HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-04-18 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION
COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I
CONTESTED CASE HEARING
PUBLIC TESTIMONY TRANSCRIPT
APRIL 18, 2017
The following public testimony was presented at an advertised contested case hearing on the
application of OCEAN VILLAS AT KAHALU‘U BAY, LLC (SMA 16-063) at 8:04 a.m. in the
West Hawai‘i Civic Center, Community Center, Building G, 74-5044 Ane Keohokālole Highway,
Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i, with Hearings Officer Robert Crudele, Esq. presiding.
PARTIES PRESENT: Stephen Menezes, Esq. (Counsel for Applicant), William Moore
(Applicant’s representative), Paula McMichael (Intervenor), J. Yoshimoto, Esq. (Counsel for the
Planning Director) and Daryn Arai (Deputy Planning Director)
OTHERS PRESENT: Jeff Darrow (Planning Program Manager) and Noriko Sauer (Commission
Secretary)
And approximately 25 people from the public in attendance.
APPLICANT: OCEAN VILLAS AT KAHALU‘U BAY, LLC (SMA 16-063)
Special Management Area (SMA) Use Permit application to allow for the development of a
306-unit multiple family residential project and its related improvements including, but not limited
to, internal utilities and driveways, landscaping, recreational amenities such as swimming pools,
and off-site infrastructural improvements such as sewer system improvements within Ali‘i Drive
and an emergency access/driveway improvements within the proposed Kahului-Keauhou Parkway
right-of-way. The affected properties, consisting of approximately 42.551 acres, is located along
the mauka (east) side of Aliʻi Drive and Kahalu‘u Bay, approximately 1,375 feet north of the Aliʻi
Drive-Makolea Street intersection in Kahalu‘u, North Kona, Hawaiʻi, TMK: 7-8-010:004 and
7-8-014:013.
SANDY KAMAKA: \[Began with a chant accompanied by others in audience\] E hō mai ka ‘ike
mai luna mai ē. ‘O nā mea huna no‘eau o nā mele ē. E hō mai, e hō mai, e hō mai ē. E hō mai ka
‘ike mai luna mai ē. ‘O nā mea huna no‘eau o nā mele ē. E hō mai, e hō mai, e hō mai ē. E hō
mai ka ‘ike mai luna mai ē. ‘O nā mea huna no‘eau o nā mele ē. E hō mai, e hō mai, e hō mai ē.
Mahalo.
Aloha. I am Sandy Lehua Kamaka. Good morning, kakahiaka nō. Mahalo, Hearings Officer.
Teachings of the ancestors it is in these times of no words, silence, that great and powerful
teachings surface. It is in those very moments that you watch carefully, listen attentively, and
become the learner you are intended to be. Subtle movements are recognized, not lost in the
moment, or overlooked. In the silence the teachings penetrate my being. In the silence I’m able to
notice that which will hold me in the knowing, carry me in the stream of knowledge, how to move,
where to look. My actions are dictated by higher powers led by Spirit. It is in these moments that
1
2017-04-18 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
I drink of and swallow the sweet waters of ancestral knowledge that span generations of life and
death. They traverse hilltops, lava fields and vast oceans. Moments that are tender, extreme
intimacy, moments where you are in true form, perhaps, even rare form. So real and apparent are
the vibrations that pulsate through my body. I feel the vibrations communicating in me. It is in
these times of powerful teachings that I recognize, I observe, I take in, I am present, I learn, and I
am able to hear in the silence. For my kupuna-s.
Aloha. I am a creation of my ancestors who have come before me. I am a daughter of a deceased
dad who taught me to appreciate these lands of our ancestors, and a living mother whose age is
written in lines upon her skin; she is a kupuna today. I was raised upon these shorelines of Kona.
My ‘ohana, we resided in the ahupua‘a of Hōlualoa. I’m here today speaking on behalf of my
‘ohana for Kahalu‘u, the gathering place. Indeed it was a place where on numerous occasions
we’d gather here to celebrate an occasion, from birthdays to funerals. It was a beautiful time to
live. Families kept close to one other in these times. And then progress encroached our ways of
life. Fishponds that we once knew are no longer in existence. Imu-s that were created down at
Kahalu‘u where we would cook our food, are no longer there. Kahalu‘u was once abundant with
ono good eating fish. We’d swim with them, feed them, and in return they fed us – sustainability,
ma ‘ō a ‘ō. Today I no longer see that; I just see tourism. Our native fishes have been dominated
by invasive species just like us. We are surrounded by foreigners with intentions. What do we
do? Exactly what we are doing today. We are under duress. We are consistently being oppressed
by those who see wealth and not the health of our people. What about our future? These lands
were not made to be developed for foreigners. We are the bloodlines, the koko of these lands.
