HomeMy WebLinkAboutCommunication No. 2018-23- Janice Palma-Glennie NELHA TestimonyCommunication No. 2018-23
From: Janice Glennie >
Subject: EA comments: Mats4 proposed commercial development at NELHA
Date: June 7, 2018 at 6:29:39 PM HST
To: nelha@nelha.org,
Cc: holly kersten >, stuart coleman
Aloha,
First we'd like to ask that there be additional time provided for the public to comment on this
proposal's EA since the contact for the deciding agency was not listed in the publication notice.
The proposed Matsuyama (Mats4) commercial center will set a poor precedent which, if
approved, would undermine over a decade of Smart Growth planning being undertaken in North
and South Kona. Beside writing today on behalf of the Surfrider Foundation's Kona Kai Ea
chapter with our concerns regarding this proposal, I, as a Surfrider rep for over a decade, have
been directly involved in the Kona Community Development Plan (KCDP) since its inception
almost 15 years ago, first as a member of the original Steering Committee and then the Action
Committee on which I currently serve. Surfrider Kona Kai Ea members have deep concerns
about the impact this development could have on regional land use planning including the
environmental threats it poses. As a group whose focus is to help protect our island's waters and
aquifer, Surfrider's Kona Kai Ea chapter strongly supports Smart Growth planning as a way to
protect those waters, especially from avoidable negative impacts.
Some of the many reasons this proposal is ill-conceived and should be given a permit include,
but are not limited to, the following:
• Mats5 proposed project will undermine the KCDP and contribute to sprawl.
• As in Dallas, Tucson and other sprawled cities, this proposed development sets a poor
precedent for linear, unplanned development on a frontage road meant to ease rather than
create traffic by providing space for safe bike paths and access to shoreline not
increased development.
• Project sets a poor precedent of developer -driven, non -planning that our region has been
working hard to leave behind.
• In the KCDP, planned, smart growth "villages" (TODs and TNDs) are meant to replace
car -dependent development as a way to decrease regional traffic burdens and use of fossil
fuels, meanwhile increasing opportunities for healthy living including walking and bike -
riding.
• Commercial centers are meant to be developed within planned "villages" (TODs and
TNDs), not outside as this one would be.
• A commercial center outside of a planned TOD/TND nearby would compete financially
with and could even undermine the viability of conforming commercial entities which
includes nearby planned developments like Palamanui.
• Mats4 Plan ignores stakeholder input into the KCDP (an ordinance) where thousands of
stakeholder comments weighed in at 90% asking that no more development be allowed
makai of Queen Ka' ahumanu Highway.
Communication No. 2018-23
• Non point source runoff including petrochemicals are a threat to groundwater and fragile
nearshore waters
• Lighting from the project could further confuse the travel and overall health of migratory
and endemic birds as we've seen many times when light is injected into an area of that
coastline.
• The sensitive and protected Kaloko-Honokohau National Park would be a nearby
neighbor of this development which clearly does not add to its protection.
• An environmentally -based enterprise like NELHA should not be depending upon funding
from polluting, petroleum-based, commercial development like a gas station and paved
parking lots near the shoreline.
In conclusion, we feel that there is no compelling need to build a gas station on the makai Side of
Queen Ka'ahumanu highway when other facilities exist nearby including at the entrance to
Kohanaiki Shores and public beach park which may not be noted in this EA since it states that
the closest gas station is 3 miles away, which kohanaiki is not.
We hope that this agency, at minimum, will require that a full EIS be done for this proposal to
insure that our county's land use planning, natural resources, and strong social connections are
not be further undermined by poor, developer -driven planning as has been the case in the past.
Mahalo and sincerely,
Janice Palma -Glenne
For Surfrider Foundation's Kona Kai Ea chapter