HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-21 Susan Bambara Testimony
From:
To: Planning LPC Testimony
Subject: Bill 170 & Planning Department Public Comments
Date: Monday, September 21, 2026 7:02:19 AM
Aloha Leeward Planning Commission and Planning Department,
Today, I am addressing my testimony to 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.
Any lack of defining “data centers” properly will and would allow loop holes for them and that is untenable as well as would be an egregious lack of foresight by both
departments!
Mahalo for hearing my pleas,
Susan Bambara
Kurtistown