• Got to be a better way • Gentleman joke • A tremendous gift • Reconsider decision Got to be a better way Is it just me, or is anyone else annoyed with those tacky campaign posters all over our beautiful island?
• Got to be a better way • Gentleman joke • A tremendous gift • Reconsider decision
Got to be a better way
Is it just me, or is anyone else annoyed with those tacky campaign posters all over our beautiful island?
They are so ugly, and I don’t see how they help the candidate get elected. They don’t tell me anything about them, and they can be a hazard, like the one at the bottom of the hill at Kawaihau Road and Kuhio Highway; it blocks your view of the traffic coming from Kilauea side.
And standing on the side of the road waving is ludicrous and distracting. Again, what does that tell us about the candidate?
Please keep Kaua‘i beautiful. Think of a better way to get your message out.
Denise Hohu, Kapa‘a
Gentleman joke
I was extremely disappointed with the Planning Commission decision to allow a farm dwelling to be built on the Dechkas’ property in Kilauea.
The misuse of the so-called “gentleman estates” in the Seacliff Plantation (and elsewhere) has been a perversion of the term agriculture use. Obviously these people are not farmers and the fact that they are only utilizing an acre of their land supports this.
I know the county is looking for revenue in taxing the luxurious “farm dwelling.” Sadly, farmers who are trying to live on their farms cannot because of the enormous tax assessments created by these estates.
The county should take a good look at what gentleman estates are doing to agricultural lands — fragmentation. If continued, larger tracts of prime ag land will be subdivided, and the possibility of ag use will be deleted.
According to Legislative Act 183, 2005, relating to agricultural lands, state and county policies, land use plans, ordinances, and rules, shall “Discourage the fragmentation of agricultural lands to nonagricultural uses,” limit physical improvements on agricultural lands to maintain these lands for ag purposes, direct nonagricultural uses and activities from ag lands to other areas and ensure that uses on ag lands are actually ag uses.”
Additionally, Act 183 directs state and county governments to provide “property tax assessment of land and improvements used or held only for use in agriculture based on agricultural use value rather than fair market value.”
This last incentive would help full-time farmers live on their farms. This gentlemen “farmer” estate thing needs to be changed. Ever hear of a rural designation?
Sherwood Conant, Kilauea
A tremendous gift
I am a member of the KRCA and I have to say that right now, that embarrasses me.
The Kilauea pavilion is going to be a great benefit to the North Shore community and I cannot believe that the KRCA is trying to prevent this from happening.
As noted in the recent TGI article, the KRCA board made no attempt to ask the members of the community if they were in support of the project or not. Nor did they notify the members that they would be spending association funds to hire legal counsel.
Perhaps if they had, they would have realized that many (probably most) people here are in support of the project and have a real issue with spending money to prevent a project that they support.
How nice will it be to have a local movie theater again? How much fun will it be to have local entertainment once in a while?
How great will it be to have school field trips where the students can learn about native Hawaiian plants? And how nice will it be to have an official park & ride instead of using the end of Kahiliholo Road.
I’m close enough to the pavilion that I will hear concerts when they have them. But how often is that really going to occur? If I have to listen to concerts a few hours a month, even if I don’t like the music, it’s a very small price to pay for the tremendous gift the Porters are giving to our community.
Stacie Nelson, Kilauea
Reconsider decision
I was so pleased to read Rolf Bieber’s June 29 letter in The Garden Island regarding the location of the proposed new Safeway store in Puhi. I thought I was the only person opposed to that particular location but after reading his letter I see that I’m not.
His reasons for opposing that particular site are excellent and my main concern is the safety of the children who will be crossing the busy street fronting their school, Chiefess Kamakahele Middle School. Some children tend to cross streets wherever they please creating a danger to themselves and to the drivers who come upon them unexpectedly causing them to brake and swerve in order not to hit them. Accidents are bound to happen with so much vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
Another major concern of mine is the number of kids who will be roaming around and just hanging out in this new small mall. We all know how many youngsters wander throughout the mall at Kukui Grove and it’s nowhere near a school. I’m not opposed to Safeway building a second store on Kaua‘i but I would have thought that putting it more on the south side of the island where all the new housing, retail stores and restaurants are being built would have generated a much larger clientele rather than putting it across from a middle school, YMCA pool, a senior care facility and a large restaurant complex.
It never occurred to me to go before the Planning Commission and speak about my thoughts on this matter but now I strongly urge them to reconsider their decision to allow Safeway to build on this particular site.
Gini Stoddard, Wailua Homesteads
