The West Hawaii Today story praising Hawaii island as a top 10 destination might be music to the Chamber of Commerce’s ears, but, from a historical perspective, the benefits and temporary glory that such a rating provides will likely add to over-development as seen on Oahu and Maui.
From increasing traffic jams and dying reefs to the intrusive buzz of drones flying in public parks and pristine wilderness, tourism booms are unsustainable when the “powers that be” don’t acknowledge and stop the overuse and destruction of resources that make Hawaii Island a desirable place to visit and live.
I lived on Maui when it was a “top destination.” While taxpayer dollars funded advertising touting its bounties, politicians and development advocates killed the golden goose with a thousand cuts. With little care or understanding of sharing this canoe, selfish, ignorant entities continue to set up battles between those who see the damage and threats to Hawaii Island’s natural and cultural resources and those who want to take the money and run. Despite evidence of history repeating itself, threats like increasing water woes, including allowing slack wastewater treatment and dissing measures to protect our irreplaceable aquifers, are ignored, fought against, and underfunded.
The Kona Community Development Plan (KCDP) is a community-based, common sense antidote to poor regional land use planning. As an ordinance, it’s enjoyed broad public support from its inception over a decade ago. Top priority back then, when traffic was similarly stalled before the initial Queen Kaahumanu Highway widening, was to create concurrency standards deemed necessary to ensure that infrastructure like roads, sewer, schools, and other public services would be in place before approval of more development permits were given. This priority arose from an overwhelming public desire to protect the island’s irreplaceable, iconic, diminishing resources including beaches, nearshore waters and reefs, host culture, shared economic prosperity, and opportunity for a decent quality of life for all residents.
The good news is that each of us can help ensure that Smart Growth guidelines contained in the KCDP are implemented to better guide our region’s future. Check out the county’s KCDP website for times and location of bimonthly public KCDP Action Committee meetings.
Let Hawaii County planners and the mayor know that community determination to protect our island, our families, and our future by enforcing protective land use standards remains strong. And finally, register to vote so that your voice can be heard.
Janice Palma-Glennie is a resident of Kailua-Kona.