• Signs must come down • Wonderful welcome on Kauai • Developers will ruin what makes Kauai special Signs must come down I would like to respectfully request that all of the politicians please remove their signs. It has been over two weeks
• Signs must come down • Wonderful welcome on Kauai • Developers will ruin what makes Kauai special
Signs must come down
I would like to respectfully request that all of the politicians please remove their signs. It has been over two weeks since the elections and we have had to endure this visual pollution for eight months. Enough!
I would also like to propose that if you are already in office, and are running again, you are not permitted to erect any signs. Your reputation and the work you did should be all of the advertisement that is needed.
Rosemary Smith, Kapaa
Wonderful welcome on Kauai
My wife and I attended the East Kauai Softball tournament in October. We want the community of Kapaa to know how much we enjoyed ourselves at the event.
This was our first time attending the tournament and didn’t know what to expect.
On the first day, we were pleasantly surprised with the lunch that was put on by the local volunteers. Little did we know this would be a daily occurrence for the rest of the tournament. The luau, on the final evening, was certainly enjoyed by all players and visitors. Everyone certainly felt the aloha spirit. And a good time was had by all. We understand how much time and effort it takes to put on this event: the umpires, announcers, food shoppers, cooks, and everyone else who had a hand in pulling this event together.
We would like to send a big mahalo to the entire community for making us feel so welcomed.
Mark Ward, Grants Pass, Oregon
Developers will ruin what makes Kauai special
According to information provided in the TGI “Fighting for Preservation” on Nov. 16, the South Shore needs almost 1,100 more rooms by 2035 to accommodate the projected increase in visitors by that time. The term “projected increase” is loaded with meaning. For developers and those involved in the land industry it means big profits. For some residents it could mean more jobs. For others who are speaking up, it represents a threat to the quality of life on Kauai. But here is another meaning.
Saying “projected increase” somehow has somehow come to mean that it needs to be accommodated by building more rooms. This appears to be the approach of the Kauai Planning Commission. If there is demand for more rooms, then we must meet it. Or similarly, based on an article in TGI on Nov. 15, it seems that the land for the proposed Princeville development in Kilauea was originally approved for 3,500 units. How could anyone believe that 3,500 new units would not severely strain the North Shore infrastructure and the overall quality of life there? But there is another perspective altogether that would not be guided by demand, but by a desire to preserve a quality of life on Kauai.
The guiding notion would be “enough already,” or “limitation” as Mark Jeffers said (TGI letters Nov. 16). It appears to me that Kauai is at another critical point in terms of development with new projects planned in Hanalei, Kilauea, and the South Shore. It’s time to tell the Planning Commission (and the mayor and County Council who appoint and approve them) as well as billionaires like Omidyar (Hanalei Ridge project) and Ruayrungruang (Kilauea Prince project), that quality of life means something on Kauai and that the people decide whether to meet the demands of the marketplace or not. Just because there is demand, it does not mean that it has to be met. Pull up pictures of the building density in La Jolla, California, on the Internet. That is what awaits Kauai if we keep on blindly meeting the marketplace demands for this precious island, and if we keep quiet about it.
John Brekke, Haena
