2025.12.17 Tina Holt Testimony - Laserfiche WebLink

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From:Tina Holt To:Planning Internet Mail; Kagiwada, Jennifer; Onishi, Dennis Subject:Written Testimony about Banyan Drive Date:Wednesday, December 17, 2025 11:21:22 AM Bill: Establishing the Banyan Drive Community Development District Position: OPPOSE From: Cristina Holt, Hilo Resident & Community Organizer Committee: BANYAN DRIVE HAWAI‘I REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY Date: 12/17/2025 Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee, My name is Cristina Holt, a resident of East Hawaii and a long-time community organizer and volunteer in local governance, cultural advocacy, and civic engagement. I am testifying today in strong opposition to this bill. I oppose this measure because it accelerates the kind of extractive tourism, state-controlled redevelopment, and climate-vulnerable shoreline building that has already harmed many communities across Hawaii. This bill moves Banyan Drive in the wrong direction — toward a top-down, development-first approach at a time when we should be rethinking our relationship with land, water, and tourism in the face of rising seas and intensifying climate impacts. 1. HCDA-led redevelopment is a model built for growth, not protection HCDA was designed to spur large-scale economic development. Its track record shows: prioritization of private investment over community needs, displacement and gentrification in existing districts, reduced local democratic oversight, and a tendency to “revitalize” in ways that expand tourism and real estate profits. Bringing this model to Banyan Drive invites: hotel-driven redevelopment, increased tourism pressure, private partnerships that monetize public shoreline, elimination of small businesses that give Hilo its character, and decisions being made in Honolulu rather than Hilo. This bill transfers power from local hands to a centralized authority whose mission is development, not stewardship. 2. The Waikea Peninsula is one of the most climate-vulnerable areas in the state