The following are our notes from the PHCA Board Meeting of December 17, 2020, documenting the December 4-11, 2020 key survey results and community comments. There were at least 127 participants for this Zoom meeting.
President Sam George stated that PHCA had received a letter from SDCA’s (Sunset Drive Community Association) attorney Teresa Tico a day earlier stating SDCA’s opposition to the glamping project. The letter noted the Board’s fiduciary duties and indicated that there is a potential of diverging interests between PHCA & SDCA if PHCA were to support the proposed glamping/resort expansion project. On the advice of PHCA counsel, Mr. George stated the PHCA Board would take no questions on the glamping project or the survey. No PHCA community questions/concerns on those topics were answered, but they are noted below. Mr. George did direct the community to ask any questions about the project to East West Partners, Mark Hall (mhall@eastwestpartners.com) and Will Little (wlittle@eastwestpartners.com).
The Survey results were presented by General Manager, Maylette Garces. There was a large response - 782 people responded out of over 2500 email deliveries. The results were presented as numbers & percentages only – nothing was said about any comments that were received and how or if they were taken into account in any way. It was apparent that:
- the Board got more responses than it anticipated; and
- over 94% of the respondents said “ZERO development on open space in Princeville is important, fairly important or very important”.
Princeville residents expressed the following questions/concerns:
- Is there a place where PHCA members can go to find ALL the relevant PUBLIC documents? Maylette said they would work on that as it presently does not exist on the PHCA website. SOSHui.org already has a number of these documents available in the “Documents” tab.
- What was the composition of the survey results – single family, condo, etc.? PHCA would only be able to discern this manually, so that will be difficult to report.
- There were concerns expressed about the zoning, the proposed development’s effect on zoning and density, and the potential depreciation of real estate values.
- Concern was expressed by a couple of people as to the safety of homes. Since there is no barrier between the proposed project and the nearby homes, it would be very easy for guests to wander onto adjacent properties. Another safety issue is the potential of severe damage from flying tents and their contents blowing into nearby homes during high wind events. Based on the recent design offered by East West, it does not appear that the developers/designers have experienced a serious hurricane or other high wind/rain event. However, several of the participants were here through Hurricane Iniki in 1992 or its aftermath.
- What about parking – the new drawings have no solution for that. And what’s the proposal for evacuating guests & tents in case of a tropical storm event? One of the attendees noted that there are currently no safety shelters on Kauai.
- Several participants mentioned infrastructure concerns. What’s the adequacy of all the utilities – sewer, water, electrical, trash/garbage, TRAFFIC, PARKING for 50-100 more cars (guests and workers), and the strain of another 150+ guests in Princeville every day?
- Who will pay for the use of Princeville roads and facilities, expanding them and the rest of the infrastructure as necessary to accommodate another 50 hotel/glamping units above and beyond the original master plan?
- Given Kauai’s strict building requirements, how could SCG/EWP get through the Planning Department/Commission with the proposed glorified tents?
- Will the added security and noise issues, plus the overall change in Princeville’s open environment result in a decrease in real estate values? One gentleman said it could actually be considered a “taking” of sorts.
- What’s next in the process for PHCA Board?
SOSHui.org will keep the website updated as more information is received.
Mahalo nui loa,
SOS Hui.
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By Luke Evslin (Civil Beat)
By Luke Evslin (Civil Beat)
By Luke Evslin (Civil Beat)