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Home My WebLink About2024-10-29 Malia Mares Testimony Renegade From:Malia Mares To:WPCtestimony Subject:Comments on (PL-USE-2024-000028) - Renegade Towers LLC Date:Tuesday, October 29, 2024 2:09:17 PM Attachments:Comments on (PL_USE_2024-000028).docx 10-29-24 Aloha Planning Commissioners, Thank you for allowing me to present my comments on the use permit application request for Renegade Towers LLC’s proposed Telecommunications Facility Project. My comments and exhibits are attached and also copied in the body of this email for convenience. ------------------------------------------ A 150’ monopole tower with equipment is not consistent with the general character of the community and surrounding properties. Visual impact from Pahoa-Kalapana Road - Highway 130: The applicant states in their application that the project site property and surrounding roadside is heavily wooded and that the taller trees would screen the tower effectively from Highway 130, a protected beauty corridor. While the applicant’s geospatial analysis of the terrain and tree heights indicate that at present the taller trees would hide the tower along much of the highway, there are still gaps where the tower would be visible. The forest on the property and surrounding area is made up of an overstory of native ‘Ohi’a Lehua trees which have been heavily impacted by the fungal disease Rapid Ohia Death (ROD). Each year more of the mature ohia’s along this stretch of highway are killed by ROD and are not being replaced by younger ones, mostly due to the understory of invasive weeds and feral pigs. Therefore it is reasonable to expect that there will be less screening over time as more taller ‘ohi’a trees succumb to ROD. As the climate becomes warmer and drier the threat of wildfire becomes more immediate, especially along roadsides. In the event of a fire along this corridor much of the screening forest could be lost. Visual impact from adjacent properties: Where the property shares an edge with Ho’onone Road there is very little vegetation between the road and adjacent properties. This property was previously cleared as a pasture and the view is open all along the southern edge. There are several nearby privately owned properties which are heavily wooded at present but may at some point in the future be cleared by their owners. This would make a 150’ monopole even more widely visible to the surrounding properties. Along Ho’onone Road and at the top of these surrounding properties the terrain is fairly flat and a 150’ monopole would be highly visible and quite imposing in the open pastureland. Exhibit 1 - Terrain model of Ho’onone Road with average vegetation height and density with 150’ monopole. (3D terrain model for Hoonone Rd using Terrainview in Google Earth Pro 3D).  Note: The following data sources and analysis were used for exhibits: DEM: SRTM images for viewshed profiles. Analysis done in QGIS using vector and GDAL tools. 3D models: Collada (.dae) models scaled to size using Blender, Google Earth Terrain and superimposed on photos.   Exhibit 2 - Photosimulation of 150’ monopole east of adjacent property corner from Ho’onone Road. If the use permit for the tower were to be approved the visual impact from both the highway and Ho’onone Road should be mitigated by installing a monopine instead of a monopole and also by reducing the tower height. There are existing tall Cook Pines on the property and along the roadside so the monopine would blend in much better with the surroundings, especially if the tower height were reduced. In the application the applicant states that a monopine would be infeasible because the weight of the branches would make it difficult to engineer for wind loads. However other monopine towers the same height have been built here on the island, including one on Kawailanai St in Hilo in a more exposed location. Nuisance noise: The proposed tower site is located in a very rural and natural part of lower Puna. Levels of nuisance noise are currently very low in the area with low levels of traffic, construction or industrial noise. The existing comparative silence would make the constant noise levels from the electronics and AC units even more noticeable, thus interfering with the property owners’ right to quiet enjoyment of their properties. The emergency diesel generators would be quite loud from the surrounding properties, and in addition to running for regular maintenance, would go on anytime there is an interruption in power, whatever time of the day or night. Although telecommunications towers are an allowed use on Ag zoned areas, the levels of noise with two or more diesel generators at any hour and the constant noise the equipment would produce is not consistent with general character of the community and surrounding properties. If the use permit for the tower were to be approved the impacts from noise should be mitigated by installing a sound wall around the equipment, preferably combined with an outer earthen berm with both opening toward the highway with exhaust pipes also facing the highway. Regular maintenance should be performed during working hours on non-holiday weekdays to reduce the noise impact on the adjacent properties. Safety and Security – Fire suppression: With the proposed diesel generators comes an increased risk of fire which would threaten all of the adjacent properties and surrounding state lands. Currently there do not appear to be County water lines onto this property or any other obvious means of putting out a fire. If the use permit for the tower were to be approved the threat of fire should be mitigated, preferably by connecting to the county water lines and installing a spigot with a firehose bib, or installing and maintaining water tanks with firehose bibs of sufficient capacity to extinguish a fire. Additionally the area around the equipment should be regularly maintained and kept clear of weeds, grasses and other combustible materials. Safety and Security – Secure access: Because the proposed tower would be visible from Highway 130 and surrounds it would likely attract attention from individuals looking for a remote place to dump trash, cars etc or other criminal activity. Although the plans show that the entrance would be gated, gates can be broken or inadvertently left open allowing unauthorized access, especially to unoccupied properties. The proposed project site parcel shares a property line with a portion of Ho’onone Road where an existing 4’ hog wire fence, erected by a previous owner, is now in a state of disrepair. Because the parcel was cleared along the southern edge with Ho’onone Road it would be possible to drive onto the road from the parcel at several locations undermining property owners’ security. If the use permit for the tower were to be approved the increased security threat to the adjacent properties should be mitigated be replacing the fence along the southern edge of the proposed project site where it meets Ho’onone Road to prevent vehicular access. A contact information for technicians with rapid response capability should be provided to all adjacent property owners to notify in case of an emergency. Mahalo for allowing me to present my comments. With aloha, Malia Mares