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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPL-REZ-2022-000033 R. MELENDEZ TESTIMONY 12.14.2022From: Rebecca Melendez To: LPCtestimorw Subject: KONA THREE LLC (FORMERLY GAMREX, INC.) AMENDMENT TO CHANGE OF ZONE ORDINANCE NO. 02 131 (REZ 470) KONA THREE LLC Date: Wednesday, December 14, 2022 10:57:23 AM Testimony for 12/15/22 KONA THREE LLC (FORMERLY GAMREX, INC.) AMENDMENT TO CHANGE OF ZONE ORDINANCE NO. 02 131 (REZ 470) KONA THREE LLC I am voicing my opinion and the opinion of 241 people who have signed my petition and their comments are copied below. Please go to Petition: https://www.change.org/p/help-locals-be- able-to-buy-affordable-homes I -lave any of you been in the serious traffic the island now has or how about the serious lines in the grocery stores? Do you realize that the island was not built for a high population and that the locals should come first when it comes to new homes? The island only has only 2 lanes going each way around the majority of the island and sometimes cars can not pull over for an ambulance because there is no room to pull over. If you keep allowing more and more homes to be built without putting locals first to apply for those homes at an affordable rate the traffic will become so long and overwhelming for the island that you will not only be completely taking away the Aloha feel that makes Big Island so very special but you will also be putting everyone in danger. Have you thought about tsunami evacuation safety? Did you see how the store's supplies looked after the 2 days of Ironman with over 22,000 extra people on the island? That is a good example of overpopulating the island and the safety of the island's resources to provide for its locals and visitors. Has anyone done any kind of reports on what would be a safe increase in population with regard to the island's infrastructure and resources? You need to consider the fact this is an island, not the mainland and start doing studies for safe population growth or you are putting all our lives at risk of overpopulation of resources and infrastructure. Please go to petition https://www.change.org/p/help-locals-be-able-to-buy-affordable- homes We stand to keep the population on the Big Island in a place where all infrastructure and resources are safe and comfortable for the entire population. Locals should come first before newcomers to help keep the population at a comfortable rate and allow locals to purchase homes and not be outbid by newcomers. There has to be a way to put in a stipulation that developers are allowed to build on the Big Island only if sell a big percentage to locals and not investors or newcomers because locals need homes are being outbid. This is causing the 'd at mtg by 'd i2 t5 Read 1 )PY population to grow at a very fast rate without having safe infrastructure and honestly, there is no way to make the high from Kona town going south any bigger than it is because it was built on the side of the mountain and there is no room to increase the HWY. Please see this problem and start having population reports done and start putting in the stipulation that if developers are allowed to build on the Big Island that developers must help the Big Island stay in a safe population and developers must sell a big percentage only to locals who have lived here for many years at an affordable rate, not sell for millions of dollars to locals because making homes affordable for locals will not only help slow the population growth but it will also help keep the resources on the island in a safe place for all who live here. This is an island, it's not the mainland and it needs to be treated like an island that does not have a safe infrastructure for a high population. If you keep allowing growth without any reports of what a safe population is for this island you are not only creating an island that does not feel like Aloha but you are creating dangers and you need to start helping locals, especially Hawaiian locals be able to afford homes and come first before investors and newcomers. You need to create stipulations to build on the island to keep the island safe for what it is and help locals. The island has a lot of vacant lands but it does not have the safe infrastructure or the resources for a high population. My Petition Reads: We stand to keep the population on the Big Island in a place where all infrastructure and resources are safe and comfortable for the entire population, as well as locals, are able to buy affordable homes on the island before newcomers. Please go to BigIslandSupport.com to learn how to support the island. Can the Hawaii Planning Department put in a stipulation in all development applications that to build on The Big Island they must sell a high percentage of their homes to locals at an affordable rate first before selling to newcomers? This could help the local homes shortage as well as slow the increase in population. For example, a stipulation to be able to build and sell homes on The Big Island would be they must sell 50% of their homes to Hawaiian locals who have lived on the island for 10 years or more, 25% to regular locals who have lived on the island for 10 years or more and all at an affordable rate that is under $400,000, and sell 25% to newcomers at whatever rate they want. That is 75% of homes that developers build must be sold to locals in order to be approved to build on the island. This would help the locals who have lived here for years be able to purchase a home before big investors, as well as help, slow down homes from becoming vacation rentals instead of family homes, and will help decrease the fast increase in population until the Planning Department can know for sure that the island's infrastructure, as well as resources, can handle a serious increase in population. We also ask for an Environment Population Impact Report to be done on what would be a safe population for the Big Island due to the infrastructure of the island's roads, landfill, water, sewer... There are mostly only 2 lanes throughout the entire Big Island and some places where cars cannot pull over if an ambulance needs to get by. If the island's population keeps