03-30-2019, 04:42 AM
"growth in a manner preferred by the residents of Puna. Village centers, not commercial sprawl."
PCDP doesn't suggest many new "village centers", mostly only those which already exist, along with some completely unrealistic locations that will never be allowed ("near someone's house", inadequate roads, etc).
Study the plats and find the larger pattern: all these subdivisions were created to maximize revenue (sales, property taxes) and so left no room for "livability" concerns.
Today there is nowhere left to build: everything is "near someone's house", there isn't any room to widen the roads/highways, remaining large parcels are owned by the State or a "large local landowner" who has no incentive to sell ... and if you somehow get past all that, you're left dealing with County and their infinite "requirements".
Remember when Puna Kai shopping center was announced and would cost $40M? Now it's $80M and the completion date has been pushed back at least a couple of times. A "softening economy" and/or "increased construction costs" only explains so much. (Not to mention the irony of solving traffic problems with a roundabout, only to build a new signalized intersection a few hundred feet away ... but I digress.)
a "peddlers mall" or "flea market" would probably fit pretty well
I called it a "dirt mall" above, but we're on the same page here. A truly "agricultural" subdivision doesn't need shiny class-A retail space suitable for a Starbuck's, we just need a warehouse where we can get fertilizer and a couple of 2x4s, ideally reachable via our "privately owned" roads so we can drive our quads and unregistered farm trucks to get supplies.
A trip to Hilo is a minimum 2-hour commitment during which I am not growing crops or raising livestock or whatever -- and I'm not retired enough to have that kind of spare time, nor do I want to make all my "economic contributions" to a big-box chain store that exports all its profits off-island.
PCDP doesn't suggest many new "village centers", mostly only those which already exist, along with some completely unrealistic locations that will never be allowed ("near someone's house", inadequate roads, etc).
Study the plats and find the larger pattern: all these subdivisions were created to maximize revenue (sales, property taxes) and so left no room for "livability" concerns.
Today there is nowhere left to build: everything is "near someone's house", there isn't any room to widen the roads/highways, remaining large parcels are owned by the State or a "large local landowner" who has no incentive to sell ... and if you somehow get past all that, you're left dealing with County and their infinite "requirements".
Remember when Puna Kai shopping center was announced and would cost $40M? Now it's $80M and the completion date has been pushed back at least a couple of times. A "softening economy" and/or "increased construction costs" only explains so much. (Not to mention the irony of solving traffic problems with a roundabout, only to build a new signalized intersection a few hundred feet away ... but I digress.)
a "peddlers mall" or "flea market" would probably fit pretty well
I called it a "dirt mall" above, but we're on the same page here. A truly "agricultural" subdivision doesn't need shiny class-A retail space suitable for a Starbuck's, we just need a warehouse where we can get fertilizer and a couple of 2x4s, ideally reachable via our "privately owned" roads so we can drive our quads and unregistered farm trucks to get supplies.
A trip to Hilo is a minimum 2-hour commitment during which I am not growing crops or raising livestock or whatever -- and I'm not retired enough to have that kind of spare time, nor do I want to make all my "economic contributions" to a big-box chain store that exports all its profits off-island.