I want to give West Hawaii Today a huge mahalo, for the continued coverage on the opposing point of view around the Alii Drive five-story condominium near Ala Ka La. Nancy Cook Lauer’s writing offers us a chance to pause and be thoughtful around this project.
I am a multiple generation local here and I have seen, heard, experienced and learned more about the impact that developers have caused to our land, archaeological sites, our watershed and ocean quality and the impact it has caused over the past 25 years as I testify on behalf of our culture and natural resources.
This development by Jekaterina Mysin (SMA 21-000078) for a five-story condo on Alii Drive poses a major threat to both our water quality and our precious culture. This design doesn’t fit into our cultural landscape.
We must be mindful of the few green open spaces we currently have and understand the sewage and tsunami evacuation problems it will invite if developed. This will not create positive regeneration for future generations.
This condo is on the ocean side of the street and will tower over all existing buildings. This makes Kona less appealing, less Hawaii, less sustainable and not moving us toward becoming tsunami evacuation prepared.
We have a rise in various types of staph infection problems on our island, rising tides, cultural loss due to gentrification and land destruction, drought, flash floods, groundwater runoff, soil and sand contamination and the quality of drinking water and impacting our aquifer system that provides life to our natural habitat in our ocean and anchialine ponds for native species.
Instead of more mansions and condos, I would like to see a larger vision for the restoration along the waterfront acreage. Every open parcel should not be utilized as a multi-million dollar opportunity for the few, but instead should be utilized as a multi-million dollar opportunity that can perpetuate benefits for generations by being more welcoming to our ocean habitats, our Hawaiian culture and outdoor recreational space being safe for all to use. The positive impact to our economy would have through marine biology, tourism, fishing, surfing, paddle-boarding, snorkeling, whale watching, diving, computer programmers and engineers, and game designers to entice a work life balance that will benefit us all for generations if we plan to protect our water quality and culture. Right now, our oceanfront is blocked by condos and mansions with ocean views peeking through while driving along Alii Drive. This will encourage more future buildings near our waterfront, if it passes.
I lived in New York City for many years and they have dedicated 840 acres for Central Park in Manhattan and it is the most visited urban park in the U.S. New York City has dedicated over 1,700 parks, small to large. They have now committed to planting millions of trees and creating public parks along all waterfronts of each borough and working with communities to clean up rivers and ocean water quality through the introduction of Oysters to mitigate water runoff, brown water and sewage that impacts their coral, ocean and river habitats. We need to think ahead before it is too late. We must pause and strategies to the benefit of all who live and visit here. This is a reminder in an urbanizing environment that every small to large land saves matters to our cultural identity, mental, emotional, economical and natural impact successes. We can make profits through pono land management by making it more enticing for locals and visitors to enjoy the beauty of Hawaii, local culinary experiences and shopping.
I am strongly opposing any condominiums to be built along our overpopulated oceanfront for these reasons. Especially this one as it is far from being culturally sensitive and respectful in its design and function to our land.
Mahalo for your time and allowing me to voice my concerns to the greater community of West Hawaii.
Maki Morinoue is a resident of Holualoa.