Sierra Club
condemns Big Isle plan
as pro-development
HILO >> The state Sierra Club blasted a proposed revision of the Hawaii County General Plan yesterday as a "developer's dream" and a "gift to special interests."
The proposal written by the Hawaii County Council takes out restrictions on new resorts and protection for agriculture which a prior draft by Mayor Harry Kim's administration had proposed for the plan.
But County Council Chairman Jimmy Arakaki said the Council draft merely retains provisions already present in the existing General Plan since at least 1989.
The first such plan, intended to guide all development on the Big Island, was approved in 1971.
One of the proposals by Kim's administration was to remove resort approval for an area south of Kona, where the controversial Hawaiian Riviera Resort was proposed in the 1980s.
The project failed when developer Charles Chidiac was unable to get financing.
Another controversial development proposal in 2000-2001 was a resort and residential development at Keopuka near Kealakekua Bay.
The proposal was killed by the state Land Use Commission as an inappropriate urban development on agricultural land.
The Council's General Plan draft approves resorts at both locations.
"This is not a plan. This is a blank check for developers," said Sierra Club spokesman David Kimo Frankel.
Additional resorts are envisioned in the Puna and Hamakua districts.
Arakaki said the intent is to allow each district to have facilities that generate large amounts of property taxes, rather than the county depending primarily on resorts in West Hawaii.
Another controversial point was a proposal by Kim's administration to designate certain lands as agriculturally important. The Council draft removes that protection.
Hamakua farmer Bob Shioji said the protection is needed.
"I get worried when I see all these gentleman estates popping up with $5 million homes," he said.
Kim's planning director, Chris Yuen, said the Council draft proposes 3,000 acres for urban use at Keaau, just south of Hilo. "Most of the 3,000 acres is prime agricultural land," he said in a letter to the Council.
Following a Council workshop on its draft last night, Kim said he learned about the draft just last week.
"This took us by surprise," he said.
Another Council change removes a ban on development in hazardous areas, Kim noted. "I'm trying to make sure why it was taken out," he said.
Yuen said Council version must go through many procedures before approval. By law he must review the proposal, then it must go to the county Planning Commission.
If the Council's changes are approved by the commission, the draft then goes back to the Council for a vote, he said.
County of Hawaii
