Laserfiche WebLink
<br />From:Weingarten,Erin <br />To:Planning Internet Mail <br />Subject:Testimony for banyan drive bill <br />Date:Wednesday, December 17, 2025 9:15:44 PM <br />Aloha Chair and Members of the Banyan Drive Hawaii Redevelopment Agency, <br />My name is Erin Weingarten, and I am a resident of Hilo. I am writing to express my strong <br />opposition to the proposed bill that would transfer full authority over Banyan Drive and the <br />entire Waikea Peninsula to the Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA). <br />This bill would remove decision-making power from the local community and place it in the <br />hands of a state agency based on Oahu—an agency that is not accountable to the people who <br />live with the daily realities of Banyan Drive, Hilo’s shoreline, and the Waikea Peninsula. <br />Decisions about our parks, our shoreline, Moku Ola, and future development should remain <br />with the people of East Hawaii, not be centralized under an authority whose primary mandate <br />has historically prioritized private development interests. <br />HCDA-led development threatens to increase extractive tourism, weaken local control, and <br />repeat patterns of overdevelopment that have already caused harm elsewhere in Hawaii. <br />Banyan Drive is not an empty development zone—it is a culturally significant, environmentally <br />vulnerable, and deeply loved place. Proposing hotel-driven development in a known flood zone <br />ignores the very real and escalating impacts of climate change and sea-level rise. We should <br />not be investing public authority and resources into development models that we already know <br />are unsafe, unsustainable, and fiscally irresponsible. <br />Hilo deserves a future shaped by its residents—one rooted in climate resilience, cultural <br />integrity, and long-term community well-being. That future does not include transferring <br />control of our shoreline to an agency that has repeatedly prioritized private investment over <br />public trust responsibilities. <br />I urge the Agency to oppose this bill and to affirm that Banyan Drive and the Waikea Peninsula <br />remain under governance structures that are locally accountable, community-driven, and <br />responsive to the realities of East Hawaii. <br />Mahalo for the opportunity to submit this testimony and for considering the voices of the <br />community you serve. <br />Erin <br />