Our ancestors looked ahead and prepared these lands to be sustainable to assure themselves that
their future generations will survive. They created field systems that sustained them and would
have sustained us today, and for the future. But development gets in the way. But greed and lies
and deception for wealth is consistently happening. What are we to do? We continue to be who
we are. People who care and love our land.
Burial sites that we were talking about yesterday, who are, who can say what is what? We talked
about the Kuakini Wall. How can that not be also thought of as a burial site for back in the – I
know in our past that our babies were placed under these walls. But to your, to your knowledge to
what you really don’t know as being the kanaka-s of these lands is there are not imprints left for
these for you to recognize; these are things that are placed within us that are sacred within us. And
if we know where they are, we cannot explain to you guys where they are because it was sacred.
But today I open it up, and say that don’t look beyond the walls that are placed because under
these walls are also the bones of our ancestors. So I’m here today to speak for my family and for
the people of Hawai‘i and for the generations to come. The places have names, and if you really
research the names of these places, they will tell you the stories of the place. I’m born and raised.
Today I am about functioning a fishpond for sustainability. I would not let development destroy
what I have worked so hard for today, for the kūpuna that I come from, for the families that I come
from. I just want to say that I apologize that I am against your development. And I pray that you
folks understand what the people and the families are saying. That will be damaging Kahalu‘u.
We already have enough problems down there – the water, the high bacteria, the fishes that we see
today at Kahalu‘u invasive. You don’t think that this development will not harm our, our land,
our landscape, our waters of Kona? Kahalu‘u is already over-packed. Why such a place of
Kahalu‘u of great importance to us and our families is a chosen place? This is a place of great
2
2017-04-18 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
sacredness. You heard Uncle Mitchell talking yesterday. You guys are being told already the
answer that he seeks for, and it is ‘a‘ole. We hear Aunty Gerry Kahulamū on her West Hawai‘i
Today – again, listen to these people. She does not want to even give in to this. Neither will I.
Today we live in a time of a lot of challenges. Why do we look more? Why do you look more to
oppress and not look to the health and the wealth of the people and the generations to come? I had
my children here yesterday. I looked to their future. I hear my nieces of the youth quoting poems
that you will never hear. But if you could hear, the youth voices of today are written on paper;
they are against this. They have a life also and they have a future that they are thinking about.
Thank you for your time. Mahalo, Hearing Officer.
MAILE LINDSEY: Good morning. My name is Maile Lindsey. Yesterday I observed a lot of
really good things and a lot of really bad things as well. Forgive me, I’m not really the public
speaker type. So, yesterday you, you asked people to raise their hand and said who here is from
Kona. And maybe my perception on that question is different from what you intended it to be, but
I don’t have to be from Kona to have a voice and to speak out. Two years ago I started reading
about Kahalu‘u. Not really knowing why, it just happened because I was tracing my genealogy.
And when you do a genealogy, it comes with stories. And you learn about your kūpuna, the
people that came before you. And it ties you to the land. It grounds you. And I’m sitting here
today as a result of that, because I’m not from Kona, I’m not from the Big Island, I’m from
Waianae, O‘ahu. I was raised in Makaha, a Makaha girl. But my tūtū-s are from here. So now I
sit here and I speak, because, ‘a‘ole, they are not okay with this. Yeah? I have a responsibility
now to speak up, not for myself but for them and, most importantly, for the children to come, the
generations. We are sitting here because entities like Bishop Estates, Kamehameha Investment
Corporation, OHA, are not doing their jobs. These lands are in Trust. Money is in Trust for
reason, and it is to make sure that these lands are available for our children, that Sandy just spoke
about, because it’s true. These children are awake. They know where they come from. They
know the mo‘olelo. They know their language. What happens when they cannot come back to
these places or go to these places? Because they feel that spiritual tie. What happens? Who is
holding these entities responsible? We are. The wagon is before the horse. How long does the
wagon have to drag the horse along before the horse actually picks up the reins and moves forward
with the rest of the people? We are not here to be a tourist destination. We are not. Look at
Honolulu. The reason why I live here, not only because I feel tie to this ‘āina but because I don’t
like the development. The place I was raided in is going to be overdeveloped, and my heart goes
out to them. We don’t really need 306 timeshares in Kahalu‘u. That’s the land of our ali‘i. Why
should the foreigners live in the land of our ali‘i? Why? That should be available to us first, not
them. That is my mana‘o. Thank you for your time.
