HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-19 Nolan Grossman SupportFrom: Nolan Grossman
To: Planning LPC Testimony
Subject: Data centers in Hawaii
Date: Saturday, September 19, 2026 12:42:35 PM
Part 1
My name is Nolan Grossman and I’m born and raised on Big Island. I am writing in support of Bill 170 and asking
the Leeward Planning Commission to recommend additional strengthening changes before sending it back to the
County Council.
The original Bill 170 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 replacing that subjective language with an objective, enforceable standard: a
specific electrical-demand threshold, measured in megawatts, that applies to a single facility and to any campus of
multiple facilities built under common ownership or control, so a developer can't dodge the rule by splitting one
large project into several smaller buildings.
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
Thank you,
Nolan Grossman
(808) 769-0539