the NIMBY tax

[kalakoa]

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/news...ing-site-s

Developer wants to build high-end homes with a museum and farm-to-table restaurant; this would create jobs and increase the tax base. Residents have invoked "preserve the land" as their opposition tactic; developer is willing to sell the land as part of a $4.25M package deal.

This means that instead of new jobs + more tax base, the rest of us get to finance another open space preserve so that the residents of Hakalau don't have to see any development near them.

I don't want any more neighbors either. Where do I sign up to have County purchase all the vacant lots around mine?

[HiloPuna]

Former Hakalau mill site has environmental cleanup issues and is not a likely commercial development site for anything other than homes....which requires this rezoning. The whole "farm to table" whooha is smoke and mirrors. A restaurant as tourist destination, or a commute from Hilo for residents, is such a long shot that I can't imagine any business plan succeeding.

The linkage of the valley to the mill site is to tie an albatross (the valley) around the neck of a wounded duck (the mill site). The "albatross" valley is in the CONSERVATION district, not much value there due to topography and use restrictions embedded in state law. The mill site has a H.E.E.R. report available online. It's an arsenic issue, app. 6,000 cubic yards, with a $1.8mm estimated cost for cleanup (limited contaminated soil removal due to coastal issues, primarily capping with 1-3' of clean soil and then never disturbing it). No future development, for any reason, can occur over the remediation site. No work has been done to this point.

Community opposition is predicated not just on the (de)merits of this project but the previous development done by Shropshire in the same area, at the old Jodo mission property. Hard feelings are long remembered. A lot of the opposition to his Papaikou project (A'ole Papaikou Point) was triggered by the experience of the earlier Hakalau Plantation Village project of his in 2004.

Now comes the poker game with the County being assumed to be the sucker at the table. Actually it's more a game of "chicken" at this point. The real play here in my opinion....Walk away. Ignore the public. Ignore Shropshire. Then reassess the property for tax purposes to his asking price as a consequence of his hubris. Leave it for him to continue to try to develop it (NEVER happen) or find a buyer (not anywhere near his ask if at all).

Billy would never fall for this.....but it's at the Council so let's see how savvy they are.

[dakine]

Assuming you don't live in the area or have any handle on it's history or demographics, or of the parties involved, I'd suggest your comments are a tad naive. But hey, if you want to have input on how the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission works and how they come to designate different areas as candidates for funding I am sure they are approachable. The commission is made up of members from each district and as such Puna has a representative that is in fact a highly regarded member of the community.

There is a fact sheet here:

http://oahurcd.org/wp-content/uploads/20...y-PONC.pdf

and here:

http://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/weblink/1...Page1.aspx

and the commission's website is here:

http://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/weblink/Browse.aspx?dbid=1&startid=13770&cr=1

I am proud of our county's wisdom in having an open space fund and the good it is doing. They have been instrumental in keeping other properties from being developed privately that I feel warranted preservation and for that I am grateful. Hopeful with further education you'll come to appreciate the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission as well.

[kalakoa]

your comments are a tad naive

Perhaps; I followed the slant presented by the fine local media.

That said, County does enough to prevent development. Buying land out from under a housing project seems a little excessive -- if the cleanup costs and fantasy restaurant make this site impractical, then that development should be allowed to fail on its own merits, there's no need to buy the land with public funds.

Recurring theme: someone wants to build something, other people don't want it, now all the money is being spent on lawyers instead of actual construction. Sustainable?

[KeaauRich]

Not weighing in on this case in particular, but just wanted to remind everyone that if the county buys the land, then there is an annual budget requirement to maintain it - so it's more than just a one-time expenditure.

[Chunkster]

Does anyone know if the county would be required to remedy the arsenic problem if they purchase the land? I suppose it would depend on what use, if any, the contaminated part was put to, but it has the potential to dwarf that maintenance expense KeaauRich quite sensibly mentions.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Now comes the poker game with the County being assumed to be the sucker at the table. ...Walk away. Ignore the public. Ignore Shropshire. Then reassess the property for tax purposes to his asking price as a consequence of his hubris. Leave it for him to continue to try to develop it (NEVER happen) or find a buyer (not anywhere near his ask if at all).

I hope that's exactly what happens.

I would only add, after the property is assessed at his asking price, and he then fails to pay the taxes, the County can assume ownership of the property at no cost to the taxpayers. At that point it can be determined if it's worth the cleanup costs, and minimum infrastructure for public use.

“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”
-Joseph Brodsky

[dakine]

At that point it can be determined if it's worth the cleanup costs..

I don't get this cleanup costs stuff. There is all sorts of heavy duty arsenic deposits here, sheesh the Wailoa River / Hilo Bay complex is amazing. Here's a short quote from an article published in 1993 titled:

Popular Hilo Fishing Hole Is Considered for Superfund List

"...most of the arsenic came from the Hawaiian Cane Products plant, which, from 1932 to 1963, manufactured canec wallboard from bagasse. According to a report prepared by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration in 1990, the plant treated canec “with calcium arsenate and arsenic acid as an anti-termite agent.” Other sources of arsenic were probably the Waiakea Plantation and the Waiakea Mill. “The Waiakea Plantation conducted a weed control program using a sodium arsenate solution and the Waiakea Mill processed sugar cane from the plantation,” the report states.

"The canec plant discharged its waste through a sewer pipe that emptied into the water at the point where the pond flows into Wailoa River. The NOAA report says, “An estimated 558 tons of arsenic compounds were released into the Hilo Bay estuary through this sewer line during the operational history of the plant.”"

The rest of the article can be read at:

http://www.environment-hawaii.org/?p=3796

So did the EPA clean up Hilo Bay? Nope! All that arsenic is still there.. and I believe the conclusion was it would have been worse if they dredged it up rather than let it sit there. And still folks play in the stuff, eat foods gathered from there, everyday. And besides that "sodium arsenate solution" was sprayed on only God knows how many acres of land in and around Hilo?

So thinking that a new turf and a few benches to sit on and look at the surf ain't all it will take is also a bit naive. Local government has been sweeping arsenic under da rug for a long time already.

[kalakoa]

So did the EPA clean up Hilo Bay? Nope! All that arsenic is still there..

If the developer wants to clean this up at his own expense, why stop him?

[HiloPuna]

Kalakoa
That's the point...he doesn't want to pay for the required cleanup. However he will likely complete the cleanup as a contingency if the County is willing to overpay for the land and leave him in a profitable position.
Otherwise he has to extend his risk position. Any development will trigger the cleanup and at the estimated cost he's adding almost $200k per lot. There's lots of competitive inventory, you don't want to have the highest basis in the market. Far better to pass it off to the bigger fool. In this case that would be the PONC