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I think a new market and shopping center would be nice too. Let me ask you this though...
How do you feel about Hwy. 130 having a new shopping center or two, a couple or three car dealerships, several more fast food joints, licquer stores, auto part stores, etc. lining the length of the road from Keaau to Pahoa?
If one commercial setting is allowed on the highway you can't say no to the next one and the one after that. In that manner Hwy. 130 will rather rapidly resemble Nimitz Hwy in Honolulu or Kanoelehua in Hilo. Another side affect would likely be the death of Pahoa Village as all business migrates to the highway.
Which model of development is best for Puna? Village center development of highway development? We all know what developed highways look like (I'm not getting into the traffic problems of multiple left turns into dozens of business establishments).
Assume the best and ask questions.
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It's the natural progression of things. While some may hope that commercial development will skip by our little part of this island....it is naive to think that it won't happen soon. And I just don't see it happening in the village center model.
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We did fight and win one battle in 2007 on highway rezoning so that bought four years so far and resulted in Long's building in the Pahoa Village Center instead of some random corner on the highway.
Orchidland has a nice beginning of a village center with a Blane's, Wikiwki and Ace Hardware so an expansion on that could and would be in keeping with the Puna Community Development Plan (PCDP). It is a community plan, not a developer plan.
Assume the best and ask questions.
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Sorry Rob, I am all for development, the subdivisions are not going to change, as many of them are undeveloped and lacking infrastructure, so the rural beauty will always be there.
Look how long it took Malama and Woodland shopping centers to finally be finished, so I am figuring that many other planned developments will not happen in my lifetime. Meanwhile the population and continued growth in Puna, because of it's affordability will still keep growing! We desperately need more jobs and resources for the area, what we have now creates a hardship for to many people.
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I am not against development. I am simply for planned development rather than hodgepodge of Special Use Permits.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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Rob,
I agree, but having retail centers so far apart doesn't serve the needs of such a large population. Perhaps the County needs to create commercial zoning, perhaps 20 or 40 acres acres or more around Orchidland and plan for a major intersection there to meet future needs, thus steering retail projects to a centralized "Village" (Shopping Center)location.
Dan
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Rob, I did not mean to imply you were against development, I meant to say with the expansion of highway 130 to 4 lanes, I honestly believe it would be the best place for commercial developments, businesses if they are going to invest in a community want to have visibility.
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I'm not big on the village center concept except for smaller shops. I would like to see a larger centrally located retail/commercial center with the bigger stores. But not right on the highway. It should be on a service road concealed by vegetation, preferably native.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
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Thought I would lighten up things abit. The late George Carlin was always a radical comedian in his day and had a twisted outlook on things both present and future. But I think he got this one right. How does this relate to Hawaii and Puna specifically? I think the same thing applies here in Hawaii. It's not what people here in Puna want...it's not what the councilmen and the committee members and politicians want....It's what the "Owners Want".
As with all George Carlin monologues...Parental discretion is advised !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV1lZMTCqf8
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One of the major themes of the old Managing Growth working group was maintaining the rural quality of Puna. The Village Center concept seemed to dovetail into that neatly. The sense of it was that distributed, non-centralized Village Centers fit the fact that the subdivisions themselves are distributed and not centralized. By not having highly centralized megamalls, retail needs can be met as well as maintaining the local ambience. Finally, as I believe Rob has mentioned, big development along 130 will certainly begin the shriveling of Pahoa and Kea'au town centers. So the most difficult item to fit into the Village Center idea is locating an anchor-sized store. That's why the outcome of this application for Auli'i is so important.
