Laserfiche WebLink
Honorable James Y. Arakaki, Chairman <br />and Members of the County Council <br />Page 6 <br />The project site is situated within close proximity to schools, commercial areas, <br />employment centers and public safety services. All utilities and services essential to <br />accommodate urban development are or will be made available to the project site. The <br />subject site is situated close to the urban center of Hilo. Primary access to the site is from <br />Hawaii Belt Road to the Pepeekeo Mill Road, an existing 20 to 30 -foot wide asphalt - <br />concrete paved roadway. The primary access roadway will be the Pepeekeo Mill Road, <br />an existing 20 to 30 -foot wide asphalt -concrete paved roadway within a 60 -foot right-of- <br />way. The secondary subdivision roadway will consist of an 18 -foot wide paved roadway <br />within a 50 -foot right-of-way to be held in private ownership and maintained by the lot <br />owners in the subdivision. According to the applicant, the nearest County municipal <br />water system is located along the Old Mamalahoa Highway. The applicant has obtained a <br />commitment of 55 units of water from the County and has constructed a 50,000 -gallon <br />holding water tank to provide a private potable water system to oceanfront lots within the <br />SMA. The proposed Limited Industrial area (Lot 91) will be allotted one unit of water. <br />Police services are available from the County's Police Station in Hilo. Fire and <br />emergency services are available from the Central and Kaumana stations in Hilo. <br />Electricity and telephone services are or will be made available to the project site. <br />Storm and surface water runoff will be accommodated within the project site in a <br />manner meeting with the approval of the Department of Public Works. The project will <br />be serviced by private individual wastewater septic systems meeting the State Department <br />of Health's Water Quality Standards. The Department of Environmental Management <br />Wastewater Division recommends the connection of structures to the public sewer where <br />properties are accessible to the sewer. <br />The property has no severe geological or topographical problems which cannot be <br />rectified or which would render the land unusable. The property is located within Zone <br />"X", areas determined to be outside the 500 -year flood plain. The portion of the property <br />currently zoned ML and MG lies at the top of the sea cliff, which is about 60 to 80 feet <br />high in this area. The sea cliff will gradually erode and migrate inland. In some similar <br />areas, such as Alae Pt. and Honoli'i Pali, a few homes built in the last 40-50 years are <br />now in danger of falling into the sea. There was a major episode of cliff collapse at <br />Waipunalei several years ago that resulted in the loss of some structures. The Planning <br />Director has tried to get advice on a general setback that can be considered safe for homes <br />to be built on the top of the sea cliff, but the response has been that each site would have <br />to be evaluated by a professional geophysicist. The standard under current law for these <br />homes would be 40 feet from the shoreline, which is currently set at the top of the sea <br />cliff. The Planning Director will recommend that no dwelling be constructed closer than <br />40 feet from the top of the sea cliff as a condition of the SMA permit. All development <br />generated storm run-off shall be disposed of on-site and not allowed onto adjacent <br />