HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-10-28 Kūpuna for the Moʻopuna TestimonyFrom:Kupuna Moopuna
To:WPCtestimony
Cc:Kupuna Moopuna
Subject:Testimony - 11.1.2024 Windward Planning Commission - General Plan 2045 Draft - STRONG OPPOSITION
Date:Monday, October 28, 2024 12:39:46 PM
Attachments:image.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.pngimage.png
Kūpuna for the Moʻopuna
committed to the well-being of Hawaiʻi for the next generations to comekupuna4moopuna@gmail.com
DATE: Friday, November 1, 2024
TIME: 9:00 a.m.
LOCATION: Hawai‘i County Council Chambers, Hilo, Hawaiʻi
SUBJECT: County of Hawaiʻi General Plan 2045, Final Recommended Draft -
STRONG OPPOSITION
Aloha to the Hawaiʻi County Windward Planning Commission,
We, Kūpuna for the Moʻopuna, a hui of Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (HHCA)kūpuna beneficiary farmers from Panaʻewa, Hawaiʻi, testify in STRONGOPPOSITION to the County of Hawaiʻi General Plan 2045 (GP), FinalRecommended Draft and ask that the Windward Planning Commission NOTRECOMMEND APPROVAL of the proposed amendments, in part.
We ask the Windward Planning Commission to require the following changes to the GP2045 Draft consistent with the purpose of the General Plan pursuant to Section 3-15 ofthe Hawaii County Charter to “... promote the general welfare, health, and prosperity ofits people.”
1.The General Plan 2045 Draft must include a South Hilo Community DevelopmentPlan. The General Plan 2045 Draft fails to include all seven of Hawaiʻi County’sCommunity Development Plans (CDP). The GP 2045 Draft includes only six CDPs, all
but one CDP, intentionally leaving out the South Hilo CDP. This reeks of discriminatorygobbledegook from the county’s planning department, who, when responding to publicquestions of why no Hilo CDP in the GP, sidestep the CDP issue and conveniently citethe Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) documents yet refuse to include thesame DHHL documents in the actual General Plan 2045 Draft.
County of Hawaii
Final Draft General Plan 2045 Public Comments
Pg. 44 of 569
https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/weblink/Browse.aspx?dbid=1&startid=139815
Land Use
Q: Why was a Hilo CDP not done, when Hilo has the most population?
A: Given the process of adopting the General Plan, it may be considered that Hilo
would better benefit from an urban development plan rather than a regional
plan, although this is still to be determined. The latest Hilo CDP is dated 1975.
Further, the greater Hilo area has several other planning documents and tools
that other towns and regions do not have and that help to guide development in
and around Hilo. These include but are not limited to: the City of Hilo Zone Map
(HCC 25-8-33), Downtown Hilo Multimodal Master Plan, Banyan Drive
Redevelopment Authority Plan, EnVision Downtown Hilo, Hilo Bayfront Trails
Master Plan, DHHL Master Plans for each of its areas (like Panaewa and
Keaukaha), University of Hawaii in Hilo Master Plan, State Airport Master Plan,
etc. [emphasis added].
These “other planning documents” are “urban development plans” that do not includethe voices of the residential communities of South Hilo. The citizens of South Hilo areNOT represented in the GP 2045, of particular concern to the South Hilo homesteadcommunities of Keaukaha and Panaʻewa - already suffering from disproportionateenvironmental injustices - targeted for aggressive development in the GP 2045 Draft.
We have been demanding an updated Hilo CDP 1975 / South Hilo CDP for years andcontinue to insist that the GP 2045 include the Hilo CDP 1975 to ensure this outdatedCDP is part of the GP 2045 Phase 1 2024-2029 actions for “updating our CommunityDevelopment Plans and other relevant plans.” (GP 2045 pg. 221)
2.The General Plan 2045 Draft must include Department of Hawaiian Home Land/Commission Chair Kali Watson’s comments and documents. These comments anddocuments were submitted to the County Planning Department’s Chairman Zendo Kernin February 2024. We brought these same concerns, comments, and documents to theattention of several county administrations, county planning departments, and sittingcounty council member D3 over the course of many years while the GP 2040 - now 2045
- was being amended. At every level, our voices were dismissed. Now, with this sameflagrant dismissiveness towards our Hawaiian Homes Commission Act authority, thecounty refused to include comments and documents in the GP 2045 Draft as requestedby the HHCA Chair.
Here are two examples of the HHCA Chair’s comments / documents (Attachments 1-3)that the county refused to include:
· The MOU between the County and DHHL was created almost a quarter
century ago and while DHHL knows that current County Planning
Department staff are aware of the MOU and the unique status of the
Hawaiian Homes Commission’s land use authority over DHHL lands, DHHLwants to further ensure that future County staff future elected officials, and
future members of the public continue to have an institutional memory of
the relationship between DHHL and the County. Incorporating a reference
to this document in the 2045 County General Plan Update will betterguarantee that this institutional memory is perpetuated in future generations
[emphasis added]. The 2002 MOU is enclosed for your convenience and
reference.
·
· Likewise, DHHL requests that its 2022 DHHL General Plan Update be
referenced and / or included in the 2045 County General Plan Update
either as an appendices or other appropriate section of the County General
Plan [emphasis added]. The 2022 DHHL General Plan Update identifiesland use designations that the HHC may apply to Hawaiian Home Lands.
The DHHL General Plan should be a reference to the County.
While the county verbally acknowledges the HHCA’s authority over DHHL lands, thecounty refused to commit this to writing in the GP 2045 Draft, which will be tothe detriment of HHCA beneficiaries forced to expend time, energy, and resources toensure and protect the well being of the people and the land.
Again, we ask that the Windward Planning Commission require the above changes to theGP 2045 Draft consistent with the purpose of the General Plan pursuant to Section 3-15of the Hawaii County Charter to “... promote the general welfare, health, and prosperityof its people.”
Mahalo,Kūpuna for the MoʻopunaPanaʻewa, Hawaiʻi
Attachments (3):(1) DHHL Comments on the County of Hawaii 2045 General Plan - February 28,2024 (4 pages)(2) Memorandum of Agreement Between the County of Hawaiʻi and theDepartment of Hawaiian Home Lands - December 27, 2002 (5 pages)
(3) DHHL Comments on Draft County of Hawaii General Plan Update - October31, 2019 & August 30, 2017 (11pages)