Too much development will ruin paradise
Too much development will ruin paradise
I’ve lived on Kauai for nine years and have seen alarming changes taking place. Steadily increasing traffic, valuable land gobbled up by greedy developers with the promise of “affordable housing.” Maybe if you’re a wealthy person from the mainland or other country looking for an investment or second home, but certainly not for the average family living here.
Then, there’s the infrastructure and wastewater treatment issues. Why not use some of the land for what it was intended? How about community gardens, growing more of our own food is what we really need.
People come here to see paradise and soon it will be, “Where’s the paradise?”
We need to respect nature, not the almighty dollar. I see nothing, at all, to be gained by this development.
Beverly Gorsline, Kapaa
Let’s see….you’ve been here 9 years? Seems to me that you’re just part of the problem you’re whining about. Why don’t you set an example and…just leave? Otherwise there’s the old adage: Live and Let Live.
RG DeSoto
I, too, am a slow growth/no growth advocate. However, your letter provides no path to accomplish your goals. Legally and realistically, you cannot prevent folks from buying property here if they are not residents already. So, how do we limit growth and preserve our “paradise”? Politically. Vote for local politicians who are against development and vote against those who are for development. Look at the current Counsel. Who supports unbridled development and who is slow or no growth? Who will be running in the next election that would limit growth? That is how you ultimately preserve paradise; through the political process. Lawsuits, community action, protests, media campaigns, etc all help but only the Council has the final say on growth. Vote out the members who are the pawns of the developers and vote in the candidates who want to preserve paradise.
Beverly Gosline is concerned about new or added development, but like everyone else who’s here now, what part of this growth is us and what are we willing to contribute to the solution. The world doesn’t stop just to please us.
Patrick H Flores, Wailua Houselots
In effect, Beverly Gorsline and Gabriel Taylor are saying, “We’ve come here, bought our homes [using up the badly need housing for local residents in blatant duplicitous fashion] yet no one else can do what we have done ourselves.” And they call others “greedy”. They exemplify that acclimation by their own actions.
Yes, paradise lost…….. but aren’t we all part of the problem?
Ah, like, you can’t have it both ways. Zoning and ordinances prohibit building in all but a few places, which leads to less supply and more demand. And then there is the simply fact of life……you live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, you are extorted by the Jones Act, and all building materials cost a lot more here in “paradise”. The only way to cut the cost of building a house is to reduce labor costs. Almost all unskilled construction workers start at $25 / hour on this island. How do you plan to reduce labor costs?? Habitat for Humanity can’t do every house on the island with volunteer (aka “Free”) labor. Are you volunteering, or just complaining?
YOU are a large part of the problem, transplants coming from the mainland, coming here and trying to tell locals how to live. Don’t bring your “California” mentality here, do us a favor and go back
I actually agree with Beverly. Kauai is a gem that needs to be protected from malcontent developers who care more about their profits than Kauai’s gift of beauty to the world. Wouldn’t it be great if Kauai were one big National Monument! But then, no one could live here! Regardless of what side of the argument one is on, either stop all development, or, give us low income housing so we can stop living 3 generations to a home and our children will stop having to move away to find a life, all of us need to think this conundrum through. If there was ever a development that deserves to be built on our beautiful Island, without ruining views, water resources, etc., and which will cause much less traffic than any other development I’ve seen to date, Hokua Place is the one. WE NEED HOUSING!! Bored individuals who just sit around all day and complain about things because that’s their cause (which includes me) need to be cautious here. If they build Hokua Place, it will allow us, and our children, to actually own beautiful new homes on Kauai without destroying this beautiful paradise that all of us want to preserve. The main objection we always hear is “too much traffic”! We all want some relief there. You should study the actual Traffic Studies done by Hokua and the County which show minimal impact on traffic congestion. First of all, the developer owns, and is letting all of us use the bypass road. They have the legal right to shut it down any time they want! You ready for that? They are giving the bypass road to us through the County as part of the development agreement! They are also building additional feeder roads leaving the project that will re-direct traffic out of the main congestion zones and will help all of us! As far as affecting the beauty of Kauai, Hokua will be built on land that already contains our huge Solar Power System. There is already existing community development contiguous with the development land, and it is adjacent to our Kapaa Middle School neighborhood. Several hundred nice homes for $250,000 to $400,000, and rentals at a fraction of the market price because of all the Federal Subsidy Vouchers waiting for our low income families to collect! I can envision a single mother with 2 children getting an apartment for $500 a month with a voucher, or buying a $250,000 home with a little help! I would love to see our locals getting first pick of the homes before competition from the mainland can influence the prices! Let’s make that our cause! It’s the perfect development for Kauai, for our Ohana! Since these homes can be built while keeping Kauai’s beauty in tact, FANTASTIC! Unless one hates the locals, and wants all of their children and retired parents to continue having to move off Island to own a home, we should say YES to Hokua Place! Our Seniors, low income residents, and children need it now!
Gordon; If you search Zillow or other real estate sites, you’ll find that there are many, many homes and condos for sale on this Island. We do not have a “housing shortage”. I think you are trying to say that there is a shortage of homes in the lower price range. As has been said before, living here is expensive and not everyone can afford to buy a home here or live here, The same is true for San Francisco, Hong Kong, New York City, Tokyo, etc. Are you advocating a socialist approach where taxpayers subsidize lower priced homes? Very left wing of you. I’m surprised. The laws of supply and demand should dictate real estate prices. If a family has lived in San Francisco for 3 generations, should they be entitled to a home partially paid for by taxpayers? Why is Kauai any different?
Nobody deserves to live here!
This mentality of ‘Kauai is mine’ is stupid.
Hokua Place is not the answer. Any new development such as this should be built in Lihue. A much smaller affordable development in Kapa’a would make more sense. If Hokua Place could be downsized, it might be more acceptable to more people.