HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-03-07 PL-SMA-2023-000046 Kyla-Marie K. Turner Opposition Testimony From: Kvla T
To: WPCtestimony
Subject: Testimony
Date: Thursday,March 7,2024 9:07:51 AM
Attachments: County Council Ka'u Testimony.odf
Aloha!
E kala mai for the late email but this is for today. No need to get it to them before the meeting,but this is for the
commission. Mahalo!
Me ke aloha,
Kyla-Marie K.Tumer
Thursday, March 07, 2024
TO: County of Hawaii Windward Planning Commission
Opposition to the Black Sand Beach LLC Project
Aloha e Honorable Commissioners of the Windward Planning Commission,
My name is Kyla-Marie Turner and I am writing in opposition to the Black Sand Beach LLC
Project. As a youth of the County of Hawaii, my biggest concern is the overdevelopment of our
county. More buildings and a golf course will not fix the immediate needs of our communities,
which revolve around the issues of houselessness/homelessness: affordable housing; Natives and
locals alike being pushed out of our communities; landfill and the overproduction of waste; and
the buying up of land by outsiders/non-residents for outrageous prices,just to name a few. Any
development moving forward cannot just benefit the community economically, but must move
towards sustaining, maintaining, and supporting the communities already here in Hawaii.
With the vague language of the purpose or the intended beneficiaries of the project, I hope the
Honorable Commissioners of the Windward Planning Commission can understand why many
like myself not only question the intent of the project, but outright reject it. And with no explicit
action plan in place to address the points mentioned just above, as well as how the native species
that thrive in the proposed area are going to be protected in the proposed conservation area,
including a couple of endangered ones like the Hawaiian Hawksbill Turtle, this draws many red
flags for the people in the county and communities which you all serve. I implore you all as the
Commissioners to consider the future, and how when a place is developed, it can never be
undeveloped. Consider how building a residential/commercial community with a wellness
center and golf courses for the sake economic and infrastructural development/advancement
might not be what is best for our communities, our `aina, our Hawaii.
I can only speak for myself in this matter when I say that the continuous development of Hawaii
County is not what I want for my home. I don't want it to become overcrowded with people and
houses and buildings until there are no trees between town and where I live. I don't want to keep
building and building in a resort to fix the problems we have in the county, financially or
otherwise. And I don't want to keep feeling as if I am being pushed out of my own homeland,
being put last behind commercial and corporate interest. This is not the future I hope for our
home, and for the ten generations after me who will be the bearers of the world we create. I hope
that all commissioners can consider this when making a decision about this project.
Mahalo nui loa for your consideration,
Kyla-Marie Turner