COM 0471.005 2008-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Honorable J Yoshimoto, Chairman and Members of the County Council Page 4 rezoned to implement the land use strategy in the CDP. This cannot happen if this bill prevents rezoning until the developed park space in Kona is more than doubled. The Puna plan supports new development around "village centers", for similar reasons as the Kona plan: to try to develop a more compact, less auto-dependent community. Again, the "village centers" are mostly zoned agricultural, and will need rezoning for this preferred land use pattern to occur. The North Kohala and South Kohala plans, for the most part, call for development to occur within existing zoning. This does not mean that there cannot be any rezoning, but both clearly do not support large new development outside of existing zoned areas. In an October 20,2009 correspondence from The Department of Parks and Recreation, the department had numerous concerns related to the concurrency resolution, including, in summary: . the operating budget not being considered in the concurrency resolution; . the addition of park facilities leading to a staff shortage during a hiring freeze; . no addition to the parks inventory if the department determines that recreational requirements of the proposed project can be satisfied with existing facilities, ultimately impacting the reserve capacity should the applicant not follow through with development plans; . the subjective nature of the "five acres of public park" requirement since the exact number of residents in any given district cannot be accurately determined; · the department does not keep an inventory of private parks; therefore, an accurate number of parks cannot be determined; . many parks approved and accepted by the department for public use in satisfaction of developer's obligations are not active neighborhood and playground/ball field type parks, but are passive, open areas with minimal improvements; . the minimum standard for determining adequacy of parks should not be limited to "active neighborhood and playground/ball field" parks, as beach parks are also important recreational assets; . the rezoning application is not the appropriate time to determine the exact project configuration, including actual lot sizes, dwelling sizes/types and infrastructure requirements; specifics should be refined later in the permitting process; (note: rezoning to a certain zoned district would allow all uses as specified in the Zoning Code, not only those that are proposed by the applicant) . rezoning should not be the only trigger for the final recreational obligations of the applicant/developer; · the resolution would subject all rezonings to the proposed changes and is unfair to the 'small' landowners; · the developer's Fair Share obligation and the proposed amendment may not work in concert with each other;