HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025.12.17 Erin Weingarten Testimony
From:Weingarten,Erin
To:Planning Internet Mail
Subject:Testimony for banyan drive bill
Date:Wednesday, December 17, 2025 9:15:44 PM
Aloha Chair and Members of the Banyan Drive Hawaii Redevelopment Agency,
My name is Erin Weingarten, and I am a resident of Hilo. I am writing to express my strong
opposition to the proposed bill that would transfer full authority over Banyan Drive and the
entire Waikea Peninsula to the Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA).
This bill would remove decision-making power from the local community and place it in the
hands of a state agency based on Oahu—an agency that is not accountable to the people who
live with the daily realities of Banyan Drive, Hilo’s shoreline, and the Waikea Peninsula.
Decisions about our parks, our shoreline, Moku Ola, and future development should remain
with the people of East Hawaii, not be centralized under an authority whose primary mandate
has historically prioritized private development interests.
HCDA-led development threatens to increase extractive tourism, weaken local control, and
repeat patterns of overdevelopment that have already caused harm elsewhere in Hawaii.
Banyan Drive is not an empty development zone—it is a culturally significant, environmentally
vulnerable, and deeply loved place. Proposing hotel-driven development in a known flood zone
ignores the very real and escalating impacts of climate change and sea-level rise. We should
not be investing public authority and resources into development models that we already know
are unsafe, unsustainable, and fiscally irresponsible.
Hilo deserves a future shaped by its residents—one rooted in climate resilience, cultural
integrity, and long-term community well-being. That future does not include transferring
control of our shoreline to an agency that has repeatedly prioritized private investment over
public trust responsibilities.
I urge the Agency to oppose this bill and to affirm that Banyan Drive and the Waikea Peninsula
remain under governance structures that are locally accountable, community-driven, and
responsive to the realities of East Hawaii.
Mahalo for the opportunity to submit this testimony and for considering the voices of the
community you serve.
Erin