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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-11-18 Walter Kelly Walter Kelly Protect Keopuka Ohana P.O. Box 166 Honaunau, Hawaii 96726 konajack@earthlink.net 808-345-9229 November 18, 2024 Leeward Planning Commission 74-5044 Ane Keohokaole Highway Building E, 2nd Floor Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 LPCtestimony@hawaiicounty.gov Re: Jekaterina Mysin (SMA-2021-000078) There are many questionable assumptions in the Mysin application, but the most important one, as far as we are concerned, is the cavalier attitude taken toward the possibility of native Hawaiian historical resources on the property. The applicant received an exemption from preparing an Archeological Inventory Survey for the property, although none exists. Instead, SHPD allowed for a one-day"Field Inspection" of the property. The applicant hired Hilo-based TesARCH Services to perform the reconnaissance and file a report. The report sets forth an interesting viewpoint that the parcel is "highly disturbed."The rationale offered in the report is that every parcel around the subject parcel is developed, so whatever happened during that process inevitably must also have disturbed the subject parcel.Yet the majority of the subject parcel is raw lava rock and brush, with bulldozer intrusions along its edges and crumbling ranch-era walls. The applicant states that"it is not known whether the subject parcel or surrounding area was ever used for gathering by native Hawaiians. It appears very unlikely due to the non-native dominance of vegetation and history of disturbance by nearby development that any significant cultural resources would be found." Just across the path that leads to the beach, on the lot to the south side of the Mysin parcel, is a Hawaiian graveyard direct evidence that the area was once highly populated, and that even today there is a high likelihood that cultural resources are still present. SHPD has confirmed, by letter, the determination for the proposed project that there are "no historic properties affected," and that the HRS Ch. 6E-42 historic review process has ended. (SHPD Planning Department Exhibit 5-April 30, 2021 Letter from SHPD). But the agency also concedes that its determination leaned heavily upon the Scheffler 2021 Field Inspection Report. "The Scheffler(2021)FI report served to facilitate project planning and the historic preservation review process. The FI report assisted in preparing SHPD's project effect determination for the subject permit,"wrote SHPD. We find the report incomplete, and many of its assumptions just plain wrong. We also believe that the truncated process allowed by SHPD is not serving the best interests of the possible cultural resources in the immediate area. In my research in the SHPD library archives, I found an interesting fact which I later confirmed. I was searching for Archeological Inventory Surveys, Preservation Plans, and Burial Treatment Plans created for properties in the immediate area of the Mysin parcel. I found that most of the properties makai ofAli'i Drive that were built before 2000 were not required to provide any of the documents listed above. Many of these parcels went through the SMA process, but only two properties in the immediate area of Mumuhale Point have any archeological documentation that I can find. Parcels mauka of Alii Drive, like have several studies that have been performed due to the widening of Alii Drive, the installation of sewer and water lines, the construction of Kahakai School, and the bulldozing of the proposed Alii Highway alignment.All of these projects triggered archeological investigation. The one Archeological Inventory Survey I did find was done after the fact, following the destruction of a fishing heiau by two homeowners in the Alii Point subdivision. The heiau was destroyed after the developer had agreed to preserve it as a condition of having their SMA Permit Application approved. The homeowners at the time; Marc Hembrough,Alii Point Development, TMK 7-5-035-007 and the Franz Family Trust,Alii Point Development, TMK 7-5-035-009. The Hamakaokahai Fishing Shrine straddled the two properties. Preservation of the shrine was required by a SMA Permit issued May 30, 1985 to AIM Point Development. Condition F of that permit states that "the Kamakaokahai fishing shrine shall be preserved and a buffer as shown on the submitted site plan map shall be reflected on the final subdivision plat map and recorded with the Bureau of Conveyances and in any private restrictive covenants." In a June 13. 2013, letter to JM Leonard Planning LLC, SHPD noted that an SHPD archeologist who visited the site had determined that the "location where the Kamakaokahai fishing shrine had been located has been completely developed and landscaped by the neighboring residences. There were no physical remains of the shrine visible on the land surface, and no intact buffer as required by the SMA permit. The destruction of this historic site appears to be a violation of the SMA permit that allowed for the development of this property."As a result, SHPD required the development company to conduct an Archeological Inventory Survey to determine whether anything remained of the site. That survey(TMK: (3) 7-5-35:por. 007) was conducted by Alan Haun &Associates in November, 2013. The resulting AIS had some very revealing information about the surrounding environs information that, had it been accessed by Tes ARCH Services researchers, may have influenced the thinking of SHPD when they made their conclusions regarding the presence of cultural properties in the area, including the distinct possibility that ancient burials may exist anywhere in this area. The test trench pictured here at the shrine contained"displaced human remains." V� The following passage was taken from the Haun 2013 Survey. "The earliest archaeological survey of the project area was conducted by John Reinecke between 1929 and 1930. Reinecke (1930) was contracted by the Bishop Museum to survey and document archaeological sites in West Hawaii. His survey identified several sites in coastal Puapua`a consisting of Sites 47, 48 and 49 (Figure 10). The Hamakaokahai Fishing Shrine was documented as Site 48 by Reinecke. Site 47 is described as follows: "Site 47 is a cluster of house platforms located inland of the project area. This site is described as, "A succession of five modern house platforms. Then two more house sites, one flat on the ground, the other walled" (1930:36)" Site 47 and its cluster of house platforms is located in the same area as the Mysin property. My associates, who are recognized Hawaiian descendants of the area, accessed the property to investigate. We believe there is evidence of a lava tube running from north to south through the middle of the parcel, which may or may not contain cultural remains. We are asking that a full Archeological Survey of the parcel be conducted, and that test pits be dug, to determine whether cultural remains exist beneath the surface. The public and descendants of this area have a right to know. If, this misplaced development ever gets off the ground, a SHPD approved Archeological Monitoring Plan must be developed to guide the ground disturbance. Excavations 20 to 30 feet deep are contemplated by the developer. The Archeological Monitoring Plan is not sufficient on its own. The Inventory Survey is a must. We don't want to have to witness the destruction first in order to get SHPD and the County to step up to the plate. Thank ou for your time, Walter Dell y Y Vice-President Protect Keopuka Ohana