HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-21 Julia Marrack TestimonyFrom: Julia Marrack
To: Planning LPC Testimony
Subject: Testimony Bill 170 & Planning Department input
Date: Monday, September 21, 2026 9:37:46 AM
Aloha Leeward Planning Commission and Planning Department,
My name is Julia Marrack, and I am from Kamuela, HI. My testimony addresses both
the Leeward Planning Commission and the Planning Department because you are
asking the community for input on the same concerns simultaneously.
I am asking our planning commissioners to reject the Planning Department’s
recommendation, which prematurely revises regulations before defining what a data
center is. Their proposal currently lacks substantial safeguards. We must work to
clarify definitions before defining regulations. I support the intent of Bill 170, section 1,
and urge the Leeward Planning Commission to recommend a stronger definition of "data center" that distinguishes data-center processing. The original bill defines a
data center using subjective language that a developer's attorney can easily argue
around in court. I am asking the commission to recommend an objective, airtight
definition grounded in what the facility physically contains and how much power it draws.
Specifically, I am asking the commission to recommend this language: "Data center"
means a facility used for the industrial-scale operation of computer systems and associated equipment [for the processing, computing, transmission, or dissemination
of digital data] that requires supporting infrastructure beyond that typically accessory
or incidental to office, commercial, or public and private institutional uses[.], including
a single facility and any campus of multiple facilities under common ownership or control whose combined electrical demand meets or exceeds 5 megawatts.
If we listen and learn from what is happening in places where data centers have been
built, and the harm that they cause to the people and the environment, we can see how extremely important it is to do our due diligence, and create a strong, fool proof
bill.
Mahalo, Julia Marrack, Kamuela