HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-10-11 Janet Marrack Support
From: Jan Marrack
To: Planning LPC Testimony
Subject: Bill 170
Date: Sunday, October 11, 2026 2:43:49 PM
My name is Janet Marrack and I have lived on the Big Island since 1970 and have been in
Waimea since 1979. I am writing in strong support of Bill 170 and am asking the Leeward
Planning Commission to recommend it favorably, with one specific strengthening change.
The current Bill 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 draw a clear line, and a well-resourced developers attorney can likely argue a
project around them.
I'm asking the Commission to give a favorable recommendation for Bill 170 AND to
recommend replacing that language with an objective 5 megawatt electrical demand
threshold, the same figure the Hawaii State Legislature itself is already using to study large
data centers in HCR 206 HD1. The state's own working group is still studying the full effects of
these facilities, and that is exactly why
5 megawatts is a solid place for our definition to start: it is the same line our own State
lawmakers have already agreed is significant enough to study.
Hawaii Island has limited water, a fragile grid and electricity rates nearly three times the
national average, We do not need to wait for a company to show up with a proposal to know
this is the wrong place for a hyperscale data center.
Please recommend Bill 170 favorably with a strengthened, objective, definition.
Thank you for your time and attention to this.
Janet Marrack
66-1183 Kapiolani Road
Kamuela, HI 96743