increasing there will be constant serious traffic and how will ambulances get by in emergencies? What if there is a tsunami and people need to get to higher ground? Will they be able to get to higher ground in time with increased traffic? The island's small road infrastructure isn't made for a high population. What is a safe population for the Big Island? The Environment population Impact Report can tell us. We ask this to be done. We ask for another hospital to be built, as well as a trauma center and dive chamber to be put on the island to accommodate all types of injuries before you allow more development to be approved. Unless you put in the stipulation in the application that developers must sell 75% of their homes to locals at an affordable rate. Alii Drive is only two lanes and right now there are two big developments in progress and at least three more applications to build more subdivisions on this one road. Can we see how this road handles all the new homes that are already in progress before we start building hundreds more on this road? We stand to stop more development on Alii Drive until the Environment Population Impact Report has been completed and then only if the stipulation that they must sell 75% of their homes to locals at an affordable rate is included in order to be approved to develop. What about parking? All of the Big Island towns have parking issues, especially during high tourist seasons and Ironman. With more subdivisions comes more cars and the island towns are already overcrowded with parking issues. How will parking Improve with more houses? Is the Hawaii Planning Department considering the parking issues? We ask for you to improve the parking issues before approving more development unless you put in the 75% homes to locals stipulation in the application. From what I've read there are 50,000 cesspools on The Big Island. Are these all upgraded to ensure they will not pollute the land and ocean? We ask that all cesspools be upgraded to ensure safety for the ocean around the island. If you agree with this info, please sign this petition. There are hundreds of new homes that have been approved and are currently being built right now. This petition states that we strongly OPPOSE approving more New Proposed Subdivisions Applications UNLESS Hawaii Planning puts in the stipulation that they must sell 75% of their homes to locals at an affordable rate that is under $400,000. This can slow down the increase in population so we can look at the island's resources and infrastructure to keep the Big Island safe for the people who already live here and give homes to locals. We Oppose these MK's below unless they sell 75% of their homes to locals at under $400,000 a home. Stipulations to build on the island are possible! Tax Map Key 7-8-004: 059 & 060 size of property 1 .3 Acres Tax Map Key: (3) 7-3-065:044 approx. 3.418 Acres Tax Map Key 7-8-010:077 size of property 74 Acers Keauhou area Tax Map Key 7-5-003:023 size of property 129 Acers Queen K Hwy area Tax Map Key 7-7-008:121 size of property 11 Acers Alii Drive area Tax Map Key 7-7-004:063 size of property 8 Acers Alii Drive area Tax Map Key 8-1-007:013 size 1.74 Acres Tax Map Key 8-1-008: 004 size 6.875 Acres Tax Map Key 7-9-007: 055 size 2 Acers Tax Map Key 7-5-017:040 Tax Map Key 7-5-019:049, 050,054 size 47.389 Acres Tax Map Key (3) 8-1-036: 001 & 002 size 54 Acres Tax Map Key 3-709-5-79 size 94 Acres Tax Map Key (3) 7-5-020:066 9.9 sq. ft Tax Map Key (3) 7-5-018:071 size 3 Acres Tax Map Key 7-6-021 :016 & 017 size 68 Acres Tax Map Key 7-6-008: 012 size 10 Acres Tax Map Key (3) 7-5-018: 095 Please let me know if you find more applications on the streets. They are big black and white signs on vacant lands that have Application Info and Tax Map Key numbers. Please email me the Tax Map Key numbers and I will add them to this petition. You can email me at save big islandPgmail.com, thank you! Comments on Why People Signed Peitition: Kurt Faut Oct 2, 2022 Simply put, the traffic on Kamehameha III Road, should this project be completed, will be similar to that fronting Hulihe'e Palace and the pier. Tourists clamoring to swim and recreate on the bay, ride on the snorkel and... Read more 0 Report in, Ana Chervenak Jul ou, LULL My home is becoming over populated 0 Report ini CM Simon Jul 20, 2022 I care. 0 Report ini Tracy Gonsalves Jul LU, LULL We are already overpopulated, our ecosystem is altered each time portions of this land is cleared to make way for another structure or roadway, this invites the outsiders of wealth to buy and continues to suppress locals and natives from living a basic or simple affordable life. This depletes and disrupts our beautiful historical hawai`i nei. 0 Report Frank Rom Jul LU, LULc Seems population growth is out pacing infrastructure development by too big a margin. 0 Report iUi Ann Eshabarr J U i I J. GVGL We need to build smart and affordable. We need to take great care with the important decisions being made. Infrastructure, roads, culturally significant land, and traffic are just a few of the things to consider. We need to move forward carefully. We must stop corruption. All money should go to where it's intended not someone's pocket. We need more auditing. Mahalo. 0 Report in Peter Matlock Jul 14, 2022 If all existing homes that are supposed to be hooked up to our sewer system were connected overnight, we'd already be over the capacity of the Kealakehe sewage treatment plant. We know the danger of getting into local waters with an open cut--infections take impossibly long to heal. Coral reefs and marine wildlife are suffering. Why are we making this problem worse? 0 Report U Protect 'Opih ihale Ohana Ua mau ke 'ea o ka 'aina i ka pono. 0 Report U Heidi Lee Jul 4, 2022 We don't need more housing unless we have enough natural resources .. and we need affordable housing not more second homes for people 0 Report il]i Ethan Olins Jun 2�,, c022 As it is there's not nearly enough infrastructure or decent shoreline access in Kona and BI in general. Aole. 0 Report U Duane Nakano Jun 27, 2022 We need more affordable housing for Iocals..l'm in the construction industry & all I see is lots being cleared to build for outsiders. 0