CLARE LOPRINZI: Aloha. ‘O Clare Koenoa, my name is Clare Loprinzi. My descendants do
not come from this ‘āina, but they come from Sicilia, and that’s an island that’s also a sovereign
island; it’s an island that has many of the same problems as Hawai‘i. But I’ve been living here for
a long time. And I came here because I was told to come here. So, I am a cultural practitioner;
I’m a traditional midwife. What? Oh, you can’t hear me? Oh, usually people say, “hāmau ka leo,
quiet your voice down.” Okay. So did you hear anything I said? Okay. So, the reason why I’m
here is because there is kuleana and accountability for cultural practitioners. Listening to the
kupuna yesterday was an honor, because he has kuleana. He may not have come from the
3
2017-04-18 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
bloodline of the kanakaole, but it’s, it’s like Queen Lili‘uokalani was so amazing that way is that,
is that we all from Hawai‘i but we all have kuleana and accountability. So, I come here as a
traditional person, as a cultural practitioner, even before the ali‘i, for me Kahalu‘u was there for
the original, the first peoples here. Because we are different. I now teach world, around the world
– I teach medical doctors about birth, for example. Now, that’s interesting, isn’t it? I sense a
newer doctor, I know how many years – my husband is a physician – so I know how many years
these guys go to school. But traditional people are given this knowledge. But we need our piko-s.
Now, it’s beyond just a piko of Kahalu‘u, because we also are deeply connected into the natural
way of life, into the plants, into the medicines. We have deep respect for that, for the la‘i, to
protect, this is not, it’s, it’s, it’s deep. And those piko-s are what feed us. Kahalu‘u is more for
me, more than just where the ali‘i is; it’s where it’s lined up. And that’s why they got that place
back and that’s why the heiau-s are going back. It connects to the solstices. Now, I was raised
with this. I helped over a thousand babies. I’ve been doing birth since I was a teenager. That’s
how long I started, because I come from a long line. I can go into my genealogy on my Sicilian
side, four generations back. I have citizenship there, too. I am the only traditional midwife that
can prove genealogy in these islands and in Sicilia; that is a huge kuleana on me. I have to walk
that line. I need those places. And they need their places. Because we are, cannot keep
annihilating our native peoples; they hold a knowledge of these places. When one of the
Kahulamū’s asked me to marry them – I had done their birth – they brought me there, and I’m
walking in with her mom and I’m saying, “Teach me a little bit more history,” because I’m feeling
like, whoa. I did not know that was where all, where the solstices, where the equinox, that means
Makali‘i when Lono starts, when Makahiki starts. That is so deep. And I’m trained in these
things, I’m taught these things. And she tells me and I’m like, whoa, wait a minute, I shouldn’t be
marrying anybody here, and I said to her, “I’m going to switch it over to you.” Then the mom
said, “No, no, no, they picked you, you are the māmā.” When you are a midwife, you are the
māmā, you are another māmā. That’s just a term of respect. But as soon as I could, when I got –
and we were not at the hills but we were on the beach right there – where that family has been
married forever, I gracefully turned it over, “Can you please tell us what they are and finish this
ceremony up?” As soon as I could, because I know my place, and as much as I’m trained, and as
deeply as I’m trained, do know I’m still a little ant. And I’ve been deeply trained by African
Americans, by Native Americans, by my own people, by kūpuna here. These babies that are
coming in here are already mākaukau, they are mākaukau. Their kupuna-s are coming, they are
coming to their kupuna-s in dreams, they are telling me, you need to help this one. I’m not
delivering that baby; I’m just letting that baby deliver, I’m assisting the birth. So, do know, you
cannot take this place. We, that, when you go into Lono and Kū and you see the heiau-s there,
you’re already going into a development; that shouldn’t even be there. It’s beyond the pollutions
and hygiene and all of that and that’s important. It’s way deeper than that. Please, for your own
mo‘opuna, for your own generations, because what you do, you are accountable for, too. Just like
I am. So it falls on our grandchildren, our great grandchildren. We try and go back, clean this up
for seven generations behind us that are going to come. We want them to be stronger than us,
right? We all want our children to do better than us, we want our grandchildren to do better than
them, and on and on. Because we want this, this land to be turned back into aloha, into love. And
we have so much. When you look at that place, when you look and go up there, it’s going to be,
it’s deeply connected to the vortex of our three mauna-s right here. And what are they doing up
there? They are bombing, bombing, bombing. We have 125,000 coming in here every year and a
half to bomb. We, that’s affecting us. That’s raping the māmā. And it ripples down. So all of
4
2017-04-18 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
this needs to stop. But that place right there is where they go to learn, where they will have their
meetings again. And I don’t need to ever be in those because I know my own bloodline. I’m
honored to even walk, I’m honored to play games over there, I’m honored. But they know their
songs, they know their chants. If you listen to the TMT hearings – and I would advise you to
because they are all on the ‘Ōiwi TV – listen to the, to the kanakaole, look at, it’s the water, those
mauna-s hold the water. They don’t just hold the fire; they hold the water. And those aquifers, we
have been working a year and a half at Kaloko right now to restore those fishponds. We need that
water. These are sacred sites. We do not need more development. And, and more people that
come here, they don’t even know where they are; they are just trying to get away, you know. It’s
like I talk to those young military boys up there; they don’t even know they have been exposed to
depleted uranium. They just take in a job because that’s the only job they can get. And these
people that are coming over here, they may have worked their whole life to get over here. They
may have or they may not have. But regardless, this is not their place. We cannot do this to
native people again. And so whatever we have to do, we will do; we will put our bodies there
again, because we have to. And I know you’ve got the judges and I know you’ve got the lawyers
and I know you’ve got the police and I know you can call in the National Guard. I know that. But
we are connected to this place. And that place is stronger than all of that.
