HomeMy WebLinkAboutWritten Testimony Rec. 2024-08-20 by Ellen LaPenna1
Lahip, Jessica
From:Ellen LaPenna
Sent:Tuesday, August 20, 2024 11:49 AM
To:Planning CDP
Subject:Ka'u CDP Action Committee Testimony, Proposed Development at Punalu'u
Follow Up Flag:Follow up
Flag Status:Flagged
Ka’u CDP Action Committee Testimony, Proposed Development at Punalu'u and your letter to the
Windward Planning Commission, Ellen LaPenna, Na’alehu
Thank you for the time and energy put forth by your committee to evaluate the proposed development at
Punalu'u and how it does or does not align with the CDP. I’m a turtle volunteer with Malama Pono
Punalu’u and also work with friends to look for Hawksbill turtle tracks during nesting season. After the
outpouring of community testimony in opposition to the development, I hope you will move forward and
send your well-researched letter to the Planning Committee, showing that the CDP prohibits a
development such as this at Punalu'u. During the first CDP meeting in Pahala, virtually all who testified,
testified against this development.
1.The Ka’u Community Development Plan’s (CDP) #1 objective is to encourage future development
patterns that are safe, sustainable, and connected. They should protect people and community
facilities from natural hazards, and they should honor the best of Ka’u’s historic precedents, which
includes limiting the development on the shorelines.
A. The proposed Market Place is approximately 50 yards away from the sand and beach itself. This
puts the development and all who visit in harm’s way of a potential tsunami, hurricane and
flooding. It would be irresponsible and a potentially a libelous decision to approve plans as they
stand. There is no disaster mitigation plan.
B. The proposed Market Place also goes against the objective of limiting the development on the
shorelines. The CDP recommends development setback be 1320’ (1/4 mile) from the shoreline.
There has been no new shoreline assessment in 50 years.
C. Policy #26 (p.52 of CDP): Encourage those developments that are not coastal dependent to
locate in land areas. The Market Place is a not coastal dependent project. Also, Policy #23
(p.52): Protect the Shoreline from encroachment of man-made improvements and structures.
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D. Policy #6 (p.39): The development of visitor accommodations and any resort development
should complement the character of the area: protect the environment and natural beauty:
respect existing lifestyles, cultural practices and cultural resources: provide shoreline public
access; and provide affordable housing to meet the demand created by the development.
E. Policy #29: No development shall be approved in the SMA unless the development will not have
any substantial adverse environmental or ecological affect.
There has not been a completed Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) since 1988.
There is no burial treatment plan and no plan for affordable housing.
2. Infrastructure in very poor repair:
A. The million-gallon water tank is leaking in two areas, cannot be filled to capacity.
B. The sewage treatment plant is barely functioning and currently operating manually. There is no
sewage treatment plan.
C. Of the 18 fire hydrants, eight of them do not work. With the annual fires we have at Punalu’u,
this is a “Lahaina Fire” just waiting to happen. The County Fire Department, Colony One Condo
Residents and Punalu’u Mauka (Kalana Estates), have asked that this issue addressed, but in
three years of Black Sand Beach, LLC ownership, these are fire hydrants are still inoperable. (Back
in 2021-2022, at local meetings, the developer promised to make repairs. In March 2022, a SMA
minor repairs permit was issued and when none of the repairs to sewer lines, fire hydrants,
potable water lines, roadway and irrigation repairs were made, a new SMA was submitted.)
3. Core Values p.8: The KCDP Steering Committee identified Ka’u’s three Core Values and one of them is
Country or Rural Style Living. This is defined as quiet, lifestyle, country, agriculture, isolation, little
traffic, culture, uncrowned, history, freedom, pace. Although this development proposal says it is
doing this to help the community, it ignores one of Ka’u’s major values.
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4. Straight from the Ka’u CDP: 1.3.2 Values and Vision Statement p.10:
Importantly, though economic development was clearly the community’s highest priority for the future,
the five additional priority areas focused on areas related to quality of life and place – recreation,
education, healthcare, ‘āina, and public services. Though greater economic opportunity is critical, the
people of Ka‘ū do not want to sacrifice their other values and priorities for the sake of the economy.
Importantly, many of the same themes resonate when the people share what they love about Ka‘u and
what hopes they have for its future:
Preserve our lifestyle rooted in the unity of land, community, and livelihood.
Building a future on what already is, as opposed to what someone else would make it.
5. The Ka’u CDP took over 10 pain-staking years to complete and is one of the most honest and true
depiction of the People, Land, Culture and History of Ka’u. Many people donated countless hours, work
and effort to bring this Award Winning CDP to fruition. For the County to approve the SMA application put
forth by Black Sand Beach, LLC is a demonstration of disrespect to the people of Ka’u, a derelict of duty,
and is a dis-service to Ka’u and the Island of Hawaii.
6. From the Special Management Area Guidelines: No development shall be approved unless the
authority has first found:
A. That the development will not have any significant adverse environmental or ecological effect,
except as any adverse effect is minimized to the extent practicable and clearly outweighed by
public health, safety or compelling public interest.
https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol04_Ch0201-0257/HRS0205A/HRS_0205A-0026.htm
Mahalo for reading,
Ellen LaPenna
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