population, create pollution, overstress the already dwindling water system, and destroy
the natural habitat home to so many species.
The district of Ka'u, specifically Punalu'u, has its own unique beauty because of the raw
magic the space holds. Years of proposed development plans have always been shut down as an
effect of the people's strong voice and perseverance in standing up preservation of the land. LCC
would irreversibly change the space of Punalu`u forever. As a local of this space, I speak for the
community of Ka`u when I say that this development is highly unwelcome. There has been
enough developmental destruction in our islands for centuries. When or where does it ever stop?
"Ua lawa makou i ka pohaku" We are satisfied with the rock, a saying that holds very true for
us. We the people aren't concerned with the commercialized revenue this proposal "offers", it is
the `aina itself that feeds our na`au.
- Haley Rose Ho`anoili Roback& Hauola Soule Iokepa Roback