So, I’m, I really want to thank you for listening. And I did know this morning when you said that;
when you said, “Raise your hand,” I knew you said, that it was not, because of, you wanted to see
who of us could come back. So, kala mai that happened. That’s, you know, everybody has deep
emotions about this. But, and I, I thank you for being here, and all of you. And I, and I ask you to
all take a journey back, close your eyes, and imagine you are still alive for your great grandchild
coming into the world. How healthy do you want that baby to be? And how much do you love
this land? Because when that kupuna spoke yesterday, he has a deep kuleana. It’s so deep that he
was taught this. Because the iwi, if you go up on Hualālai, if you look at burials up there, they,
the piles of rocks were moved. They were moved because cattle people came in and they put up
fences. So you have, cannot think that you know anything where those iwi are. I mean, what she
shared today about the wall, it’s like, duh. Why you think you put up a wall like that. Learn the
language. Learn the kauna of it. Take the time. I worked to learn, I do, I mean I’m not perfect at
‘ōlelo Hawai‘i, but I speak it to get by. That’s my kuleana. I need to know where I am. So, that
wall, of course, it’s got iwi under there. Do, why would someone have to get up here and tell you
that? That’s maha‘oi on your part that they even have to sit up here and tell you where their bones
are. You guys need to pack it up. You need to pack it up. And big thanks for these two, be
patient, and thank you yesterday also for thankin- for helping them. I appreciate that. You know
they are not lawyers. These women are working, have worked, have been immersed in this. They
have a huge kuleana on them. They are speaking for someone else’s ancestors, too. And they
love them. And they love this land. So, in all of that please help them out. When you got a page,
help them out, because you want to get through today. Good luck on that one but. Because we
cannot stop. You understand that. We have to do our kuleana. So, please, all of you do your
kuleana. And aloha kakahiaka.
ISAIAH HALLIBURTON: So, to state just for the record, it’s Isaiah Halliburton. And —
\[CRUDELE: I’m going to let you know when we hit three minutes because we went considerably
over —\] — no worries. So, just to start back, my dad came here roughly over 56 years ago. He’s
been an organic farmer, USC registered for 47 years. And it’s amazing to watch the world and
5
2017-04-18 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
what’s going on in it. And talk about how we have our generation and generation, I mistakenly
nd
had a nine-year old daughter that’s going to be ten on the 22 of May, and talk about a delight in
life to have is the next generation, to watch them, to see them grow. The biggest thing is that
when I first surfed – I’m from Hōnaunau – when I first surfed, I surfed at Ke‘ei, which is down in
Kealakekua Bay. The second place I surfed, and surf pretty much almost every day that I can, is
Kahalu‘u. And talk about the feelings that you get on a daily basis when you go out into that
water. And you know that there is just extra terricular \[phonetic\] activity, if you want to put it that
way, however you want to put it. But it’s, it’s an energy that we all come from, and that we have
to submit to; and it’s the energy of love. And that’s why we are all here today is because you
either love your paycheck or you love your sister or brother or family or, me my daughter, my
family. I remember when Kona was a very quiet town. I remember before Costco was even here,
you know, just remember when Pine Trees was what it was. I remember just being out there
thinking, you know, well, there is a lot of people that need work, they need money, you know,
let’s try to do this. But then you bring the unions in to build stuff, and then a lot of local people
like myself don’t get any payback or anything. We were wondering, oh, not only are the beaches
packed but then what do we do? We don’t even have our own timeshares to sit in, you know, why
our beaches are filled with people coming for timeshares. I mean, the whole timeshare mentality
is just to take, I mean, timeshares as they are are already super expensive and you get a very short
amount of time. It’s not very kosher. So it’s like, first of all bad place to even build; second of all
there is other spots; third of all they should have been scientists or people running the grounds
everywhere even before Pine Trees was built, and go, oh, my God, there is so many grave sites
