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<br /> Honorable K. Angel Pilago, Chair <br /> and Members of the Committee on Planning <br /> <br /> COMMITTEE ON PLANNING <br /> <br /> Page 3 <br /> <br /> May 14, 2007 <br /> <br /> There is a check on the planning director's authority over subdivisions: the applicant, or a <br /> <br /> member of the public with standing, can appeal the director's decision to the county <br /> <br /> board of appeals. <br /> <br /> The main factor that clouds this picture of limited discretion over subdivisions is the <br /> <br /> common use of variances. Although sec. 23-84 of the Subdivision Code requires a water <br /> system meeting with the requirements of the DWS, for many years it has been common <br /> <br /> practice for the department to grant variances to allow subdivisions on catchment, at least <br /> for subdivisions involving relatively small numbers of lots, when there was no public <br /> <br /> water system in the area or when water meters could not be obtained without expensive <br /> <br /> upgrades to the system. (The huge subdivisions on catchment in Puna and Ka'u, like <br /> <br /> Hawaiian Ocean View Estates, were approved before the water supply requirement was <br /> <br /> put in the Subdivision Code in 1967.) <br /> <br /> The present administration began denying water catchment variances in areas with low <br /> <br /> rainfall but several of these denials were overturned by the board of appeals. The director <br /> <br /> then enacted an administrative rule, Rule 22, that limits water catchment variances. <br /> <br /> Variances from the minimum road standards have also been very common over the years. <br /> The county currently has a study to review these standards and will be preparing <br /> substantial amendments. <br /> So the current Subdivision Code and other applicable laws create a subdivision process <br /> <br /> where the basic use must follow the zoning, and the planning department is basically <br /> administering a set of requirements, mostly pertaining to on-site infrastructure. <br /> Resolution 158-07 (as amended) and attached bill suggest a much more wide-ranging and <br /> open-ended review for subdivisions, although the ultimate scope of what could be <br /> involved is not clear. The bill states that the council may recommend conditions that <br /> <br /> would be attached to a subdivision, using the same language as currently exists in the <br /> Zoning Code for conditions on new zoning. This suggests that the council could require <br /> that a zoned property, to obtain subdivision approval, satisfy any kinds of conditions that <br /> the council would like to see imposed, such as park dedication, improvement of off-site <br /> roads, or even a reduction in density. The bill does not contain any language <br /> empowering the planning director to actually impose such conditions on the subdivision, <br /> however. This may be a technical flaw, and it is the intent to give the planning director <br /> <br />