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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-11-17 Opposition Testimony from Maki MorinoueFrom:Maki Morinoue To:Planning LPC Testimony Subject:Oppose Item #1 PL-SMA_2025-00080 Date:Monday, November 17, 2025 2:43:25 PM Attachments:Screenshot 2025-11-17 at 2.21.00 PM.png Aloha Leeward Planning Commissioners, My name is Maki Morinoue, a fourth-generation from Holualoa ahupua'a, and I have long observed changes in my lifetime around sea level rise here in Kona. It is unusual to have South winds and swells, and we are seeing this happening with climate change. For reasons related to climate change and the lack of infrastructure in this area, I strongly OPPOSE SCOTT F. CHURCH & JOHN TOTAH SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA USE PERMIT APPLICATION (PL-SMA-2025-000080): Item #1, PL-SMA_2025- 00080 I SUPPORT Item #2 to revoke Special Management Area Use Permit No. 03-000007 that would have allowed the development of a 12-unit multi-family residential development. This video captures a massive wave going over a two-story building in the Keauhou area, and a wedding impacted by rogue waves at Hulihe'e Palace, which speaks for itself. The Guardian, CBS News, Newsweek, Island News, and News Nation reported on this: https://youtu.be/4BCbHEicn04?si=5ftvEdaeaLk0BnsF Deeper reporting from News Nation: https://youtu.be/DngAoUqip8g?si=96kQ2xdTk1VsTqte For 10 years, I have been advocating for the NO BUILD recommendation of the then Police Chief's orders of 2017; his letter should be in the public record within Leeward Planning and County Council regarding his NO BUILD recommendation on Ali'i Drive, as we failed to evacuate residents from Ali'i Drive during ALL tsunami emergencies. We have NEVER had a successful evacuation, and Kahakai School is close to the ocean. All roads come to a complete dead stop! There is no way to move that many children and staff out of Kahakai Elementary School. So far, tsunami evacuations have landed on weekends or non-school days. The 2025 Mayor's statement that Kona is extremely prepared for tsunami evacuation was grossly incorrect; we are NOT prepared to evacuate in Kona. Recent data from the January 29, 2025 shoreline survey revealed a loss of 965 square feet of shoreline area in Kona in just seven years. This rate of erosion places much of the Kona coastline firmly within what coastal scientists identify as High Hazard Coastal Zones, where recommended setbacks range from 60 to 120 feet to protect life, property, and public trust resources. A 40-foot setback is insufficient given the rapid erosion trends and the increasing impacts of sea-level rise, high-energy wave events, and groundwater inundation along West Hawaiʻi’s coast. https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1051/pdf/ofr2011- 1051_report_508_rev052512.pdf Sea level rise reviewer: https://www.pacioos.hawaii.edu/shoreline/slr-hawaii/ Our shoreline and roadways can not handle more development. Also, our residents for 10 years plus have continued to raise questions about the sewage integrity, water, and power issues we currently face in Kailua-Kona. The County of Hawai'i paused many of Zendo Kern's major development projects along Ali'i Drive in 2017 until the County addressed its serious infrastructure issues, yet when Zendo took the position of Head of Planning in 2020, all of his development projects were allowed to continue after the 7-year pause. The Planning Department did not reassess or develop any plans to address our infrastructure problems. Instead, Zendo rubber-stamped his own clients' to go forward with massive Ali'i Drive developments. It is vital for the current Leeward Planning to understand the level of danger this area holds along Ali'i Drive and the political history. The level of mass sacred lands that are constantly under threat of development, with lineal descendants still visiting their ancestral sacred grounds along Ali'i Drive. This area has the most significant archaeological sacred sites in a single location across all our islands. Our Special Management areas are constantly developed via special management permits, which is an oxymoron in preserving sacred lands. Lastly, a pattern our residents have observed for the last 10 years, as I testified on the Leeward Planning Commission, is that Archaeology Surveys are never conducted or enforced. The Cultural Commission is never informed of developments of cultural sites that will be impacted. The system seems rigged, and we count on our current Leeward Planning Commissioners to understand the impact of our residents, our culture, and visitors along the Ali'i Drive area. I am still for NO BUILD until we keep our residents and visitors safe. I am not anti- development; I am for developing logically and thoughtfully to preserve proper archaeological sites, evacuate people to safety, protect cultural landscapes, designate open spaces, understand the impact of land use on our ocean, and understand how much water we are using to decide what our development capacity needs to be and design to think ahead to becoming climate prepared. These are the unanswered questions from our water and planning departments. Seems these departments continue to claim they don’t have to address water-related concerns alongside capacity development. Nor address the tsunami and infrastructure concerns, and continue to pass developments that primarily benefit offshore investors rather than local residents, or provide circular economic benefits. We are living in a time when we need to understand that human development has directly altered our water cycle and remember where our watershed begins. It is not just at the top of our mountain, but the mid sections of our mountain to the sea, which creates our rain clouds. Those patterns have changed since development crawled up the mountain. Please help us protect our shorelines and advocate for better infrastructure. We have already reached max capacity in this area. Say NO to swimming pools! Recommendations and majority votes in this commission truly impact our culture, future environmental impact, and safety for many generations to come. Mahalo for your time, Maki Morinoue Holualoa ahupua'a -- Maki Morinoue Share your ALOHA "Aloha Spirit" is the coordination of mind and heart within each person. It bringseach person to the self. Each person must think and emote good feelings to others. In the contemplation and presence of the life force, "Aloha,"