COM 0042.020 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Honorable Leningrad Elarionoff, Chair and Members of the Committee on Planning EIAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL Page 8 .tune 14, 2004 eliminated entirely, and in some cases, even if they are meant to be contained in other policies, they have been rewritten in a way that they lose much of their specificity. The "Report" attached to Draft 2 makes the apt criticism that the current General Plan and Draft 1 are often inconsistent in that some "Courses of Action" that could easily apply to all districts are only listed for one or a few districts. While this is a valid observation, this could be fixed rather than dropping them entirely. The "Courses of Action" tend to be more specific and direct than the other policy recommendations. Among the dropped "Courses of Action" are those stating that commercial development in some districts should be centered around the existing towns rather than allowing strip or spot commercial development along the highways. Our small towns like Honoka'a, Honomu, and Pahoa are treasures. When new highways are built bypassing the older towns, new commercial businesses typically try to locate along the highway. The end result is a strip mall/gas station convenience store landscape that could be anywhere, rather than the unique identity of an older, traditional town. Typically, the older town withers, and the "bypass" nature of the highway is lost to the new commercial clutter. Partially by design, and partially by luck, we have not completely lost the character of our older small towns. I would suggest that in addition to retaining these courses of action, the Council also adopt a specific policy that commercial development not be permitted on the Hokulia Bypass Highway. This will help keep the commercial viability of communities like Captain Cook and Kealakekua along the Mamalahoa Highway, while preserving the Bypass Highway as an arterial route. Other important policies or courses of action deleted in Draft 2 from Draft l: --"Require a study of signiftcant cultural, social, and physical impacts of large developments prior to approval." (p. 41). --"The Waipi'o Valley area should be retained for limited recreational and agricultural activities due to its high susceptibility to flooding and tsunami inundation."(p. 99). "Maintain and re-establish forest cover in mauka areas to improve the capacity of the ground to absorb heavy rainfall." (p. l03). --"Protect the views of areas endowed with natural beauty by carefiilly considering the effects of proposed construction during all land use reviews." (p. 131).