HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-21 Whitney Velez Testimony
From: Whitney Velez
To: Planning LPC Testimony
Subject: Bill 170 & Planning Department Public Comments
Date: Monday, September 21, 2026 4:29:37 PM
Aloha Leeward Planning Commission and Planning Department, My name is Whitney
Velez and I am from Kamuela. 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. Mahalo,
Whitney Velez