Hawaiian Paradise Park - HPPOA Agenda 1-21-09

[Barbara]

I thought all participants in the PCDP effort would be interested in two items under New Business.
A. Discussion of HPP Township
B. Discussion of Harbor at HPP Coastline

Has anyone heard of a proposed harbor at the HPP Coastline?

Board meetings are open to the public.
Meeting starts at 6pm usually promptly.
Owner input is item 'V' on the agenda where people can address the Board and/or speak about an agenda item.

HPP residents who read these posts may want to pay attention to all proposed land use issues.

[Sean]

Thanks for the reminder/heads up.

[JerryCarr]

These two very interesting subjects were removed from the agenda at the last minute, much to the chagrin of many of us there. Kaniu Stocksdale, who was supposed to do presentations on the township and harbor, was on Oahu and unable to attend. The Board promised to get this done next month. Meanwhile, no clue about the harbor. I can't even imagine the environmental and other obstacles that will be blocking that idea, but we will have to wait to hear even the least bit about what is being proposed.

Cheers,
Jerry

[Sean]

It's too bad we can't just read a page of faq's about it. Hey, can this be a way to get more folks to attend the meetings?

[Blakeyboy1]

As a potential new resident I am extremely interested in everything HPP and will eagerly look forward to future discussion around these items. If anyone would be so kind as to shoot me an email if they hear anything I would be very grateful. In the mean time I will be monitoring this site.

-Blake
http://www.theboysgreatescape.blogspot.com/



Blakeyboy1

[PaulW]

Welcome to (virtual) Puna, Blake. Lots of HPP people here so don't hesitate to ask questions, plenty of opinions to go around.

[Blakeyboy1]

Thanks so much PaulW! And yeah I have observed an opinion or two LOL.

Blakeyboy1

[Barbara]

Aloha Blakeyboy1,

Almost every opinion has sub opinions and you can get tangled-up in them.
As a potential new resident, consider what your needs are.
If you want relatively inexpensive land to build on, that's one consideration.
If you expect municipal services, don't expect them.
If you expect and/or need medical services what you might need may not be available.
Do not expect to get your own physician.
Do expect mosquitos.
If you own or plan to buy a lot, and then plan to bring in a D-9, or -10, and grade pin-to-pin you will have effectively destroyed your portion of the aina.
If you contract with one of the very few businesses who grade with care, good for you!!!

Get a copy of the Revised Hawaiian Paradise Park Community Master Plan, and read the county Puna Community Development Plan.

Better yet, join Friends of Puna's Future.

A hui hou,
Barbara

[john the architect]

HPP planning alert. Just when you though you had a nice view.

I was dismayed to find that a 150' monopole tower was approved for the property next to ours on 13th Avenue. New state legislation removed the use permit requirement and prevented any public say on the tower application. We had been awaiting a second notification with the date of a hearing since the original November letter informing us of the application, and feel tricked and cheated when the County planners decided that new state law made no hearing required. Even the new County regulations regarding towers will not apply to this project because it slipped in before they may take effect.

We realize that some additional towers are inevitable, what is wrong here is that the place for towers is clearly on the large twenty-acre lots created when HPP was originally subdivided. These lots were for community and commercial activities, and what better way to emphasize them than with large infrastructure that would also be available to the future intense uses on those sites. I wrote to the owners of half of these lots, the Watumulls, and got no response. Since there are vast land holdings owned by them along the coast up to Hilo, some day they will be asking for County approval for development. Why does the County not recognize this and use some leverage to get the original developers of HPP to make space available for towers. Neighbors are concerned about proximity to the towers, and the most spacing possible from residences is at the center of the large parcels, its is as simple as that.

Who owns the other large parcels in HPP? The association does. My understanding is that some time back the association invited T-Mobile to come and put a tower on one of its large lots on Makuu, and that the project was halted when the issue was raised over the Watumull's legal right to block any income-producing activity on association land. I think a good lawyer could challenge this, as towers appear to be a needed part of the community. The dark side of this is what happened next.

My neighbor Lloyd Cabral bought an existing home in HPP about five years after we purchased our land. He was on the Board of Directors at the time that T-Mobile was being offered a tower location by HPP. My understanding of what happened after someone determined HPP was prevented from hosting a tower is that Lloyd invited T-Mobile to his front yard, which is where they are preparing to build.

The story told by T-Mobile's agent Laurie Ann K. Chan (808.587.7770 ext 111) to the County planners is that "HPP welcomes T-Mobile to the location on 13th Avenue". Really?
Who in charge at HPP was she referring to? What neighbor groups? I was told by her that the 13th Avenue site was arrived at by the careful analysis of her engineering staff, and that no other sites were suitable. Utter nonsense! This was the low-hanging fruit, a willing owner ready to go, who came to them through his office as a representative of HPP and was acting in his own self-interest.

When Lloyd came over to us to ask us to support his tower project, we told him we did not want to look out our windows at a tower. All five of our lots have a clear view of the tower whose daytime silhouette mars our view and whose flashing red lights will replace our starry night sky. His answer was "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". His house and patio do not give him views of the tower, so from his perspective he is loses nothing.

Currently everyone in HPP can look forward to a tower of up to 500' looming over them. T-Mobile does not care, County planners blame the state revised statute HR 205-4.5
that allows towers anywhere at all in HPP (remember we are zoned ag land and the state does not realize the residential reality here), and the state Land Use Commission
(never mind the flowery website language about protecting our natural environment) defers that they only deal with properties over 15 acres. I did remind them about our 20 acre parcels and suggested they could somehow intervene to bring the Watumulls to the table.

Our paradise is lost, we lose good neighbors who will move away because of this, and it seems we are powerless to stop this wreckless, unplanned development. Wake up the rest of you, go outside and appreciate your view while you still have it.

[JerryCarr]

While the Watamulls are considered by some to have been generous or even visionary in their provision of the 20-acre parcels for eventual business or community use purposes, they have retained a significant degree of veto power over what is actually done with these parcels, above and beyond the existing agricultural zoning.

I just checked with the HPP office, and the Watamulls still own four of the twelve 20-acre parcels and have deed restrictions limiting commercial activity on the Association owned parcels. The HPP Owners Association has approached them about easing these restrictions for various purposes, and the answer has always been "NO," with the reason given as the fact that the orginator of the subdivision and the restrictions is deceased and thus unable to change them. Like John the Architect, many of us think there must be a way to do this, however. In any case, negotiations continue. The more cynical among HPP residents see the Watamull heir's position as an effort to protect the value of their potential commericial development. After looking at a map, it appears to me that they have retained the parcels most amenable for business development sites.

I wish there were some simple answer to your problem, John. The HPPOA would like to have the income from a cell tower, but can't put it where they want. I only hope that some sensible solution is found, because I think other issues having to do with this are lurking out there.