38 YEARS IS ENOUGH

STOP ROYAL VISTAS DEVELOPMENT FROM GETTING A 10 YEAR EXTENSION AND RUINING MANY HAWAII NEIGHBORHOODS

MANY BORING FACTS ARE BELOW, BUT YOU GET THE IDEA FROM THE HEADLINE, SO PLEASE JUST SIGN THE PETITION AND PREVENT THIS DEVELOPER FROM PAVING PARADISE AND INSTALLING A HIDEOUS 450 UNIT HOUSING PROJECT WHERE INFRASTRUCTURE ISN’T THERE

IF YOU WANT MORE INFO GOOGLE “FIGHT ROYAL VISTAS”

"Kona Three LLC" wants to extend their application for final approval to build 450 units over a decade, of "market rate" For Sale multi-unit 2 and 3 story townhouses and units that will be purchased for use as short and long-term rentals on 2 parcels TMK 7-6-021 016 and TMK 7-6-021 017, formerly zoned Agricultural.  In the process, all traces of Pre-Contact life (late 1400s) through important remnants of early industry on this historic apuahua'a with its folklore connections to both King Kamehameha and Queen Lili'uokalani will disappear forever.

Reasons to oppose this zoning change and this development include:

 

·        The Kona Community Development Plan, under which this Project was proposed in 1984, is currently undergoing extensive review, as Harry Kim noted in his response to the Kona Three LLC Environmental Assessment in 2021.

·        Archaeological and Cultural Importance

·        Agricultural Zoning

·        Water Supply

o   Drought

o   Sewage Hookup / 
Wastewater Treatment

·        Rainwater / Landscaping Runoff

·        Wildlife – Including Endangered and Listed Species

·        Traffic Impact on Hwy 11 which gridlocks morning / afternoon

·        Over 900 vehicles (2700 est. trips/day) added to a congested 2 lane roadway

·        Adding an intersection without traffic signals 

·        Use of neighborhood streets for construction.  

·        Traffic impact on local roadways

o   Lako Street / Kuakini merge / Walua Trail / School Bus Stop all become more dangerous

o   Impact of Multi-Year Construction on quiet neighborhoods  

·        Impact on schools that are at or over capacity

·        Proposed Housing is Inappropriate for Local Needs

·         Proposed Housing Style is not in keeping with the neighbor Community.

o   Existing neighborhoods are single family ranch style houses

o   Development proposes duplex, 4plex, 6plex 40 feet clusters

·        Further Information:

·        • Original developer had procured extensions through 2011. Kona Three LLC became the next owner in 2015, submitting incomplete environmental assessments. It has exceeded time extensions multiple times while still not fully addressing 4 lane access and egress through Lako/Kuakini/Queen K installation, among other issues.

·        • The Kona Community Development Plan, under which this Project was proposed in 1984, is currently undergoing extensive review, as Mayor Harry Kim noted in his 2021 response to the Kona Three LLC Environmental Assessment.

·        Conflict of Interest

·         Current Planning Director Kern was previously the spokesperson/agent for the then named "Kona Village",  presenting the Kona Three LLCs plan for it to an assembly of Kona Vistas homeowners. The "Kona Village" Environmental Assessment for "Kona Village", submitted in 2018, was done by Zendo Kern. Mr Kern should recuse himself from all decisions regarding the development because of an obvious relationship with Kona Three LLC.

 

Archaeological and Cultural Importance

• Multiple and significant archaeological sites and burials are located on the parcel.
• Archeological sites are spread across multiple adjacent parcels. Developments such as this obliterate archaeological and cultural heritage one project at a time.
• Plan will destroy stone walls that appear to be a continuation of the Holualoa Slide descending from the Holualoa Inn property.  

Preservation Council Support*

Pulama ia Kona Heritage Preservation Council supports saving these parcels from development

 

Agricultural Zoning

• Land has historical significance*, evidenced by its location in line with both the Holualoa heiau and the Kealakowa'a heiau in the Holualoa 1&2 ahupua'a.  Historical research indicates the land between the two heiau was used in the transport of huge trees from Pihopono (the Holualoa Forest Preserve) by use of a holoa extending from heiau to heiau, hence the name Holua loa "The long slide"

 

Water Supply

• Neighbors already experience low water pressure even at lower elevations.
• The developer insists that, having paid for 450 water meters, he will be constructing 450 units, despite our already challenged supply.  

 

Drought

• Kona and all Hawaiʻi faces current and predicted increasing drought conditions; climate change causes greater weather uncertainty, increasing drought risk.
 

Sewage Hookup / Wastewater Treatment

• The Developer had expressed his plan to connect to the Pualani Estates sewer system, however the Kealakehe sewage treatment plant is already OVER capacity if all current homes were hooked up, as required by law. The only reason there is capacity today is because all current homes are not yet connected.

