HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOR-16-108197 /t116011- ?4 fin 37
October 22, 2016
i LANoiii i :�, v\r-i I t''lENT
PO Box 199 COUN I Y OF HAWAII
Hakakalau, HI 96710
Farrah-Marie Gomes, Vice Chair
Hamakua CDP Steering Committee
do Hawaii County Planning Department
Aupuni Center, 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3
Hilo, HI 96720
RE: Hakalau Point, Option 3
Vice Chair Gomes and Members of the Hamakua CDP Steering Committee:
I'm Ken Forbes from Hakalau speaking in favor of Option 3 for Open Space in Hakalau.
First a point about why I'm here. The CDP invites the community to express itself about what
they want for land use in the future. I think this Hakalau land should be preserved from
development so I have been saying that. I do it understanding that we community members are
not in the driver's seat. I'm just following what I understand as the spirit of the CDP, which is
that the community's views deserve a place in the land use planning process.
We have been saying that preservation of this Hakalau Point land is a very common, even
prevailing, community viewpoint. I quickly mention again two main points: 1) community input to
the Hamakua CDP about"discouraging coastal bluff development." A common focus. 2)The
community of Hakalau (the place, not the zip code) is almost unanimously in favor of preserving
this land from development.
I'd like to mention an idea that competes with this view. It's the idea that a vote for developing
this land beside the bluff beside the Bay is a vote for"revitalizing" Hakalau; that it's a necessary
part of making it a town again, as it should be. All due respect to any who really feel that way, I
don't have that view, and, more importantly, it's a view that's almost nonexistent in the Hakalau
community. The community view is as I have stated. It's my observation that we do have an
idea of growth but it's community growth—doing a better job of reaching out to each other and
participating in projects and such as that.
Finally, a word about Ag as it relates to this land. I think it should go without saying that the
great majority of Hamakua residents understand the importance of Ag on the coast and want to
support it. So do we. But I think that what happens in the long term to land such as this is also
important. So the natural question for us is whether this land is a necessary place or even the
preferred place for growing industry in the future, whether ag-related or brewery or otherwise.
Please consider Option 3 simply because, from my understanding, it does represent the
prevailing community view.
Sincerely,
Ken Forbes
Hakalau
108197