January 6, 2010 – Hilo, Hawaii
VIDEO by David Corrigan
Public fears over a perceived attempt to change the Puna Community Development Plan were somewhat eased at the Hawaii County Council Planning Committee on Tuesday.
When news of planned amendments to the Puna CDP submitted by councilmember J Yoshimoto made its way through the district, residents grew concerned that there could be substantive changes to the plan without proper community input. Puna residents recalled a 2008 rally against making amendments to the (at the time, yet to be approved) plan until the CDP was adopted. The council agreed to adopt the Puna CDP first, but to revisit the amendments “later”.
“During initial discussions on the Draft Puna CDP, there were many concerns regarding substantive amendments that would delay the adoption of the Puna CDP;” said Yoshimoto in the communication, “therefore, no substantive amendments were approved. Now that the Puna CDP has been finalized and adopted, I would like to discuss these amendments once again.
During the meeting, Yoshimoto explained his intention behind the communication, and explained that he planned to pursue a discussion on the amendments according to the proper protocol for the relatively new CDP process.
