HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-06-15 Samson Kamekona Lyau Support TestimonyFrom:Pipanconsulting
To:Planning LPC Testimony
Cc:Kay, Christian
Subject:Support Testimony for LPC items 6 & 7 Waikoloa Green LLC
Date:Monday, June 15, 2026 7:00:35 AM
Attachments:Joyce Lilly - Support for Waikoloa Green.pdfRobert and Joyce Aton - Support for Waikoloa Green.pdfAugustin Kealii Lilly - Support for Waikoloa Green.pdfNapahu Lilly - Support for Waikoloa Green.pdfSamson Kamekona Lyau Support for Waikoloa Green.pdf
Aloha,
Please see attached support testimony for Waikoloa Green LLC PL-SLU-2026-000016 and
PL-REZ-2026-000096.
Best,
John Pipan
President
Pipan Consulting LLC
Office:(808)333-3391
Cell:(808)430-1441
Samson Kamekona Lyau
29-248 Chin Chuck Road
Hakalau, HI 96710
June 12, 2026
Re: Letter of Support — Waikoloa Green (Change of Zone and Special Use Applications)
Dear Chairman Au and Members of the Leeward Planning Commission,
My name is Kona Lyau and I am the Poke Chef for Pono Hawaiian Style Deli in Waikoloa Village. I want to
express my strong support for the Waikoloa Green project, and to ask the Commission to approve it.
Up until last year, I used to live with my father in Waimea when I worked at the resorts as a prep cook
and beach attendant. However, I recently moved my job to working in the Village, and had to relocate my
residence to Hamakua Coast and my god the commute is BRUTAL. Fuel costs are completely
unsustainable for my family and I.
We are living day by day and it should not be this way. Especially when Pono Hawaiian Style Deli ranks in
the top 10 poke businesses of Hawaii Island. I should be doing way better than I am but living in a place I
can afford is the reason for my lack of thrivability due to the long and dangerous daily commute my
family and I have to make.
I chose to live on a farm in Hakalau because my rent is reduced in exchange for helping to mow the
owner’s 11 acres of the farm. It is a burdensome drain on my time to mow in order to afford rent. At this
time, I do not have a solution for how to afford living in the area I work as the rent amounts are too high
to afford.
Waikoloa Green offers a real solution. Four hundred attainable rental homes, built within a commuting
distance to my place of work, designed for the workforce that makes this community run. That is not a
small thing. That is a meaningful change in the right direction for me and my family of native Hawaiian
ancestry. This is huge.
I’m especially interested in their idea of family farm lots and food hub that will give local families a path
to grow food and build a livelihood on land that has sat idle for too long. My fiance has here BA in
agriculture and she could make things happen with this opportunity, I know she can.
I urge the Commission to approve Waikoloa Green. I need affordable housing and I need food security. I
can also grow food for my business ideas as a chef. Chili pepper water cannot stay on the shelves at
Pono’s.
Mahalo for your time and for your service to our community,
Samson Kamekona Lyau
Poke Chef, Pono Hawaiian Style Deli, Waikoloa Village