everywhere. Because almost every day that they were building out there, they ran into graves. I
get feedback from people that are working there because they have no other choice. And they are
like, wow, yeah, they just build it up and fill it in and just, or whatever. And it’s just like, listen,
we are all connected 100 percent from the Japanese to the Australians to the Africans; all of us are
the same. And for you to let even in a sense your own sacred land, say you are from
Pennsylvania, there is no “Polynesian Hawaiian” blood in you, it’s still your kuleana. It’s
everyone’s. We are all of our brother’s keepers. And in order for you to sleep well at night for the
rest of your life, you want to do things based upon love actions. And if anything I’ve learned from
my own child in raising her and seeing her on a daily basis, is how real is love. So, I love to surf
out there. I know that if they build there, it’s going to cause more issues. As it is, you’ve got
evacuation for already, Ali‘i Drive, it’s already peaking. You add 300 units, that’s going to be
1,000 more people if not 2,000 potential families in those condos, driving up and down Ali‘i
Drive. You already get people hit by cars, trying to walk, run. Ironman already is a crisis; they
don’t, they used to give 60,000 for the pier, now it’s only 30. The pier was just rebuilt, used
taxpayers’ money to rebuild the pier. I mean everything, you know, it’s like you guys have to
realize this is not games. And La‘aloa that’s all named the sacred place. And the fact that the
Outrigger Hotel is not even in functioning; that should let you know that there is something going
on with the whole peak. You guys don’t want to curse yourselves for the rest of your life, curse
your generation. I’m a firm believer in “knocking on wood” and “karma” and all that. You call it
what you want, but you sow love, you reap love; you sow medium, you reap medium; you sow
whatever, you are going to get whatever yourself, your family. All I know is I hope with every bit
of my being in me that this is not built there, that we just don’t even build timeshares in Hawai‘i.
If you are going to build something, choose a different place, allow people to buy into it, and then
whether they want to decide to vacate, rent their condo, that’s up to them. Just this morning I
heard of the bill, coming in, to allow Airbnb to collect taxes. So overall I love that place. I think
6
2017-04-18 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
it’s very sacred. It’s called the sacred place, the whole region. The aquifer you can feel it every
time you get in and out of the water. You feel the cold water coming in. You know it’s running.
You know it’s there. So it’s not proper for us to go building and bulldozing and breaking into
anything. That really, we should just respect the last generation and the generation before that,
forever, for our generation. Thank you.
NATHAN ABE: First of all, my name is Nathan Abe, and I’m a, I lived in Kahalu‘u for
generations; my father lived there, you know, I lived there, you know. Right now, but, I live on
Kuakini Highway and I’ve got a view of, you know, Keauhou to Kailua. And, like I said, I was
born and raised here. But, you know, my wife, you know, I think the people from Kamehameha
Investments and Bishop Estates know her, Michelle, and she worked in the Keauhou area all her
life. I’m a retired, I’m a commercial fisherman. And the reason why I lived up there on Kuakini
Highway, that’s why I could see the ho‘olili-s. And then I’m also a throw-net fisherman, and my
dad was a throw-net fisherman and we used to throw net from, you know, Kailua to Keauhou and
we used to sell our fish at Oshima Store with my wife. And, first of all, I graduated from
University of Hawai‘i in Agriculture, and I also, you know, is a West Pac, you know, AP advisor,
I’m with H-Pac, and I’m with, you know, PIFG. You know, I might sound a little selfish, but if
you build that timesharing project there, that’s going to be the lynch- that’s going to be the
lynchpin that’s going to destroy the area; it’ll never be the same. I know, you know, like Mac, I
don’t know if you know this guy named Mac Poepoe of Moloka‘i. Well, I’m the Mac Poepoe of
Kahalu‘u, and, you know, I’m actually proud to say I know every single crack from Kailua to
Keauhou. And I can tell you for in fact that you guys are going to – I can see you guys making
that one affordable housing, you know, subdivision where the use is not going to be as strong.
