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quote:
Originally posted by kalakoa
It does not matter why the bill failed; without meaningful regulation, we are left with the same "compliance issues" as before.
I find it particularly ironic that Belly Acres basically asked nicely for a pathway to legitimacy, only to be shot down by the very people who complain so bitterly about their "illegal" activities.
No worries -- there's always next legislative session, and maybe a nice high-profile lawsuit to tide us over -- we're so much better off arguing amongst ourselves about what constitutes "sustainable" while we wring our hands at our dependency on imported food (and the "energy industry" that transports it). Yay team!
and your reply: "We" as in "all of Puna".
nitpicking???
A nice high-profile lawsuit would tie 'us' as in 'all of Puna' over???
ha, ha, ha, 'not-affiliated-with-Graham', very funny.
By the way, we all want to be sustainable and get out from under the County building codes. Why only so called Eco-Villages? Why does everybody else has to pay big bugs for permitted houses and they don't?
Lokahi
Lokahi
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SB2274 merely "allows" a village, does not "require" one.
Nobody "has to" pay big bucks for a permitted house.
I'm still not Graham, though I have met him once or twice.
Keep up the whinging, though; it's certainly productive.
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and because you are not Graham (who is british), you use a british word we Americans don't know, whinging. Got it.
Lokahi
Lokahi
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From another thread UJ commented "I dont know how much the county patrols through there looking for unpermitted buildings." Kalakoa called it an "arbitrary" enforcement process by complaint.
As far as building code violations go, they don't patrol. We recently had an addition finaled by the county and at the end I grumbled to the inspector (who I thought was a knowledgeable guy) about an adjacent property without permits who have had at least six HPM loads delivered that I've witnessed, complete with forklift. They recruit renters (through Craigslist according to neighbors) who create a lot of traffic up and down their driveway and have built a shack maybe within the setback from our property. I would be amazed if they have even a cesspool there.
His reply? "Well, you could file a complaint."
So Kalakoa is right, there's a lot of whining here. If I want some action I could complain and I would be pretty confident something would happen. In other words, I could mess over my neighbor or I could ignore the situation for as long as I could stand it. Maybe if they pull out another surveyed property pin marker I'll do it. So it would be really nice to have the county take the burden of this decision off of me, "patrol" for building violations and righteously deal with the situation. But that's not what we have and it's on me.
But in the same way, on the larger topic here, the "sustainability" legislation with its end runs around the county codes, if you don't like it or the county's building code policies, do something about it! Sometimes that actually works! Sativa apparently did and in this case I think the right thing happened. This paper-mache piñata of a bill with its sloppy definition of sustainability concealed some bad karma for the county.
As much as the PCDP gets ridiculed, my subcommittee and the others wrote some darn good guidelines for development in Puna. We were assured that our guidelines had the "force of law" to shape implementation. In our document we stated, among many topics, that development in Puna should always be oriented to keeping Puna "rural," confining commercial and industrial development to defined zones (village centers are just one aspect of that). If you like those guidelines but don't like the pace or shape of implementation on the Action Committees, do something about it. Always saddening that so many transplants, and to be fair some locals, complain or laugh about the county policies (or their neighbor's "policies") and never do anything about it. Their choice, but it would be wonderful to see some Punawebbers who want to keep Puna rural and don't want heavy usage commercial activities plopped down anywhere an owner wants to plop them, get involved in the PCDP implementation, move things forward. Up to you.
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Plenty of Americans know the word "whinging" and what it means,
But to which Americans do you refer? North, South, Central, Greenland?
America comprises a very large area and more than a few countries.
If you don't know it, how do you know it is British?
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Anxious Messiah, I am glad you know 'whinging', I couldn't find anybody who knew the word - so I googled it and found it's British.
Kalakoa please clarify your remark about the lawsuit - who might be suing whom to tie 'us' as in 'all of Puna' over with a nice high profile lawsuit?
Lokahi
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I believe the next lawsuit will take the form of a class-action against County's illegal grant of subdivision; it will evolve from the various "private road" lawsuits currently brewing, once the lawyers figure out that County (1) has deeper pockets than the subdivision landowners, and (2) created the original problem.
SB2274 merely set out to create a permit process. In my opinion, it's unfortunate that it failed; I believe County would have added conditions that rendered the "sustainability permit" more difficult than the current "special use" process.
If I want some action I could complain and I would be pretty confident something would happen.
Yes: your neighbors would seek retribution -- and get it -- long before County took any action. This is the "dark side" of a purely complaint-driven process.
However ... it's painfully clear that nobody really cares about the "issues", because here we are arguing about the use of "obviously British words" as a clue to unmask Graham and his many secret aliases attempting to greenwash Punaweb.
I leave the rest of you to it.
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"I believe the next lawsuit will take the form of a class-action against County's illegal grant of subdivision; it will evolve from the various "private road" lawsuits currently brewing, once the lawyers figure out that County (1) has deeper pockets than the subdivision landowners, and (2) created the original problem.'
The counties deep pockets are filled with our money that they take from us in the form of taxes !!If the county lost a lawsuit,which they probably wouldn't,they would just raise our taxes to pay it.
You do realize the county is still allowing subdivisions without proper roads,don't you.There is a list of variance requests published in the newspaper at least once a week.Even the mayor was allowed to subdivide his property without up grading the road and without providing water.
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You do realize the county is still allowing subdivisions without proper roads,don't you.
Of course -- variances are always allowed for those with political connections, which is exactly how the Great Unwashed Subdivisions were originally created. (See also: Land and Power in Hawaii, chapter 8.)
County simply doesn't have to care, because (1) the lawsuit will still be cheaper than pavement, and (2) a simple tax hike results in plenty of "free" revenue.
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This bill is a dead horse and all the beating on it isn't going to make it get up and go.
It is silly to talk about sustainability in Hawaii. Hawaii is the most dependent state in the US, the least sustainable. 70% of the electricity comes from imported oil, 99% of the transportation comes from imported oil, the state imports over 90% of its food (Hawaii island still imports 65% of its produce).
To top it off, 40% of the GDP is from federal dollars, 30% is from tourism and agriculture is a distant third at about 12%. The current situation in Hawaii is about as unsustainable as it can get.
The focus should be on self sufficiency for the state and that is a very long term goal, not years but decades. Teaching the keiki to be clowns and jugglers, as well as brainwashed into thinking permitted buildings and land use is only for fools, is probably not going to prove to be a major factor in achieving self reliance.
"This island Hawaii on this island Earth"
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*
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