HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-03-05 PL-SMA-2023-000046 Malie Ibarra Opposition Testimony From: Ma lee av v
To: WPCtestimonv;Council Remote Testimonv;Council Testimonv
Subject: Testimony: Malie Ibarra,against Punaluu development plan
Date: Tuesday, March 5,2024 4:15:13 PM
Aloha,
My name is Malie Ibarra. I am a resident of Kau, a woman of native Hawaiian descent, and
am writing to express my opposition to the recent Punaluu development plan. My biggest
reasons for opposition include fixing current damages before developing, having a burial
treatment plan in place before any plans are approved, and addressing the negative effects
of increasing Punaluu`s population/visitors.
The development plans state that "The proposed project is expected to be developed in
phases, with the initial focus on cleanup and repair of dilapidated facilities such as the
former Punaluu Restaurant complex (Section H)." I agree that the initial focus should be to
fix the damaged areas first and foremost. However, also according to the development
plan, "Distinct phasing of this proposed project is not practical... and the Applicant therefore
requests flexibility on the timing of commencing development of the individual project
components (Section H)." By stating a request for flexibility after the aforementioned initial
focus to fix the damaged utilities and decaying buildings, the phases of development will be
blurred. I am worried that requesting flexibility will not keep the fixing accountable.
Furthermore, according to ittp://kaunewsbriefs.bloaspot.com/, "Black Sand Beach LLC
asserts that it is and will continue to clean up the abandoned old resort buildings and
restore the sewage, water and fire hydrant systems, which were already degraded when it
purchased the place." The purchasing of Punaluu happened almost 4 years ago in 2020
and the damaged areas were apparent before the sale and since then, have not nearly
been completely fixed. Thus, I believe the current damaged systems should be verified as
fixed before any other development begins. Developing on Hawaiian lands often includes
sites that end up being burial grounds.
Burial treatment is important for Hawaiian culture and to be generally respectful of our
ancestors and their tombs. Many bones of Hawaiian ancestry are at Punaluu. There is the
Hoku Loa Congregational Chapel and Cemetery that houses many grave sites, some of
which happen to be my ancestors. Although the project for development does not show any
developing near the church and cemetery, there is no burial treatment plan in place.
According to the development plan, "the Applicant has will include a walk-through of
kupuna/cultural practitioners, kuleana land owners, the archaeologist and the development
planners to record all the burial areas that are not recorded in the archaeology report or
Master Plan." This is an essential step to discovering burial sites so that those areas are
not disturbed. According to the DLNR https://files.hawaii.aov/dlnr/shpd/rules/300.pdf to
request preservation, which is what I assume will be done after the archaeologists and
cultural practitioners find burial sites, "The applicant shall submit a request to preserve in
place or relocate a Native Hawaiian burial site to the department in the form of a burial
treatment plan." Therefore, a burial treatment plan should be put in place before any
construction or development plan is approved. No plans of burial treatment were stated in
the development plan other than when construction would begin. To quote, "Before any
future construction is started, an additional burial treatment plan for inadvertent burials or
re-burials is recommended that includes cultural protocols (i.e. re-wrapping iwi kupuna,
ceremony, etc.) as well as State and County regulations." If this is true, the burial treatment
plan is then said to be created after development approval. The walk-through to record
burial sites must happen before planning to develop if burial sites be uncovered,
desecrated, and disrespected. To further rectify this, a burial treatment plan needs to be
done before any development plans are approved. If the development plans are approved
and burial sites are uncovered, what will happen? How will the applicant move forward?
Will the development plan be changed? These are questions that could be answered by
including a burial treatment plan. Aside from burials, there are living consequences that
must be dealt with.
Every living person creates waste but finding a place to put it is where the problems lie. For
wastewater alone, Punaluu`s sewage systems will not be able to accommodate both its
residents and visitors. According to https://ecoseptic.com, "the average person produces
about 80-100 gallons of wastewater per day." With this in mind, the development plan
states that "The existing WWTP was constructed in 1972 with a design capacity of 100,000
gallons per day (gpd). Historical flow records indicate that the daily processed flow is
approximately 10,000 gpd." If the historical flow records do indicate that the daily processed
flow is approximately 10,000 gpd and that 1 person produces around 80-100 gallons a day,
that means that this statistic only accounts for 100 people and their daily water waste at
Punaluu. I believe there are more than 100 people that visit Punaluu a day. Punaluu is 1 of
the 11 Black Sand beaches on Hawaii island, widely known for its turtle population, and is a
frequent tour bus stop, so it is hard to believe that the WWTP only accounts for 10,000 gpd
or 100 people's wastewater a day. According to the development plan, "The Project Site is
designated as a Minor Resort Area by the General Plan, a designation that designates this
area as accommodating no more than 500 visitor units." With this, 500 visitor units add to
the already existing 76 Colony 1 condominium. This means that the proposed development
will house more than 5 times the size of Colony 1 while continuing to house Colony 1
residents and visitors. Currently, an increasing amount of tourists come to the beach with
very little ocean safety and Hawaiian wildlife knowledge. Many tourists are notified by
lifeguards throughout the day about not touching the turtles, not walking over their nesting
areas, and swimming too far into the current. Before lifeguards were around, the locals
would be the ones to monitor tourists and many have risked their lives to do so. Also, the
more tourists and visitors that stay at Punaluu, the more trash and waste being created. If
there are already hundreds of thousands of visitors that come to Punaluu a year and the
development plan proposes to add 70, 2 story condominiums, 30 retreat individual cabins,
repair the aspen center, tennis court, golf club, add a fish market, add a restaurant, add an
open market, add a swimming pool, and more, it will overwhelmingly increase the flow of
visitors and the wastewater alone will be way over capacity.
Mahalo for your time,
Malie Ibarra