What I mean by that is if you have timesharing, there is going to be tourists every three days just
coming and using, using the resources. You guys should have a village there to protect the area,
not one, I mean we have a lot of development there, you know, already. My wife, you know, she
worked for Kamehameha Investments, and we talk story at night and just, you know, she tells me
everything about that area also, you know, how it was, you know, managed. The place was
managed poorly, bachi. My father was the one that laid out Kona Surf, and he told me they had to
hire one haole for bulldoze that, you know, that area right there; had so much heiau-s, and I’d seen
it for myself. I mean even like, you know, the old Kam III Road, there was a big cave under the
golf course that they say what, that’s the cave that, you know, Kamehameha used to conquer
Maui. There is the Hawaiian slate on the golf course; that area is so precious. That’s, that’s, you
know, only culturally. But I’m going to tell you, man, environmentally is what’s going to hurt that
place and it’s going to be one place like Maunalua Bay or like, you know, it’s, it’s, you guys are
going to ruin the area, for the next generations. You know, the locals gave up a lot, man, in Kailua
already. You know, all our kumiai meetings used to be at, you know, at Kahalu‘u Beach, and like,
you know, how many families live on Ali‘i Kai now, you know, that are, not Ali‘i Kai but Ali‘i
Drive now? Zero. Mrs. Kimura, you know, Alfreda, you know, that owns, you know, Kimura
Lauhala Shop, she don’t live on the beach anymore. I mean I think the last, I think the last people
sold out was maybe the Akous, I don’t know. But I’m just telling you guys, man, like this is going
to be lynchpin. I’m telling you, because I know because I’m one fisherman. You guys don’t
listen to fishermen, but fishermen know, know more about the, you know, about the environment
and, you know, fishing than anybody else. And, you know, you guys got to listen to me, because,
like, I don’t believe in Kapuleo but I believe in, you know, Mac Poepoe’s project, you know.
Please, man, just think about what you guys are going to do over there. It’s going to harm the
7
2017-04-18 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
environment and that’s the main concern I have. I used to go on a mākō fishing over there, and
like you know what, man, there was this stream between, you know, Kona Lagoon and Keauhou
Beach Hotel, you know how he said about like springs, we used to catch ‘ōpae over there all the
time, and then we used to go hook, you know, menpachi. Now there is a fence there. Then they
started building the heiau, so I felt, oh, man, ah, if they are going to build this heiau and you are
going to make this maybe one Polynesian Cultural Center or, you know, something great for our
islands, it would be all right. Kamehameha Investments they are going backwards. They are
going backwards. Now they like build this timesharing thing that, that’s actually going to ruin the
environment. I mean we sacrifice so much, man. We cannot fish there anymore. We cannot do
nothing over there anymore; it’s all fenced up. Please, man, for future generation, man, think
about the environment. I mean you don’t want this place to just be a, you know, regular —
\[CRUDELE: Okay, six minutes, Mr. Abe, I’m going to have to ask you to close. Other people
need to talk as well.\] — you know, I’m sorry, but I’m going to close. Thank you.
NICOLE LUI: All right. I’m not one speaker but will try. Aloha, Māmā Simmy. Thank you.
Hearings Officer, mahalo so much for even helping Simmy with her questions, maika‘i. I think
for the three-minute thing for like kūpuna like Uncle Mitchell Fujisaka, that shouldn’t be a
priority; I think kūpuna should have a time to talk as long as they need to, because it’s harder for
them to formulate their words and go through all their pepa-s, and so that’s the one thing I wanted
to share. And, aloha, County people and Towne Development. Yeah, I bring with me my māmā,
Agnes Lui, Kaelemakule Lui, and my dad, Raymond Lui. My dad comes from O‘ahu but his
family is all from Kohala originally. My māmā is from here; she is a Kona girl. And my
great-grandparents are Mary Kawakaihimakawalu and Samson Pelekane, were married at the
Healani Church at Kahalu‘u on May 26, 1917. My ancestor Ma‘a, according to family tradition
and what was told to them, built the heiau of Hāpaiali‘i. In our family we call it Kāpaiali‘i, so
there’s two names for us, Hāpaiali‘i as well as Kāpaiali‘i. And then Uncle Fujisaka, thank you for
your testimony yesterday. I’m so, it was just a beautiful thing to hear. But my, talking with my
kūpuna, my mom and dad, they are against this project, and my dad said when he was working for
J. M. Tanaka – I think he knew Mr. Abe, too – way back in the day when J. M. Tanaka was still
around, but, yeah, he said that a lot of the old-timers told him that that place is just filled with all
kinds of sites and burials and – you know, me as the cultural monitor I have to be on this. I’m a
cultural monitor for projects that have come about. I’ve been doing that for seven years. I started
on the Ane Keohokālole Highway – and that’s how you say it, Ane Keohokālole, making
reference to her father’s, her grandfather straight hierarch ‘Aikanaka. So, but anyway, Mayor
Billy Kenoi was the head of his time, and I appreciate him and, for doing this, because cultural
monitors brought a new, something to the table that was never thought of before, and my job was
to – when they approached me, I said, “What does a cultural monitor do?” You know, I was like,
what, I don’t know what to do. So, they said, well, so long you know about the families, so,
because I’m a genealogist, I know many of the families here in Kona. And so they approached
me, asked me, and I did my job, and my job was to be that liaison between the cultural people, the
– I’m not trying to get a job from this, I’m not saying, you know, hire me. So, I’m just sharing
that there is more other ways of doing development. And I think this, all this kind of stuff should
have been brought up in the beginning, more Hawaiian community involvement, and the
non-Hawaiians, you know; get plenty non-Hawaiians who are Hawaiian at heart. So, we should
all be part of this planning process from the very beginning. And I think that would be, that would
lend itself to we’re not having so much of this taking up you guys’ time, yeah, doing this, and
8
2017-04-18 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
have Māmā Simmy bring up all this contested case court hearing before, you know, you wouldn’t
be wasting time. I know I’m almost through over three minutes, but, sorry, I’m just having to
share this, but being a cultural monitor, in working alongside with the archaeologists, granted that
they are from away and they are not Hawaiian, some of them I’ve worked with, really maika‘i and
they are aware of what’s on the land and, you know, and then I’ve asked for site visit, so, you
know, that’s another thing; the Hawaiian people can ask for site visits. Ask one site visit. Can I
go out and look at the place? Can I go along with the archaeologist and see what’s happening?
