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PC -49 Page 2 July 21, 2020 <br />enough time for the landowner to create an affordable housing development. Director Yee also <br />noted the property was bought at $800,000 and listed for sale at $3 million. At the time of the <br />Windward Planning Commission meeting the director noted that Mr. Tai still intended to go <br />forward with his plan, but his listing of the property for sale resulted in "some real inconsistency <br />as to his real plans for this." He was unaware of any grading, building, or plan approval <br />submittals from Mr. Tai. <br />Mr. Tai in his address to Your Committee agreed with his neighbor's concerns about the trees <br />and denied harassing them. He has a property management company taking care of the parcel, as <br />he is not a resident of the County. He has always asked neighbors to file a complaint with his <br />insurance company to resolve issues. He is in the first year of an annual maintenance contract <br />with tree management company Backyard Monkey, LLC to address the tree problem. By the <br />time the Windward Planning Commission meeting notice came out, the issues had been resolved <br />and he was in compliance, Mr. Tai said. <br />Mr. Tai said he did not know that a downzoning was being recommended until about three days <br />before the Windward Planning Commission met on February 6, 2020. He had been relying on his <br />insurance company to resolve complaints and was not aware of any issues in the last few years. <br />He denied being a speculative land investor. He said he wasn't sure how much the land was <br />worth and believed that listing it for sale for a certain amount was one way to find out. He did <br />submit site drawings, but not to the Planning Director. Adjoining parcels are permanently zoned <br />at RM -1.5. He spoke of the challenges of providing affordable housing. He asked instead of a <br />zoning reversion that your Committee allow a four-year extension to comply with the terms. <br />Your Committee agreed with the challenges in creating affordable housing but noted that the <br />noncompliance with the agreed-upon terms and conditions was the overriding concern. <br />Chair Kierkiewicz reminded Your Committee that a testifier had expressed serious concern in <br />2013 about the state of the property, and that an arborist was not engaged until 2019. In six years <br />there was no movement on Mr. Tai's part, she said. <br />Backyard Monkey was engaged in maintaining the property from about 2019, but the property <br />had been rezoned around 2010 and 2015; had a Planning Committee discussion in 2014, and the <br />trees were a problem back then, the Chair said. No action was taken until last year after receipt of <br />a communication from the County around potential downzoning the property, she said. The <br />Chair had a hard time taking the landowner's assertions in good faith. <br />Committee Member Valerie Poindexter spoke in favor of the Planning Director's decision, citing <br />concerns of neighbors who provided public testimony. She believed those community members <br />who spoke out. It took years for Mr. Tai to do something. He only did something when he was <br />notified, and only when Director Yee acted in what Ms. Poindexter called a good decision for the <br />health and safety of the community. <br />Director Yee said Mr. Tai has been working on clearing up the trees, and although it was not in a <br />timely fashion, he has addressed it. He also added that Mr. Tai has made his water commitment <br />payment. <br />PC Report No.: 49 <br />