HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-21 Zoe Kosmas Testimony
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From: Zoe Kosmas
To: Planning LPC Testimony
Subject: Testimony for Bill 170
Date: Monday, September 21, 2026 2:07:36 PM
Aloha kākou,
My name is Zoe Kosmas and I live in Waimea. I am writing to support the intent of Bill 170 and asking the Leeward Planning Commission to recommend additional strengthening
changes before sending it back to the County Council.
Bill 170's current language uses subjective phrases like "industrial-scale operation" and
"beyond that typically accessory or incidental to office, commercial, or public institutional uses." Those phrases don't set a clear line, and a well-resourced developer's attorney can argue
around them either way. I'm asking the Commission to recommend a clear, objective definition of "data center," distinct from the county's existing "data processing facility"
definition. Below is a suggestion for such a definition:
"'Data center' means a facility, or two or more facilities on contiguous or adjacent parcels
under common ownership or control, whose primary purpose is housing, operating, or co-locating computer servers and associated cooling, power, and support infrastructure, and
whose combined electrical demand at full build-out meets or exceeds 5 megawatts."
I'm also asking the Commission to reject the Planning Department's recommendation to add
smaller data centers as a permitted use. That change would open a legal pathway for data centers here rather than close one, with no discretionary review of grid impact, water, noise, or
anything else.
I feel strongly that this bill exemplifies the values and priorities of our island community. To
protect land and water as a resource for all and not a select few, and to acknowledge the delicate balance we already hold as an idland is essential to our longevity into the guture. Our
electiricy and water bills are already astronomical, allowing these various data centers would only exacerbate the situation. Our keiki need to know that those in power value ‘āina over
profit, and community sustainability over individual progress.
Our island's closed water system, fossil-fuel-dependent grid, and already strained
infrastructure cannot support data centers. Please recommend the strongest possible version of this bill to the County Council
Mahalo, Zoe Kosmas
Ouli ahupua'a, Waimea, Hawai‘i
Zoe Kosmas
Culinary Garden Director
Mālaʻai The Culinary Garden of Waimea Middle School & Hawaii Island School Garden Network o. 808-313-7542 c. 808-747-7545
malaai.org
@malaaigarden
@hawaiiislandschoolgardens
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