But, for me, I always would ask, and I would make sure that things were done correctly. And then
we found a fish shell cave, a cave with fish shells inside and a tapa beater. And the first thing we
had to do was stop all activity, and my job was to call all the descendants, call the County
representatives, and then call the contractor, and then make a meeting come together, and they all
talk story about what we are going to do. So the Hawaiian way is kūkākūkā, you know, we cannot
be cut off at three minutes, so, that’s why we talk so much because it’s kūkākūkā. So, anyway,
sorry, Mr. Crudele, I know you are a Kona boy, too, but, anyway, yeah, so, I’m just sharing that.
We are against this development. And, please consider us, because I know the Hawaiian people to
you folks seem like we nobody, you know, we no more money, we’re not rich, and we cannot
fight against the system. We lack education in the sense that we don’t know too much about the
government stuff. So, you know, you folks just have to see it our way. And I think to do this
would be hewa. And like what Uncle Mitchell said, kapu, kapu, kapu. And, you know, if it was
but the old days, I think I would bachi you guys, but, so, anyway, anyway, but no, no can, because
got to have aloha, ya? So, okay, thank you, Mr. Crudele.
CAROL FULLER: Good morning, everybody. I got a good laugh out of that. Thank you for, for
that. I will stay to three — \[CRUDELE: State your name for the record.\] — yeah, Carol Fuller, I
will stick to the three minutes. I certainly don’t have the history a lot of you do, but I am a
Hawaiian at heart, so. I’m not used to doing this kind of thing, so, excuse me. First and foremost,
I’m speaking for my husband and myself and for many other people who cannot be here today.
It’s hard for people to come on a weekday at eight o’clock in the morning to take time from their
job to sit here and speak. For many years I was unable to come because I was working a fulltime
job; now, thank God I’m retired. But, anyway, I’m glad to be here, and I’d like to say first and
foremost my husband and I speak together, and for me sitting here there are so many people you
don’t see that are unable to be here. And our first concern, of course, is the lack of respect for the
Native Hawaiian burial sites, that’s our first concern. In addition to that, basic human right are the
issues of infrastructure – and I know I wasn’t here yesterday, but concerns about the roads that
have become deadly in recent years, it’s no longer a friendly and safe place to walk, bike and visit
the shoreline. It’s not safe. Another infrastructure is educational system. I haven’t heard anybody
talk about that too much, but I’m a retired teacher from Kahakai, the school that sits right in that
area, and I know firsthand what happens when there is overcrowding; everybody pays.
Environmental impact, I know we’ve talked about that, but just recently there has been a sewage
system; that impacts not only our humans but also the ocean and its inhabitants. That’s huge. The
quality of life here in Kona has – I’ve been here about 35 years, I’m not, like I say, born here, but
I’ve been here long enough to know impact. Everyone is asking the same questions now, “What’s
happened to Kona? What happened?” People are zooming around without, with disregard for
their fellowman; there’s traffic lights everywhere; there is homeless people sleeping in cars on the
beach and then the bushes; there’s beggars pleading with signs on every corner. In my opinion it’s
9
2017-04-18 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
better to address these issues before we add more to our plate. And that’s what I’d like to say, and
thank you for listening.
SHANNON RUDOLPH: Aloha. Shannon Rudolph. I’m sorry to be redundant, but it is what it
is. Aside from one more development like this in this area, is another knife in the heart of the
Hawaiian people and the Hawaiian culture, aside from that, the infrastructure in every aspect of
the infrastructure in that area is horribly inadequate right now. There’s no sidewalks for Ali‘i
Drive; there is nowhere to put a sidewalk. There’s hardly any sideline access that it’s already just
too much, already, right now. The sewers, the water, fire, police, education, the schools, all of it,
it’s, it can’t take anymore. The beaches are already packed down there. There’s no more room
right now. The evacuation for earthquakes or tsunamis, this is, sorry, guys, but this is a bad idea.
