Resort Development Charter Amendment

Coalition for Responsible Government Charter Amendment

Runaway over-development in the tourist sector of Kauai's economy has been the driving force behind the most of the island's problems, including loss of open space along our shorelines; traffic congestion; overcrowding at parks and beaches; unsustainable demands for limited resources; housing shortages that are continually made worse by the need to import more service workers; and the loss of Kauai's character and quality of life.

Since 2000, the Planning Commission has allowed the construction of more than 4,000 new tourist units. If all of them are constructed, the resulting growth rate would be more than 4 times the high end of the growth range in the County’s General Plan. Continued approvals at this rate would result in an increase of more than 100% in tourist accommodation units between 2000 and 2020, far exceeding anything envisioned in the General Plan.

For the past 2 years the Kaua'i Group, and recently along with other community groups, has evaluated the alternatives available to address the problem of unbalanced development. The coalition concluded that the only realistic solution lies in bringing a Charter Amendment before the voters this November.

The Charter Amendment would transfer the authority to approve resort development to the County Council - thereby aligning the responsibility to pay for development with the authority to approve the development - and would allow the Council to delegate that authority back to the Planning Commission only upon the Council's passage of an ordinance limiting the increase in the number of tourist accommodations to no more than 1.5% per year as prescribed by the Kaua'i General Plan. To see a complete version of the Charter Amendment, visit http://crgkauai.org

Can you help us get the Charter Amendment passed on the ballot in November? Please email Judy Dalton dalton@aloha.net to let us know how you can help. We've got several volunteer opportunites.

Mahalo!

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