NEWS AND UPDATES
8/16/2023: The KV3 "Royal Vistas" Development is on the Aug 21 County Council Meeting Agenda. 11 AM BUILDING A at the West Hawaii Civic Center
The Development( Bill 169) is on Page 7 of the agenda for the AUG 21, 11:00 am meeting in Hilo before the full Council Committee See a copy of the agenda HERE
1/9/2023: Cultural Resources Committee Jan Meeting is Cancelled- March is Next Scheduled Meeting
The Jan 11 meeting was cancelled with 6 days notice, which is evidently the day an agenda or cancellation notice was required by the Hawaii Sunshine Laws. Typically the January meetings have not had a heavy agenda as some experienced members leave and replacements have not been chosen or need to be brought up to speed. See a copy of the notice HERE
12/19/2022: Leeward Planning Defers to Cultural Committee
After a 4 hour meeting with over 20 testifiers, the Leeward Planning Commissioners found enough credible written and verbal testimony to justify referring the project for further vetting to the Cultural Resources Commission. See the article in West Hawaii Today by clicking HERE
You might also want to receive updates and meeting notifications from the Cultural Resources Commision. Sign up HERE
12/14/2022: YouTube link for Livestream of Dec. 15 Meeting
The Planning department is denying Zoom request unless you are giving testimony. That is when you become aware of the unadvertised YouTube channel where you can view the live stream. If you can’t attend in person, please watch the livestream and be counted as a viewer. HERE is the link
12/1/2022: Update to the Change.org Petition
Petition update provides meeting information and a call to action to attend. The Direct link to the update is HERE
11/26/2022: Royal Vistas is on the December 15 Leeward Planning Commission Meeting
Save The Dec. 15 Date. It is Important that people show up and Testify !
11/22/2022: What I saw in the Informational session was Chaos
They had a few technical problems with operating Zoom. Only one of their cameras would work (Ashley Kierkiewicz camera) and although chat was enabled I was unable to capture it. The Chat was the only method of feedback because they had no time or intention to take questions. From the chat, it was clear that everyone will be unhappy with the outcome. It has giant fees ($1000 to apply) and giant fines ($10,000) that will be unenforceable, which will allow STVR’s (Now known as TAR for Transient Accommodation Rental) to operate where they should not be allowed.
The “after the meeting” letter can be seen here and it contains links to the meeting recording, the 16 Page draft amendments and a link to provide feedback.
I wish you could have seen the chat…….With over 700 reservations and 485 attendees via Zoom, I’m sure you can imagine what happened.
11/21/2022: Informational Zoom Session on STVR will be held on Nov 21, 5:30-6:30
Ashley Kierkiewicz and Heather Kimball are hosting the session. Register to get a Zoom invite by signing up at: tinyurl.com/cohstvr1121
The Short Term Rental aspect of Royal Vistas and the abuse of the system in order to use it in this development is a factor that should be changed, if possible, to reduce impact and damage. This meeting is a chance to ask questions and learn before regulation proposal is introduced at the County Council meetings.
11/11/2022: Page called "The Lie" was added to the menu. The claim that "Royal Vistas" is an Infill project doesn't hold water. The proposed development isn't surrounded by housing!
When you look at the page the picture illustrates the Agricultural land to the North and the Calvary Church Agricultural land to the South. There are also 2 strips of county land bordering the parcels, meaning the development is sandwiched between County and AG land, with only one side touching a parcel with housing. Why am I not surprised?
10/29/2022: Planning Commission Hearing on Royal Vistas has been Delayed by the Developer
There’s no clue why it isn’t on the November Agenda. That means it is likely to be on the December 15 Agenda, so please save the date to attend the meeting to show your interest and support or submit testimony. Will provide update when we have more info.
10/21/2022: Survey at the Zoning Project Web Page
There is a survey on the Zoning Project if you want your Hawaii County officials (and the consultants, of course) what you think on a large number of subjects. It’s 4 screens. If you want to take it, do yourself a favor and switch to “full screen’ or you’ll get eye strain from the itty-bitty font. Do that by clicking the circular icon that has 4 outward facing arrows
THEY WILL REQUIRE YOU TO REGISTER IN ORDER TO EXPRESS YOUR OPINIONS, SO PROCEED WITH CAUTION !
REGISTRATION REQUIRES A USERNAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS. USERNAMES ARE TYPICALLY YOUR NAME BUT DON’T HAVE TO BE.
10/19/2022: Zoning Amendment Rewiew Meeting at Kona Old Airport Pavillion
There will be a meeting from 5-7PM at the Kona Old Airport Pavillion for orientation and participation in updating the zoning codes that got us in the position of fighting Royal Vistas in the first place. One of the key issues is granting endless time extensions that allow long-ago proposed developments that no longer fit the need or current infrastructure to be considered. There is more information at https://reasite.mysocialpinpoint.com/hawaii-county/hawaii-county-home Here’s their opening paragraph:
“The County of Hawai’i is initiating a process to analyze, update, and amend the Zoning & Subdivision Codes (Chapters 25 and 23) of the 1983 Hawai’i County Code. The last comprehensive reviews were in 1996 and 1993, respectively. The purpose of the update is to implement updates to the general plan and various comprehensive development plans, provide for more predictability, increase consistency, incorporate best practices in land use and zoning, promote desirable and equitable development, and meet the needs of the Hawai’i Island community.”
You can get on their mailing list for the projected 2 year project by subscribing at their web site.
10/09/2022: Next Hearing Postponed
Royal Vistas is not on the agenda for the October 20 Leeward Planning Commission meeting because of a backlog of items due to a cancelled meeting. Check back for updates when the agenda for the November meeting is announced.
10/07/2022: West Hawaii Today article about removing the planning director's ability to grant an extension at his sole disgretion.
A bill proposed by councilman Inaba would require council approval for time extensions and remove the power of the Planning Director (Zendo Kern) to simply issue a 5 year extension at his sole discretion. If you have thoughts on the subject you can submit them by email to: LPCtestimony@hawaiicounty.gov To see the County’s Event Calendar click HERE
The URL for the article is: https://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2022/10/07/hawaii-news/it-really-is-just-a-matter-of-transparency/
The West Hawaii Today newspaper no longer allows full articles to be read without signing up for a free account, but you can look at the summary
8/26/2022: Change.org Petition. SIGN THE PETITION & SHARE THE URL !
Sign the Change.org petition. Note: We are not fund raising and any money you donate goes to Change.org.
The link is https://change.org/NoRoyalVistas or just click the button to open in a new tab
8/20/2022:
One of the team members spotted some wording in the 1913 page document you can download here that suggests that as soon as they get approval, KV3 LLC will move to excavate roadways and that will destroy any rock walls, slides or artifacts. The wording on page 8, paragraph 2 of the document:
“And with approval of the requested amendment to Condition U of Ordinance 02 131 to provide clarity and certainty regarding the extent of required County dedicable roadways to be constructed within the proposed development, the overall design can be facilitated so that plans for engineering and construction can commence promptly after the requested amendments are approved by the Hawai’i County Council.”
In the entire 1900+ pages of the document, it’s notable that there is only one occurrence of “promptly”.