SB2274-Sustainable Living

[Rob Tucker]

I am not generally too concerned with who likes who. Everyone has their detractors but I do get and stay aggravated with people who actively work for other peoples failure.

[lo-ka-hi]

Well spoken, Opihikao, mahalo.
It appears to me that the issue of this discussion about SB2274 as the solution to Graham Ellis' legality problems really lays with him.
After the pavilion was built the shows came on about every Saturday and Sunday night. Plus the weekly Night Bazaar. People partying in the parking lot. The noise was incredible. The noise-stricken neighbors were ignored by Graham when they tried to talk to him. Who can blame the desperate neighbors for turning to the County when they could hardly enjoy their homes at nighttime anymore?

Bellyacres was not 'needled' by just one neighbor. That is just one fairy tale that keeps getting repeated.
"And, by the way, there was more than one person complaining. They've received numerous, numerous complaints over the years, and some very recent ones." said Amy Self, legal Council for the County, at the May 2012 Revocation Hearing.

Had Graham's circus behaved like one and taken most of their shows on the road to the people instead of having all their attendees drive to and through Seaview constantly and beleaguering us with all that noise, our and Graham's Eco Village community might still be living in harmony.

Also, most people moved here instead to HPP or Ainaloa because they prefer the rural quiet to the convenience of being provided for their 'daily needs' right here atop of Seaview. Most people do not want a business center drawing hundreds of people weekly into our community.
Pahoa provides for most of our needs as well as Kalani and Uncle Roberts. There is no need to drive to Hilo all the time, there is chicken feed available in Pahoa. Why not support local business?

But since Graham insists on running his business right here with no regard to his surrounding neighbors and has shown repeated unwillingness to negotiate, there is protest and resistance.

It does not matter if Graham has the support of hundreds of people who do not live in Seaview. How about if he finally started working with the neighbors who do live next to him and tried to regain their trust and support?

I am not holding my breath though.

Lokahi

[Rob Tucker]

Puna and the word "quirky" go hand in hand.

[PauHana]

I do not know about all the legalities of this issue, but I do know that the project has produced some delightful and talented young people.
The world is richer for it.

"WHERE THERE IS LAW, NO MAN FINDS JUSTICE" Leo Tolstoy

[kalakoa]

seeks to get legitimized by a state permit to exclude them from county permit?

Please read SB2274 very carefully. It is not a permit; it merely requires County to create a permit process and sets forth a laundry list of conditions, one of which is that County can stipulate its own additional requirements.

Given that BA/SPACE cannot seem to abide by the requirements of the existing Special Use process, I strongly suspect that they would also not be able to meet the conditions imposed by the Sustainability Research process.

the May 2012 Revocation Hearing

It's now May 2014 ... good to know government is still efficient as always.

[lo-ka-hi]

kalakoa,

how come you have "No affiliation whatsoever with Graham Ellis and/or HSLA." on 3/26
and
on 4/28 you indicate affiliiation with writing "we are left with the same "compliance issues" as before" …and… "maybe a nice high-profile lawsuit to tide us over --…"???


Lokahi

[kalakoa]

"We" as in "all of Puna". Everyone here suffers County's arbitrarily complaint-driven enforcement. Nitpicking about affiliation does nothing to solve the problem.

[kalakoa]

It's official:

http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/loc...-bill-dies

Opponents, including neighbors of proposed sites, said they were worried about noise and other impacts, including unsanitary conditions.

All of which continue at many sites in Puna -- of course, if County can't manage to enforce the laws they have now, it's unclear how more laws would help.

Supporters said it would help the county meet goals of the Hawaii 2050 Sustainability Plan.

The painful irony: State Ag currently has a grant program for "Specialty Crops" which was created because lawmakers are "concerned" by Hawaii's massive dependence on imported food.

We (the island and/or State) need to actually work together. Killing a bill (and, for that matter, triggering an empty ethics investigation) isn't productive; I have yet to see any constructive suggestions from the opposition as to how they would amend SB2274.

Here's a simple one: only issue the permit to a new research site -- presto, Belly Acres can't (ab)use the process to retroactively approve their installation. See how easy that was?

[Seeb]

First of all they have to lose the "sustainability" catch phrase, because it has no definition. A sustainable ecosystem is about population density, without that the word means Nothing.
If the problem is affordable housing then lose the zoning BS and worry about heath and safety.
If it's about the village center idea then look at how villages historical have developed.it's mixed used, nowhere do you see rows and rows of nothing but houses except where a developer has pooped out a subdivision.

[Chunkster]

@ Seeb: "Pooped out a subdivision." I love it because that is what so many of them ultimately are.