COMMENTARY
Big Island development critical for all
By Mayor Harry Kim
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Those who call Hawai'i Island home know it is very special because of people and place. Our major task regarding future growth is to emphasize to developers how important and critical their help is in making this a nice place to live.
There is need for economic growth, but unless growth is focused on making this a better community, we will have a place we are unhappy with. In the past, the emphasis has been on making the island a nice place to visit first, rather than a nice place to live.
How do we keep Hawai'i a nice place to live? We have embraced the concepts of "smart growth," which is about improved principles and tools to manage our future.
Here are some principles of smart growth, and how we use these principles to guide and evaluate development of our island:
The County Council adopted a revised housing policy that calls for developers to construct 20-percent affordable units or pay large "in-lieu" fees to the county to be used to construct affordable housing. The county is developing around 1,000 units of work-force housing on land it owns in Waikoloa. This development will showcase another smart growth principle — taking advantage of compact building design.
Developers are approached personally, and the housing crisis is emphasized. Developers are our greatest hope, and we want to work with them and hope they will work with us. For the most part, developers have been very responsive to helping this community.
To make sure that homeowners can continue to afford to live in their homes, the county has adopted changes to the real-property tax code that gives meaningful tax relief to homeowners, including a 3-percent annual cap on any increase in assessed value.
To accomplish this, we have created a special open space fund to purchase land to preserve open space, public access, watersheds, and for related purposes.
We also established an Open Space Commission, with representatives from each County Council district to identify lands worthy of acquisition by the county.
The County Council has adopted changes to the real-property tax code to benefit commercial farmers and help them stay in agriculture.
And there have been few rezonings of agricultural land in the last six years. None involved large tracts of land.
New county roads must accommodate pedestrians and bicyclists, and be designed with the community in mind.
A policy of free rides has been established on the county's bus system. Since being adopted, ridership on our buses is up more than 53 percent. This takes private vehicles off the road and puts cash in the pockets of our residents who ride the bus to work.
The first areas of the island to undergo this planning process are the two most rapidly growing areas: Kona and Puna. Other communities are anxiously awaiting their opportunity, and we are preparing them for this intensive, participatory process.
Adopting these plans will give the people in these areas a real voice in their future development.
Now, more than ever, we must preserve those things that make Hawai'i so special. The Hawaiian way encompasses values such as tolerance, respect and peace. Our values are a window to our soul, and they are at risk if there is a large number of people who do not share them. Our entire way of life can be at risk if housing costs continue to escalate, traffic to increase, and if development cuts off people's access to the shoreline and mountains.
Keeping Hawai'i Island a nice place to live is our focus and a challenge, as we work with developers and the community in the future development of Hawai'i County. It is hoped that in the future, Hawai'i's people will say with fondness, "This is Hawai'i."
Harry Kim is mayor of the Big Island. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.
