Planners promote survey as an initial step

Video by Baron Sekiya of Hawaii247.com, voice of Stephanie Salazar

PAHOA, Hawaii: An effort to create a growth management plan for Pahoa officially got underway on Saturday, with this community gathering at the Pahoa Community Center.

Barbara Lively spoke to the crowd about the launch of the Pahoa Regional Town Center Plan, called the Pahoa Plan for short, which at this stage focuses on a Community Input Survey.

The Pahoa Plan is a growth management plan for Pahoa, based on community vision and participation. The Steering Committee for the Pahoa Plan is an extension of the Puna Community Development Plan, which was adopted by County of Hawaii ordinance in 2008. Planners say it will serve to preserve historical Pahoa and guide its town center growth.

The “region” that planners say is served by Pahoa is approximately equivalent to the 96778 zip code area and includes in full or in part the communities of Pahoa, Hawaiian Acres, Ainaloa, HPP, Hawaiian Beaches, Nanawale Estates, Leilani Estates, Kapoho, and Kalapana.

The planning area is shown on this map of Pahoa. It is from the entrance at Highway 130, including the 2 shopping centers, and through Pahoa Village along Old Government Rd. to just past Pahoa Schools.

The first half of Saturday’s event provided information and asked for feedback from the audience, and then the second half was all about the music and the food.

The committee says that in order to generate widespread public input for this grassroots effort, they will host several survey locations at gathering places in and around Pahoa Town, including farmers’ markets, shopping centers, schools and other key locations.

During the 2 to 3 week period beginning March 31st, residents may share their ideas for Pahoa at these locations by either talk story or written survey.

Takers will be asked to rate general services and infrastructure in town – like medical, government, roads, sanitation and safety – from Poor to Excellent, with room for comments.

In addition, participating Pahoa businesses will have the written survey available to take on a walk-in basis during business hours.

An online survey will also be available 24-7 and will “go live” on March 24. The Survey will be available for everyone to take through April 30, 2012.