Keauhou Bay is historical sacred land. It’s also a small commercial and quiet residential area, with a local canoe club that uses the bay daily, local volleyball groups that play there daily, families BBQ every weekend, local kids enjoying swimming there, and visitors enjoy paddle boarding and kayaking all the time without a crowd.
Keauhou Bay is possibly the last untouched historical area that has not been seriously developed and it has been a comfortable and quiet bay for locals and visitors alike for many decades without a big resort crowd.
The beach is just over the size of one volleyball court that is there, with an even smaller park on the other side. It doesn’t have a crowded feel and it’s not big enough to become a resort area.
It is also the historical site of the birthplace of the Hawaiian people’s King Kamehameha III. The area holds much history and is a very sacred area to everyone, especially the Hawaiian people.
Not only is the area not big enough for a new resort, but there is also already a nice hotel at the point of this bay and Time Share homes right next to that. That is plenty of space for tourists to stay at this bay and enjoy it.
Both of those tourist places work very well with this area and offer tourists a lot of fun places to stay without taking away from the land, its history, quietness, all the local activities, and the small commercial buildings that have been there for many years.
Updating the commercial builds that are already there, adding a nice cultural center, and creating a walkway so the disabled can get from the Northside to the Southside would be great.
They also want to pave the old road that has a lot of trees that offer shade that helps keep the temperature lower and helps stop erosion after storms. Without all those trees the bay could become extra muddy.
Plus, they want to add more commercial shops to Keauhou Bay, and Keauhou Shopping Center has a lot of empty For Lease stores available. To create more shops when there are shops empty and For Lease in Keauhou Shopping Center just above the bay is not being sustainable and using what we already have.
The Big Island is having a lot of applications for development in all the vacant land areas. If you want to help “Keep Kona Country,” as the bumper sticker says, please learn the system. Read the Big White signs that are at all the vacant land areas. Those signs are applications for development and there is a deadline to oppose the development. Learn how to oppose development applications, if you are interested in keeping this island less like Oahu.
We need more affordable housing for the people who live here, rather than big resorts and million-dollar homes for newcomers. Somehow, we have to let developers know this. Please read and sign this petition at Change.org/SaveTheLand.
Rebecca Melendez is a resident of Keauhou
