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From: Jan Dodge <br /> To: Jackson, Maiia; Roy.Alex;LPCtestimonv; Kern.Zendo; Dacavanan. Melissa <br /> Cc: Jana Cook <br /> Subject: Fwd:Testimony Concerning Proposed Hotel by Kona Hawaii Development LLC <br /> Date: Wednesday,February 28,2024 1:13:51 PM <br /> Aloha Maija, and all, <br /> This letter of testimony, below, is for the proposed Kona Hawaii Development <br /> Application regarding tomorrow's hearing. It was received by Mr. Roy and Mr. Fuke in October, 2023, <br /> however the original email was not included in the Background Report at that time. We ask that it be <br /> included for tomorrow's hearing. <br /> Also, note that we had sent a followup letter on January 3rd, 2024, which today has been reforwarded to <br /> the Leeward Planning Commission by Jana Cook, and we are in receipt of a reply by yourself that the <br /> January 3rd testimony will be submitted for the hearing tomorrow. <br /> Mahalo, <br /> Jan and Richard Dodge <br /> My spouse, Richard, and I, Jan Dodge, have been owners at Hale Kona Kai Condominium, <br /> 75-5870 Kahakai Rd Unit 208 since 2017, and this letter outlines our concerns and questions <br /> about the proposed Marriott Hotel construction for the property at the corner of Kahakai Rd <br /> and Ali'i Drive. <br /> The reason for our concerns are twofold: the proposed building drawings and description <br /> presents erroneous information, and the proposal lacks details and plans necessary to fully <br /> consider the project a viable one for the subject property. <br /> Specifically, we request more information in the following scope: <br /> 1- Aerial views of the proposed hotel mistakenly show a landscaped area on the ground level <br /> of the interior of the U-shaped hotel, where in actuality there is a commercial building owned <br /> by C.J. Kimberly in that area which is not being removed for the project to proceed. The <br /> proposed Kahakai Rd landscaping buffer misleads neighbors who assume that landscaping <br /> will reduce the noise and sight from the three story hotel on Kahakai Rd, but that is not the <br /> case with the C.J. Kimberly building essentially being in the parking lot on the 3-D model. <br /> See attached photo of the C.J Kimberly building on Kahakai Rd. <br /> 2- The 2017 approved building for this property was for a 48 room hotel/condominium, but <br /> this proposal has more than doubled to a 100+room hotel which changed from an Ali'i Drive <br /> entrance, to an entrance on the south arm of Kahakai Rd, a road with no median lines that is <br /> barely two lanes wide and is utilized by Royal Kona Hotel guests, Hale Kona Kai <br /> guests/owners, and most of the other businesses along the 2 block stretch of Kahakai Rd, <br /> primarily as pedestrian access for Honl's beach and other businesses without walking on busy <br /> Ali'i Drive. Is there a plan to improve Kahakai Rd for public safety, increased traffic, <br /> pedestrian walking, and secure access to Kahakai businesses? The hotel access for parking <br /> lies opposite the entrance to the Kona Reef Condominium complex which makes it virtually <br /> impossible for pedestrians to safely cross two lanes of vehicles to get from Kahakai to Ali'i <br /> Drive in both east and west directions due to entering and leaving vehicles at this parking <br /> entrance on Kahakai Rd and the Kona Reef entrance on the opposite side of Kahakai. We <br />