- Develop and implement a Climate Action Plan for Kaua`i which 1) addresses reduction of greenhouse gases, 2) directs land use and development, and 3) prepares us to respond to extreme weather conditions and sea level rise.
Champion
I consider the development of a “managed retreat” strategy, as set out in the Hawai‘i Sea Level Rise Vulnerability and Adaptation Report (2017), to be a necessary and critical element of our Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance.
- Ban the sale and use of disposable polystyrene “Styrofoam” food service ware and containers countywide. Ban the sale of single use plastic water bottles at all county facilities and events.
Champion
With the widespread development and availability of alternative food containers and utensils, the old “sky is falling” argument of drastically increased costs for small business no longer holds water. The benefits to the environment and our solid waste flow far outweigh the relatively minor costs of switching to recyclable and/or biodegradable food service materials.
- Commit to increasing sustainable local food production by specifically budgeting a larger percentage of County grants for food-based agricultural projects, and reinstating the County Ag Specialist position.
Support
While I definitely support increasing sustainable local food production, the continued issuance of grants to local agricultural production, and County Ag Specialist position, I believe the better long term route to both preserve the agricultural uses we do have as well as to promote them moving forward lies in amendment of County land use laws as they relate to agricultural lands. The largest impediment to agriculture is the cost of land arising from the development of agricultural lands for non-Ag use. By removing density from Ag land and erecting barriers to development we can begin to solve this basic underlying problem.
- Implement a temporary moratorium on new zoning entitlements, with the exception of affordable housing that is within or adjacent to existing urban areas, until infrastructure needs are met.
Support
To the extent that the development of affordable housing is often imposed as a requirement on market rate development I am unsure I would support an absolute ban on all new zoning entitlements. For example, if a landowner proposed a market rate housing development adjacent to the Lihue town core where infrastructure was already in place, and as part of this development to County could exact a reasonable number of permanently affordable housing units this may not be a project the County should bar out of hand. This hypothetical aside, there should certainly be: 1) moratorium on any new resort development; 2) strengthening and strict enforcement of all public exactions imposed as a condition of any development; and 3) amendment of the zoning and subdivision codes to impose strict time limits on entitlements that are issued – “use it or lose it.”
- Develop and implement a comprehensive, integrated solid waste management plan with a major focus on maximizing diversion through recycling and composting.
Champion
This is no brainer. As a small island we can’t afford to not reduce our reliance on landfilling our trash. We need to: improve the diversion of green waste (which we already do a decent job at), drastically improve the diversion food waste (which we don’t do a good job at), increase the diversion of easily recyclable materials (paper, glass, metal, cardboard, paper), boost the return of HI-5 containers (now barely above 50%), and reduce the initial flow of hard to recycle plastics.
- Support expanded community based water stewardship to restore and preserve natural and uncontaminated flow of Kauai’s streams, and insure responsible up-stream/down-stream land use and development.
Champion / Support
I strongly support the reexamination and modification of all historic plantation era diversions with an eye toward the restoration of natural stream flows and the enhancement and preservation of traditional kalo cultivation. Additionally, land use laws should be amended to more fully consider and account of watershed preservation and the maintenance of water quality, especially as both are affected by non-point source runoff form urbanized areas. As the Supreme Court’s Kaua‘i Springs decision recently established, the County, and not just the State as has traditionally been assumed, has a public trust obligation to protect and preserve our water resources. Much of the task of watershed and stream protection does, however, fall on the state or at least requires state buy in and participation for the county to be successful.
- Establish a higher property tax bracket for operations doing any for-profit proprietary research on agricultural land.
Qualified
In principle, although I strongly support agriculture on Kaua‘i, I do not generally believe that experimental crop production primarily for non-food crops is the right kind of agriculture for Kaua‘i. That said, in light of federal court decisions essentially barring the County from regulating both GMO crops and pesticide use I would want to do more research on the County’s tax authority as it relates to these decisions, as well as into the practical implications of the proposal. For example, virtually all agriculture is “for- profit.” My family does not grow organic produce out of charity, and does not look to sell their produce at a loss. Similarly, experimental research is not per se undesirable, e.g. a state permit was recently issued for experimental hemp production here on Kaua‘i. These two quick examples leave me wanting to dig a bit deeper not this proposal.