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Aaron S.Y. Chung, Council Chair <br />and Members of the County Council <br />County of Hawaii <br />Page 13 <br />Public Works (DPW) — Engineering Division commented that a TIAR may be required and DPW - <br />Traffic Division commented that the applicant, "shall construct the roundabout improvements to the <br />intersection of Waikoloa Road and Paniolo Avenue, meeting with the approval of the DPW. The <br />roundabout improvements shall be completed prior to the issuance of any Certificate of Occupancy <br />for the subject property." <br />Additionally, this proposal does not incorporate any traffic, intersection, pedestrian, or <br />bicycling improvements to connect this development to the nearby Waikoloa Village and future <br />Waikoloa Plaza. Community strategies focus on implementing traffic safety improvements along <br />Waikoloa Road as portions of the two-lane Waikoloa Road is considered hazardous. Several <br />community driven recommended traffic safety improvements for Waikoloa Road have been <br />presented, more specifically, to construct paved shoulders for safe access, and to construct separated <br />bicycle and walking paths along the roadway (i.e., Waikoloa Road). <br />Lastly, the applicant's request brings to light an issue that was highlighted by the South <br />Kohala Community Development Plan Action Committee (AC) in a report titled "Paniolo Avenue- <br />Waikoloa Road Intersection". In that report the AC states that the intersection of Waikoloa Road, <br />Paniolo Avenue and Pua Melia Street at Waikoloa Village has become increasingly dangerous and <br />needs safety improvements. The intersection is also steadily becoming busier, and certain routes <br />necessitate a comprehensive review of the acceptable level of service (LOS) for this type of <br />intersection when planning for future growth. The AC report further states that allowing <br />development density to increase without proper traffic studies and built solutions would be a <br />negligible permitting practice unless proper conditions or assurances are in place, and "...the <br />requirement of the TIAR is not triggered by the construction of the housing units exclusively, but by <br />the change of zone application itself." Options for developing improvements to the intersection have <br />been considered in the past and added as developer obligations, but those have not resulted in <br />producing the needed safety improvements. The AC believes that the project will certainly increase <br />the amount of traffic on Waikoloa Road and congestion at the intersection. It heightens the urgency <br />to address safety issues at the intersection via a traffic light or roundabout and provide another <br />access road to the village. Therefore, the applicant's proposed project of nine (9) commercial lots <br />with no specific tenants or commercial types, which is sited across the aforementioned busy <br />intersection, appears to not have taken the Waikoloa Plaza development into account when <br />submitting this proposed change of zone. Despite the preceding, the applicant has deferred the <br />pursuit of the TIAR and implementation of required traffic mitigation to the future if/when the <br />commercial uses are developed. <br />The proposed change of zone from an Open (0) and Residential and Agriculture 1 -acre <br />(RA -1a) to a Village Commercial (CV -10) zoning district does not conform to the Waikoloa <br />Village Conceptual Plan nor does it conform to the policies and strategies for Waikoloa Village <br />in the South Kohala Community Development Plan. Regional and/or Community Development <br />Plans are intended to implement the broad goals within the General Plan on a regional basis. They <br />