• Enjoy the fresh air • Make hay while the sun shines • Revisit of Ahko property raising the issue of zoning • It doesn’t take a genius to figure this one out Enjoy the fresh air Before I moved
• Enjoy the fresh air • Make hay while the sun shines • Revisit of Ahko property raising the issue of zoning • It doesn’t take a genius to figure this one out
Enjoy the fresh air
Before I moved to Hawai‘i and used to visit every February from Alaska, I was always fascinated when exiting and arriving inside the opened walled terminals at Honolulu International airport, with the wonderful smells of the plumeria flowers mixed with fresh air.
Now that I am a resident of 12 years in Hawai‘i, I still enjoy the fresh ocean air with the smell of tropical flowers.
Ironically most restaurants, retail stores, public transportation and office buildings all run air conditioning at the coldest possible settings. We have some of the freshest and best smelling air in the world and most people choose to breathe recycled cold air.
When I lived in Alaska everyone always wanted to have the heat on high and in Hawai’i everyone wants the air conditioning on the coldest possible setting.
People always want what they don’t have, why not just enjoy the fresh air…
James “Kimo” Rosen, Kapa‘a
Make hay while the sun shines
After having “Green Harvest” helicopters buzzing the neighborhood where I live over and over last week, I can’t help thinking how slow Kaua‘i is to move forward on an issue that is already years ahead in certain places on the Mainland.
For example, little Durango, Colo., has seven licensed medical marijuana dispensaries and one licensed large growing operation. Yes ,they are having to deal with the growing pains that come with the direction they have chosen. For example, being inundated with people applying for business licenses, taxation, fire insurance, neighborhood planning issues, and other job producing opportunities.
Do we really still need to spend countless taxpayer dollars on enforcement or could we move in a direction that was more of a positive? Of course there will be drawbacks, but let’s at least have some dialogue and bring this issue out in the open with some progressive thinking like they are already having in other areas of the country.
It’s obvious that Hawai‘i is in a unique position of being able to benefit greatly because of its perfect mix of natural resources. How long will it take before we catch up with the rest of the country and make hay while the sun shines?
Delpha Menor, Kapa‘a
Revisit of Ahko property raising the issue of zoning
I am against any ordinance change at the Ahko Inc. property in Waimea Valley from open space usage to R4.
The owners tried to change the ordinance back in 2006 but withdrew their request when they were faced with possible rejection. The owners would like to increase the value by a stroke of council approval so they can build condominiums for sale to the detriment of the valley residents.
This change would be significant to the rural character of the valley which the Kaua‘i General Plan enacted after much citizen participation in the year 2000.
The valleys of Kaua‘i have been dedicated to agrarian use throughout its past in part because of good soil for growing and rural life style due to the potential for flooding. Now that the levee has failed to meet new certification requirements residents will have to pay flood insurance or risk having to pay out of pocket expenses for damages due to flooding. Putting more buildings and paving over a good portion of the lot will increase the likelihood of flooding and costly rebuilding in the area.
The Kaua‘i General Plan is our guidance in planning for the long term. It calls for the valleys to remain rural in character. It calls for the low laying land adjoining the park that includes a natural drainage for the surrounding area to remain open with buildings on no more than 15 percent of the property.
Linda Harmon, Hanapepe
It doesn’t take a genius to figure this one out
Some 90,000 Okinawans attended a rally to demand the removal of the Futeuma U.S. airfield from Okinawa. It doesn’t take a genius to figure this one out.
Move the base to Kaua‘i. Think of 1,000 airmen and staff spending money in Kaua‘i for food, lodging, and other services.
Where would we put the base? It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the county was just given over a hundred acres of land near the Lihu‘e Airport. How many hundreds of Kauaians could be employed by the base?
While we are at it, let’s solve the problem of the monstrosity called Coco Palms. Maybe the owners could donate it to the county and it could be turned into barracks for the new air base and hundreds of Kauaians could be employed to fix it up.
We could rent it to the federal government. Gone is an embarrassing derelict of an eyesore. Mayor Carvalho should make a phone call to Washington, D.C.
Richard Turner, Princeville
