COM 0904.000 2008-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Honorable J Yoshimoto, Chairman and Members of the County Council Page 7 The concurrency law within the Zoning Code states that a change of zone cannot be granted unless either County water is available for the proposed lots, or upgrades to the existing County water system are done to bring County water to the proposed lots, or a private water system equivalent to the requirements of the Department of Water Supply is constructed to meet the water needs of the project. As discussed above, if County water is not available for the project, the cost to provide water to the project will be excessive. There are no reasonable options to provide water for smaller projects that may result in fewer lots, such as the proposed request. The applicant is proposing to create a private water system that does not meet all of the criteria for approval by the Department of Water Supply, but does meet some of their requirements. The applicant has drafted language for conditions relating to water that will be incorporated into the proposed conditions of approval, except for the request to deem the water requirement of the Subdivision Code to be fulfilled. The applicant will still be required to apply for a water variance for the proposed subdivision. The Planning Director is recommending that the Planning Commission send a favorable recommendation of this change of zone request to the Hawai`i County Council along with the proposed water standards rather than those required under the concurrency law. The reason for the request is to have the Hawai`i County Council consider a change in the concurrency law to allow an option for smaller rezones to provide a private water system similar to the applicant's proposal, but which does not meet the highest standard as required in the law. There is no severe geological or topographical problem for the property that cannot be properly rectified or which would render the land unusable. According to the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the property is within Zone X, area determined to be outside the 500 -year flood plain. The property is also located outside of any tsunami inundation area. The request is not contrary to Chapter 205A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to Coastal Zone Management Area. The property is not situated within the Special Management Area. It is located approximately 3 miles from the nearest coastline and will not be impacted by coastal hazard and beach erosion. There are no identified recreational resources, historic resources, public access to the shoreline or mountain areas, scenic and open space preserves, coastal ecosystems, marine resources or other natural and environmental resources in the area. Thus, the proposed request and use of the property will not adversely impact those resources. It is not anticipated that endangered or threatened candidate species of flora or fauna are located within the subject property because the property was previously utilized for sugar cane cultivation and