The purpose of the Kona MIRA Team's grant was to provide broad community input on the aspects of the General Plan (a guideline for zoning and development) and other aspects of life on the Island of Hawai`i, particularly in Kona.

The Team developed a survey instrument after review of similar documents from the municipalities of Paulo Alto, California; Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; and Calvert County, Maryland. With assistance from the County Department of Planning, the instrument was then designed for marketing and distribution using four different media: the internet, television, newspapers and personal contact.

One hundred and fifty-four (154) questionnaires were returned. The data submitted by mail was numbered and then entered into the internet spreadsheet. The quantitative data was configured into histograms and the qualitative data was grouped into common themes and noted per frequency.

You can view the results of the survey in the Report Summary.

With the use of the survey the Kona team hoped to make the voice of their community heard by those working on the County General Plan revision. The revisers had no funding for outreach into the community and would have gone into the decision making process uninformed on the needs of the community, if not for the survey information gathered by the Kona team.

The team hoped that the information from the surveys would show the county what was important to them as a community. The Kona community is far removed from the center of government and it is normally difficult to make their voice heard. This inability to be heard has led to many aspects of the General Plan that are contrary to the wishes of the Kona community. These include urban sprawl, over development, and transportation issues.

The team has since received word that their information has been incorporated into the revision, which has yet to be completed, and that many others organizations have used the survey information when preparing their presentations for the county.