Fact or Fantasy: Kauai General Plan

SUBHEAD: A real community meeting is planned for 6:30pm Tuesday July 11th at King Kaumuali`i School in Hanmaulu.

By Gabriela Taylor on 8 July 2017 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2017/07/building-bottom-up-economy.html)


Image above: Photo illustration "The Paved Paradise" by Riki Goft. From (http://www.pxleyes.com/best-photoshop/rikigoft/).

[IB Publisher's note: This article was also published in the Garden Island News today.]

WHAT:
Kauai Community Coalition meeting on the Kauai Plan

WHEN: 
Tuesday, 11 July 2017 at 6:30pm

WHERE:
King Kaumuali`i School Cafeteria Hanamaulu.

4380 Hanamaulu Rd, Lihue, HI 96766

After a two-year process with extensive input from over a thousand people, the County Planning Department proclaimed that the recent Updated General Plan (UGP) document is built upon the following four basic goals:
  1. A Sustainable Island, 
  2. A Unique and Beautiful Place, 
  3. A Healthy and Resilient People, 
  4. An Equitable Place With Opportunity for All.
The UGP is all but a done deal, with only the County Council left to weigh in, followed by the stroke of the pen of the Mayor. The problem with this document, which is the blueprint for the future of Kaua’i, is that it doesn’t measure up to the four basic goals highlighted by the Planning Deptartment.

Several residents have written to TGI Forum expressing that the UGP is superficial, has errors, will lead to more traffic, loss of agricultural land and of our rural life style, depletion of our natural environment, more resorts, and inadequate affordable housing for locals.

Sustainable? Not possible when we ship in 80-90% of our food.

One of the insightful letters published July 5th in TGI, by Laura Conrey, compares Kauai to the Galapagos Islands where the government takes measures to prevent both unsustainable tourism and immigration.

It states “Population growth planning is essential for the common good.” and “ Mass tourism is bad for the environment and local business.” Unlike Kauai, these guidelines, have teeth and are adhered to.

I moved to Kauai in 1974 when there were no stoplights on the highway. It was aquamarine ocean and lush emerald nature that captivated me, as well as, the laid back local life style and the Hawaiian culture.

Since then, I’ve never thought of living anywhere else and consider it a privilege to make my home here.

When you love something, it’s only natural to take care of it. We are the stewards of this magnificent island, which is being threatened by over population and tourism that stresses our roads, water, sewage, land fill and nature.

The coral is dead or dying, and the rate of bird species extinction, record breaking. On top of it all, do you know that 40% of all new houses are purchased by mainlanders and foreigners, because only they can afford them?

Why is the County giving out resort and tract housing permits (with no or minimal affordable housing) to developers - like candy to children? This is the antithesis of the above UGP goal #4: An Equitable Place with Opportunity for All, because, among other issues, housing isn’t affordable for locals.

It took me 70 minutes (normal 35 minutes) inching along on the Kapaa Bypass at 1:30 pm, June 6, to get to my doctor’s appointment (late) in Lihue.

My previous testimony at public hearings has focused on Kapaa/Wailua, where despite debilitating traffic, a 780 house development Hokua Place on 93 acres, has been recommended for up-zoning from Agricultural to Neighborhood General (aka Urban) in the latest version of the UGP.

With three new resorts already approved in the Wailua corridor, plus Hokua Place, there will be at least an additional 2,500 vehicles added to the congestion that will be minimally resolved by the few road remedies recently proposed by the DOT, to be in place by 2022.

Overbuilding is an island-wide issue. In addition to the east side, both the north shore and west side residents have protested the up-zoning of land in the UGP hearings, to no avail.

Do we want another Maui? Visitors choose Kauai for it’s bounty of nature and laid back life style. Please compare the four basic visions of the Planning Dept. to what the UGP actually says online. Web site (plankauai.com). I’m asking everyone who loves Kauai to get involved before it’s too late.


Image above: Joni Mitchell song "Big Yellow Taxi". "They paved Paradise and put in a parking lot". From (https://youtu.be/94bdMSCdw20).

Just say “No. We’re not going to Pave Paradise and Put up a Parking Lot”.

Better yet, get involved.

Please join the Kaua`i Community Coalition, a grass roots group of residents already active with the General Plan process, by attending an island-wide meeting to help formulate a response to the shortfalls and ramifications of the so-called Updated General Plan.

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Commission accepts General Plan 6/15/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Okay given to destroy Paradise 6/10/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Testimony against General Plan
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan open house 12/8/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Reject the Kauai General Plan update 11/30/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai County "Keep it Rural" 11/17/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan Update 9/4/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai General Plan Update 9/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Will developers write Kapaa’s future? 5/6/16 
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai Plan Disappoints 12/9/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Hokua Place comment deadline 5/28/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Coco Palms good to go 3/11/15
Ea O Ka Aina: Lihue Loss of Vision 9/5/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Tax Donkey Purgatory - Lima Ola 7/18/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Annals of pure bullshit - Coco Palms 6/22/14 
Ea O Ka Aina: Coco Palms Travesty 8/10/13  
Ea O Ka Aina: Review 2000-2020 Kauai General Plan 4/2/09
Island Breath: Kauai Sustainable Land Use Plan 11/1/07
Island Breath: LEGS Sustainability Conference 10/13/07
Existing Kauai County General Plan 2000-2020 1999 

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