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Wow, the community had the power to stop this after all. Good job.
And kudos to the Yamadas and KTA for caring enough about the community's input to withdraw their application. Echoing Rob's sentiment, in the future I hope they will consider exploring more appropriate locations in Puna.
Tim
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius
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Today I happened to talk with one of the developers that worked on this project. She says they went with community sentiment but were saddened. They thought their plan with landscaping, etc... would make it a good project. No strop mall planned; just lots of local jobs for local people and shopping without heading into Hilo. Apparently they were pretty surprised at the nay-sayers. In a time when local jobs are so few I am a little surprised myself but I know there are many other issues.
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hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
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If I recall...they had a lot of nay-sayers when they planned to build a Longs a KFC and Burger King in Pahoa. But that went through pretty quick. Is that because they had the PCDP blessing because they built in the village?
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I say yes to a KTA in HPP. If you build it, they will come.
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I am totally disappointed.
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The KFC/Burger King/Longs project was different in a number of respects, including the PCDP blessing. One major problem with the KTA Orchidland proposal was the impact it would have had on our subdivision's roads. The proposed location would have fed lots of traffic onto 34th Ave, Auli'i Dr. and Orchidland Drive, all of which are barely maintained by the Assn. as it is. Orchidland has been burned by broken promises from developers in the past, so many residents were understandably wary of this plan. I suspect the impact on privately maintained roads will be an issue to some degree if they decide to try again in HPP as well. Also. at the Orchidland Assn. meeting, the developer's representative was surprised to hear from a resident that the state had no intention of allowing a light at the intersection of 130 and Auli'i. The developer said that if they couldn't get the traffic light, the project was a non-starter -- which is why, I suspect, that the project was pulled. The lack of infrastructure (esp. water and broadband) is going to be an impediment to any commercial development off the main highway, so there are several major questions that need to be addressed by the County before we see any large scale development in Puna in my opinion.
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quote:
Originally posted by macuu222
If I recall...they had a lot of nay-sayers when they planned to build a Longs a KFC and Burger King in Pahoa. But that went through pretty quick.
The difference here is that the community became alerted early on at Aulii Dr and not at Pahoa. Also, at Woodland (KFC, Long's et al) they manipulated/gamed the process by not getting a lawfully required extension that could have brought more public attention before building began.
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Be more respectful of a corperation? Is that because you had an interest in doing business with them? Is that why I shouLd " bow down"? It's just a curious statement to make about a business. See I had/ have no Business interest in a new "market" irrespective of precieved " need" for one, so I can speak like a "Free Man". I'm not trying to sell anyone anything or pretend I'm relevant on all issues "Puna". Reality check!
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Rene, I am just suggesting you be a bit respectful of the land owner (a local family) and a local business. I have no stake in the proposal. Puna is in serious need of more local businesses and jobs. The only issue was the location. Hopefully KTA will be taking a close look at a location on Orchidland Drive.
Referring to the Woodland Center: The zoning for that project had been in place years before the PCDP. It can be considered to be within the Pahoa Village Center. The county did go out of it's way to expedite the expired permits and it took some serious community effort to achieve some traffic improvements. Somehow I suspect that the KFC will not survive there too many years... business for them seems quite slow.
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I personally would like to see it built on the HPP side of the highway. Somewhere like where that old nursery that went out of business is located at the corner of Paradise and Hwy 130. I believe if they built in HPP (especially near or along centrally located Paradise drive ...they would get more support from the HPP community than Orchidland residents gave them for building on Aulii Dr. And Paradise Drive has county water lines down to the fire station!
