• Bring it on, Wal-Mart
• On Wailua Developments
• Stop the madness
Bring it on, Wal-Mart
I would like to comment on the “big box” dilemma that I keep reading about and watching the hearings on. All I have to say is “Bring it on, Wal-Mart.” There seem to be several people who believe that the quality of life on Kaua‘i will be highly jeopardized by Wal-Mart’s expansion. I have to disagree. Being a working-class citizen who is living paycheck to paycheck and still not being able to make ends meet, I welcome the lower prices Wal-Mart brings to help feed my family. Besides, it seems that the other grocery stores aren’t able to keep up with the needs of the population. Seems the stores are always out-of-stock on the most basic needs.
There has been little thought in the planning process for Kaua‘i’s working-class residents. Take a look, people: All of these resorts that are coming up aren’t for you or I. How many of you can afford a condo starting at the mid $600,000s? I bet not a lot of you; I, for one can’t afford that. Affordable housing being built, can anyone tell me where? I’m looking. Sorry to say that for the average working family to afford a $500,000 mortgage, payments would be about $2,500 a month. How many jobs would that require? Gee, I wonder why the children of the island are running wild, no parental supervision. The parents are too busy working their two or three jobs to survive.
I believe there are far more important issues that need to be addressed. How about traffic? How many people driving in to Lihu‘e anywhere west of Halfway Bridge enjoy the daily 45 to 60 minutes it takes to get to work or school? It used to only take 15 to 20 minutes to make this same drive.
As far as the bike path, if that’s all the money is appropriated for, then build the darn thing and stop complaining about it. However, in order for people from other parts of the island to enjoy it, we’ll all have to jump in our car to get there. Can anyone say, “more traffic?”
I believe Mr. Mayor said he was planning on working on bigger issues this term; that’s yet to be seen.
Francine M. Grace
Kalaheo
On Wailua Developments
Editor’s note: The following testimony was sent to the planning commission and sent to The Garden Island Letters to the Editor section as well.
The Honorable Theodore Daligdig, Chair & Members of the Planning Commission
• Special Management Area Use Permit SMA (U)-2006-5 Class IV Zoning Permit Z-IV-2006-10 (Coconut Plantation Holdings, LLC, Applicant)
• Special Management Area Use Permit SMA (U)-2006-4 Class IV Zoning Permit Z-IV-2006-9 (Coconut Plantation Holdings, LLC, Applicant)
I am writing to you as a resident of Kaua‘i with the following concerns:
First, I feel that the timing of these developments on Kaua‘i is of concern. Adequate infrastructure is not in place to accommodate its impacts. This includes the lack of employees currently on Kaua‘i to properly support these developments.
Second, if the Planning Commission chooses to approve these applications, it should do so only if substantial mitigation of these impacts occurs n particularly in relation to significant traffic concerns.
Third, mitigation measures should include significant enhancements to pedestrian access for resort developments fronting the Waipouli beach front, from the Kauai Sands through the proposed Coconut Plantation Holdings, LLC project to connect to the Waipouli (Foodland) Shopping Center and the Kauai Village (Safeway) Shopping Center, and the county’s planned multi-use pathway system in the Wailua-Waipouli area.
The existing pedestrian amenities are not conducive to our visitors or residents safely accessing the area on foot. By not providing alternative travel modes, we are only adding to the traffic problems in the area.
The provision of improved pedestrian alternatives connecting with the county’s proposed multi-use pathway system would allow for safe alternative access to recreation, shopping, and restaurant areas from the Kintaro’s shopping center between Papaloa Street and Kuhio Highway, through the Coconut Marketplace, and on to the Mokihana of Kauai condominiums/Bull Shed Restaurant and new Waipouli Beach Resort areas.
For the proposed developments before the Planning Commission, a multi-use pathway in this area should consist of a minimum 10-foot-wide concrete pavement surface, following the coast to and along the northern boundary of the proposed Coconut Plantation Holdings development and make a safe connection to the shopping centers mentioned previously.
You have the opportunity and responsibility to ensure that adequate and safe pedestrian alternatives are put in place for all to use and enjoy. I am hopeful that you will make the right decision.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Kim Lucas
Lihu‘e
Stop the madness
Another person died on Kaua‘i roads this week. And it doesn’ t stop with that death. That death means some child lost a parent. Someone lost a spouse they loved for many years and hoped to love for many more. And there were serious injuries — someone may have been maimed for life. And an innocent driver who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time will be forever changed seeing the accident repeat over and over in their mind for years to come.
I could have written this letter after any number of recent fatal accidents on Kaua‘i roads. I should have written it before. I’ve waited too long. Now I’m mad at myself for not doing something sooner and I’ m mad at all of us for not doing enough to prevent these accidents.
We all know more people are dying on Kaua‘i roads because our roads are too crowded — we haven’t had any major road expansion in years and years, while the local and visitor population has steadily grown. With the current traffic density, speed limits and uncontrolled intersections, our roads are unsafe. When even a slight problem occurs there isn’t time to get out of the way and often there isn’t any place to get out of the way to.
What’s more, we all know it. A Kaua‘i pastime has become telling each other about how close we just came to an accident.
We’ve argued and dithered and rejected ideas because we couldn’ t get 100 percent agreement while the death toll mounts. It is past time to do something. This is an emergency. People are dying.
We can’t cut our population in half because we can’t agree on who to send to the Mainland. Some want to send back everyone who moved here less than 20 years ago. Some think anyone who can’t afford to live here should leave. Neither is realistic and neither view shows any aloha.
Madam Governor, Mr. Mayor, council members, legislators: as a stopgap emergency solution you’d better start putting up more traffic lights. You know where: in front of the Hilton and every other major hotel, at the Tree Tunnel intersection; at the KCCC /Wailua Golf Course intersection; and just about every other intersection on our main highways, even if it is just a driveway for a little store.
This is going to be an annoying inconvenience that will delay us all every time we go anywhere — but it will immediately start saving lives.
And then, Madam Governor, Mr. Mayor, council members, legislators: We’d better get serious about building appropriate roads for the traffic we’ve already got — roads with more lanes and with limited access.
Multilane, limited-access highways are rural. Think Iowa.
Traffic jams are urban. Think New York City.
If we are going to succeed at preserving Kaua‘i’s rural lifestyle it is going to require more and better roads.
Walt Barnes
Wailua Homesteads