 

Rainwater / Landscaping Runoff/ Diverting Streams

• Because of the placement of Royal Vistas on the leeward flank of Hualalai's "shield" configuration, well-defined drainage features are lacking, as noted under the FLOOD HAZARD section on p3-1 of the Grey Infrastructure Report in the Kona Community Development Plan.

This will cause additional episodes of flooding and road wash-out as noted in the runoff and pollution, harming coral reefs and damaging the ocean.

 Horseshoe Bend and the Holualoa Stream on the parcels are listed in the second paragraph of 3.1.1, (under the heading North Kona Flood Hazard Analysis,) as one of the seven intermittent drainage ways studied by the North Kona Flood Plain Management Study (1984) by the US Soil Conservation Service (presently Natural Resources Conservation Service. (The developer has already diverted a portion of these.) The Study proposed among the 6 non-structural and 4 structural alternatives for flood zone management:

Non-Structural Measures:  #2. Establish and maintain appropriate vegetative cover, #3 Enforce county grading ordinance to reduce erosion and sedimentation. #4, Enforce land use zoning to restrict future development within flood plain areas. #5 Initiate state/county tax incentives for keeping flood plain areas in recreational and/or open space use.

                                                                                                                            Structural: #1. Require all new developments to dispose of their runoff on site.#3. Improve road culverts and bridges to carry larger discharge and provide additional ones where needed. 

Noting all of the details in the Study, one must be concerned at the potential for property loss within the new development as a result of 1) removing huge amounts of vegetative cover plus 2) eliminating much of the recharge by adding foundations and paving driveways and roadways of a sufficient width to accommodate the inevitable roadside parking and traffic passage.  Uphill of the developed area is the Queen K/ Kuakini intersection which could be impacted as well. . 

 

Wild life

• Area is home to, and hunting grounds for, the endangered Pueo and Hoary Bats, Hawaiian owls, the endangered and listed Blackburn’s Sphinx Moth and many other forms of valued permanent and migratory wildlife.
• Birds and animals do not limit their territory to human map lines. Conservation must be considered on a regional, not individual parcel, basis.
• Only "native" plants are considered important in the developer plans, but all flora in the area are essential to valued local birds and animals. 
 
Traffic Impact - Neighborhood

• Kona Three LLC has used low traffic periods for the timing of each new traffic study. 
• There will be at minimum, an additional 900 vehicles from Royal Vistas that will add to the already congested intersection of Lako with Kuakini/Queen K multiple times daily following the months/years of construction machinery daily passing in front of houses on Keau Street, Leilani, Sunset and Lako Street, which surround the property will suffer huge increases in traffic flow. 
• Destruction of walkability/safety of Kona Vistas streets. People of all ages currently walk, push strollers, run, exercise pets, play ball and socialize in a COVID-safe manner as well as do those who park on Lako to utilize the Wailua Trail on a daily basis. This lower section of Lako is also a school-bus stop. 

 

Traffic Impact - Community

• Cumulative traffic impact of yet another subdivision in the local area is unbearable. Multiple high-end housing projects along Aliʻi Drive are both proposed and in development, and a 150+ room boutique luxury hotel is proposed at Keauhou Bay.
• Traffic study of Aliʻi Drive was done during COVID-19 restrictions, when Ironman was canceled, schools were remote, and tourism was limited. The numbers are meaningless.
 

Impact of Multi-Year Construction on Quiet Neighborhoods

• Build-out of a new subdivision will be a multi-year undertaking, including ongoing transport and use of pile drivers, bulldozers, graders, cement and dump trucks, cranes and other heavy equipment. 
• Resultant noise pollution, dust, vibration, and consequent mental and emotional stress to the neighborhood residents, including kupuna and keiki, cannot be overstated. 
• Kona Vistas, Iolani, and Pualani Estates homes were not built to withstand years of adjacent construction, especially not the "shield"- transmitted vibrations of a decade-long process.
 

Impact of Multi-Year Construction on Remote Working

•  Kona Vistas, Iolani, and Pualani Estates residents working from home will be significantly and adversely impacted in their provision of higher education, mental health, housing, sustainable energy, architecture design, fine arts, and other services to the community.
 

Housing Inappropriate for Local Needs

• While we do not agree that this property is appropriate for development, what is needed in Kona is low- and moderate-income housing for local families (teachers, for example). The price point of this project would exclude this demographic. Rental units are not appropriate for this established community. The proposed housing density is inappropriate for this island. 

Kona Three LLC has cited the Kona Community Development Plan (KDCP) for presumptive justification. The KCDP was a development-oriented aspirational County document created in 1984, which is currently under extensive review because of Community concerns regarding its outdated "urban expansion" plan for most of Kailua Kona, from Palamanui to Keauhou.    Do we really want Kona to become another Honolulu?