REP PWIRC 021 05/15/2007 2006-2008

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PWIRC Rept. No. 21 May 15, 2007 Page 2 A proposed amendment transmitted via Communication 176.2, also from Council Chair Pete Hoffmann, dated February 20, 2007 was circulated at the meeting; however this amendment was withdrawn by Mr. Hoffmann and replaced by Communication 176.3, dated February 21, 2007. This further amendment proposed to add a new subsection (c)(6) to Section 27-18 that prohibits development which may increase flooding or erosion within areas where the grade of the natural elevation exceeds ten percent without certification of a professional engineer that the development will increase flooding or erosion in other areas. Your Committee voted unanimously to approve this amendment. During discussion, some members expressed the desire to have input from the Soil and Water Conservation District. Planning Director Chris Yuen was called forwazd; and Engineering Division Chief from the Department of Public Works, Galen Kuba, who participated via videoconference from the Hilo Councilroom. Director Yuen explained the reason for the bill and explained the correlation between Bills 51 and 52, which was scheduled on the Planning Committee agenda for later in the morning. He stated the bills relate to requirements and preferred solutions from FEMA, the EPA and the NFIP. He discussed with members the effects of development on drainage as it pertains to grubbing and grading for new subdivisions. The final amendment presented at the meeting of February 21 was transmitted by Committee Chairperson Brenda Ford via Comm. 176.4, and proposed following changes: 1) adds the definition of "Flood-prone area" to Section 27-12; 2) clarifies in Section 27-20(d) that subdivisions and other developments in any location or flood zone shall comply with the requirements set forth in that subchapter; 3) adds to Section 27-20(d) the requirement that copies of the required permits listed in that subchapter be submitted to the Department of Public Works at the time of application for any kind of permit; 4) changes Section 27-20(d)(2) to require base flood elevation data for either two lots or one acre as opposed to fifty lots or five acres; and 5) amends language in Section 27-20(e) to require that site drainage plans include a storm water disposal system to contain run-off up to "the expected base flood event" (also called the 100-year flood) as opposed to "the expected one-hour, ten year storm event." Chairperson Ford's amendments were unanimously approved. Your Committee postponed further action on Bill 51, as amended to Draft 2, to March 20, 2007, in order to seek more input and for further review. At its meeting of March 20th, Your Committee received several members of the public who gave oral testimony. Noelani Vl-'hittington, staff of Public Works was asked to speak, but declined the opportunity. Tomoyo Nimori, whose family has been on their farm since 1910 stated that the Kona Field system was developed by pre-contact Hawaiians and that she has worked to preserve, protect and enhance the Mamalahoa Highway as the Heritage Corridor Highway. She stated that we need flood studies. Nancy Burns, Civil Engineer, submitted lengthy written testimony. She believes that all property on the island is exposed to some degree of potential flooding during major storm events, and it is the landowner and developer's responsibility to mitigate increased runoff caused by their development. James Spado, who lives off of Hokukano Road in Kainaliu