RES 269 Draft 03 2002-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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sutnmoned to protect our lands and honor our host culture. To embrace these challenges, we cannot resent the inevitability of the future. Nor can we obstruct it in dogmatic fashion. We must strike a vibrant and generous balance. To do so, we must carefully evaluate various permitting, zoning and re-zoning requests for new developments and, in lieu of historically declining federal and state revenue sharing, assess legitimate and proportional costs to developers to pay for needed public infrastructure and to mitigate the impacts of new growth and population. One of the tools available to county government to responsibly effect and oversee planned development is the authority granted by Chapter 46, part VII, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) and Chapter 30, Hawaii County Code ("Development Agreement Code") for the County to enter into development agreements to assure that particular projects may proceed in accordance with applicable state statutes and county ordinances and to enable the County to contract with developer(s) to ensure commitments for on-site and oft~site development requirements necessary to preserve the public health, safety and welfare. The development agreement struck between the County and Oceanside 1250 Partners in April 1998 represented the inaugural implementation of this planning and infrastructure financing tool in Hawaii County. It was the culmination of many dozens of noticed public hearings and meetings over the span of seven years. The resulting agreement reflected much down-sizing of the original project proposal and provided public benefits and infrastructure including: (I) Construction by the developer of a bypass highway (the "Mamalahoa Bypass") from Keauhou to Napo'opo`o at a cost estimated to approach $50 million. This bypass highway was identitied in the Hawaii County General Plan adopted in 1989 and has been described as "the only project that can significantly relieve the Honalo-Captain Cook bottleneck." Nonetheless, the road - 60% completed at the time of Judge Ronald Ibarra's injunction order in September 2003 remains hostage to the impasse of the Lawsuit. [ts court-ordered delay prolongs traffic circulation woes in South Kona. (2) Provision of a 140-acre shoreline parcel as a public park, for which the estimated land value, including improvements, is $16 million. The residents of Hokuli'a are obligated to maintain the shoreline park for public use in perpetuity. (3) Establishment of an employee housing program; and (4) Dedication of additional acreage for the Kona Scenic Park. Pursuant to the Development Agreement and various permits and approvals granted by Hawai' i County, Oceanside 1250 Partners proceeded at considerable cost to fulfill its obligations to provide and construct the public improvements sought by the County. The present injunctions now harm the County and its citizens. In tum, the County must ask the Court to consider the consequences of such intervention against an agreement reached exhaustively and in good faith. 2