Kapalua Central Resort Project Testimony

Tamara Paltin

Kapalua is a Special Management Area and according to our current General Plan, it is an urban development boundary area. I feel that because Kapalua is an SMA and a buffer zone for urban development, significant attention must be paid to the potential impact this development will have, the proposed 1% increased runoff to an already damaged and dying reefs is huge and should not be accepted for special management areas.
I am asking you as planning commissioners, please do not grant an SMA permit for this project, this is our ?country?; do not let urban sprawl invade our traditional ways of life. Please do not continue to grant permits for development BEFORE infrastructural improvements are made. Inadequate and failing infrastructures are major problems in this region and to allow this project to go through would put additional strain and not allow the needed time for infrastructure to catch up with the high pace of development in West Maui. I am asking the planning commission to seriously plan for our children?s future. Do not allow greed to further degrade our quality of life by overdevelopment. Please look at the big picture, with all the projects already approved for the West District, we do not need to be approving more development in our Special Management Areas, we need to conserve all we can and push for a moratorium at least until infrastructure can catch up and the community can develop a plan as a whole for growth--(completion of our general plan/island plan update).
Another concern I have: Who is this ?village? being built for??No one I know will be able to afford a unit. This is another request from outside influences to exploit our beautiful and natural resources. To approve this project would widen the gap between the haves and have nots in our district which harms our community as a whole.
With the construction of the Ritz Carlton, Lower Honoapi?ilani Road was diverted to Office Road. Any type of guard or welcome station restricting or realigning of this very publicly used road which is the only evacuation route North of Napilihau is going to have a huge impact on the people who live here on the upper West side.
This development is a threat to open space, historic sites, agriculture and is inconsistent with the community plan. According to many kupuna, there is a strong likelihood of Burials in the area and with what is going on right now at Kapalua Bay, this is another serious concern and reason not to grant the permit.
My main concern about the Central Resort and Village projects proposed for Kapalua is that it goes against our general plan. The West Maui community plan states that we should preserve among other things, open spaces in rural buffer areas and cultural artifacts. This should give you the legal standing to not grant a SMA for this area. Please consider the type of future we want to preserve for out children, do not let Maui become like Oahu, there is no need to rush development, that is what we have been doing the last twenty years, please let us slow things down a little and adjust to the increase of developments impact that we are feeling right now before more permits are granted for the West side and if at all possible take testimony on the West side for issues affecting the West side so that we may have a say in our own futures.