And what’s even worse is that eventually we’ll have to sue our own county, sue our own selves to
get a sane planning. Thank you.
\[There being no other members of the public who wished to testify, Mr. Crudele called the
evidentiary hearing to reconvene at 8:56 a.m.; however, at 1:39 p.m. he granted another public
member the opportunity to provide testimony.\]
ABEL LUI: Aloha ahiahi, aloha kākou. \[AUDIENCE: Aloha.\] Aloha. To the Community, to the
people that are running this, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. The reason why I
came over here is concerning about our lands, and anything that concerning about our lands, it’s
our land underneath the Hawaiian Kingdom. And one family cannot speak for the land. The land
comes with the ahupua‘a. I have a map that I give someone to go make a copy of it. And in this
map, it tells you about this whole place. Now, our land is not for sale, was never for sale. We
have what we call kuleana, responsibility, and responsibility comes with the word, kuleana,
maha‘oi, nīele, hana ‘ino, po‘o pa‘akikī no ka mea kēia hā ‘ole \[or haole\]. The old people say that
you need to know your kino lau. Put clean thoughts in your head, and your eyes not to do naughty
things. And all of these things, when you pau with all of this kino lau, you need to know the word,
“trespass.” And maybe we are the only people in the world that says you trespass five times. No
other race in the world says you that. In fact, this morning five ways of saying trespassing in
Hawaiian: Not your kuleana, maha‘oi, nīele, hana ‘ino, po‘o pa‘akikī, hardhead. Number six is
English word they get what they call \[inaudible\] so arrogant. Eh, now you’re going to lose your
aloha. Okay? That’s you went overboard. ‘Imi mana, the God’s going to take care of that.
Now, concerning about the lands, it all start with the people in the ahupua‘a. Everybody get
kuleana. Some is fishermen, taro, some is weaver, hula, astrology, and all of these kuleana,
responsibility, and eats from, in the wā, eats from the land, to the mountain to the sea, as well as
above and below of all — the iwi-s that we have, and mostly all our iwi-s is all at the beach side.
Why? Because that’s where the people went. They went to the beach. Today if I like go down
there, I have to get permission to go down there. Nighttime they close the park. They have all of
these things. And you guys want to put a building over there and do all of this. You guys get
enough kuleana with all the things that going in the water already. You guys get, you guys went
overboard trying to put things all in one small place. And you look what is going to cause the
reaction of the people. You got the makahiki, you got Kam School, you got all of these different
events that goes on with the, with the people that run the marathon and triathlon and all of these.
And you got, now you got these people that’s going to put up all these buildings. And all the, you
10
2017-04-18 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case
look at Kahalu‘u and you look at Magic Sand and you look at all the beach, all the coastal areas,
we have earthquakes, we had all of these things. They still never finish up with some of the jobs,
and one of them is to do with the hospital, okay? Now, when the hospital, when they had the
hospital, they took the people down to the hotel to stay. I have a witness that works in the
hospital, and it went cause the main concern about the people, because how are you going to deal
with all of this? And even to do with the marathon, the ironthon and all of these, you got a lot of
people that got, they never finish the race, they all end up in the hospital for whatever reason that
they got. Now, another this thing is no one is not even with the State or the County or the public,
but it all falls on the people that doing all of these events. Now what are you guys doing with all
of these events? Gotta be pono. Gotta be right. Not because only a certain family can have this.
We are talking about now Hawai‘i trying to come back as a Kingdom. That’s who I represent. I
represent Hawai‘i Kingdom, the whole archipelago. Everything over here belongs to us, because
the government, when they gave the lands to the people, the government was giving to the king, to
the chiefs, and to the kānaka maoli, the kuleana lands. And it’s our responsibility. It’s not the
County or the State or the Federal; it belongs in the people, the elders from there. Every one of us
guys get one voice today. When I grew up – I’m going to make 74 next week by the way, okay?
So, what I’m trying to say is when the, I hope that my kids no need to have to go pay for go to the
park, if they like going to get married, or go rent one place. This is all coming to all of that. You
look at Kahalu‘u and you look at Ho‘okena, you look at all of parks, eh, our people cannot even
go over there for go camping anymore. All the things are sold out to the mainland people that
comes here on vacation. So, you, I mean, all of these things have a mean effect on the people and
on the highway, on the airport and everything. We only got two roads. Oh, thank you guys very
much. A hui hou. Malama pono. Thank you for giving me the opportunity. Aloha.
The public testimony ended at 1:46 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Noriko Sauer, Secretary
Leeward Planning Commission
11
2017-04-18 Public Testimony on SMA 16-063 Contested Case