COM 0762.031 2004-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

4/30/2006 7:04 PM FROM: Fax 70: 961-8912 PAGE: 002 OF 002 tracts of land and, as long as the land area for each parcel is less than 15 acres, there is no review by the Land Use Commission. On parcels of less than 15 acres, there is no scrutiny (outside of the Planning Department) regarding all of the land use issues regarding environmental, historic, and cultural considerations and no proposed amendment to create enforceable standards in the Subdivision Code regarding those issues. The proposed Subdivision Code amendments also fail to consider the number of outstanding water commitments (particularly in North Kona), indicating that developed potable water resources are insufficient to meet even current demand. It would be prudent to propose a Subdivision Code amendment for specific well development standards that establish water availability before subdivision approval - not by water commitment, but by developed wells. The current County Council considers these factors, but there is no established standard. In addition, there is no amendment whatsoever to address flooding at any point on the island. The $50 million in State Tax cuts for recent flood relief should provide a wakeup call regarding the practice of subdivision approvals in flood zones. Yuen is requesting changes in subdivision applications to allow developers to provide details at some other stage because they may have made an error and be required to make corrections and resubmit. The request creates a perception that the incomplete applications will be tailored to developer specifications and by Administration Agreements that the public hears about after the fact. Mr. Yuen specifically stated that fully implementing the Leslie decision would create hundreds and perhaps thousands of hours of unnecessary work - and months of costly delay for people applying for subdivisions. Considering island-wide infrastructure deficits, characterizing development application details as unnecessary does not ring true. Furthermore, the public is not concerned with approval delays that interfere with profit margins; the development approval process is associated with the cost of doing business. The logic behind the Subdivision Code amendment proposal continues to escape me. It is evident that legally a complete review all of the details associated with a development application must occur at some point - enforcement of the Subdivision Code simply requires the Planning Department to require informational details at the submittal stage and not at a later point in the approval process. The claim that an additional hundreds and "perhaps thousands" of hours are associated with reviewing details at the application submittal stage raises a question about how many hours are devoted NOW to reviewing subdivision application details at any stage. The Planning Director's proposed Subdivision Code amendments illustrate misplaced priorities; the half-truths, the manipulative and insulting statements, and the supporting arguments for the proposed amendments are disingenuous. I respectfully request that the County Council require the Planning Department to enforce the Subdivision Code without the amendments to support past practices that were ruled illegal by the Hawaii Supreme Court. Sincerely, Barbara E. Scott 2