COM 0229.000 2012-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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AU: Any questions for staff? No? Seeing none, okay. Well, if there's anybody that wants to speak on Bill 91 please come forward. COTTLE: Two. AU: I'm sorry, 2, 291. Okay, Mr. Fuke is actually a testifier. But what I was getting at is if anybody who authored the bill wants to come testify or talk about it. FUKE: Oh, I'm sorry. AU: But Mr. Fuke since you're already there, you can stay there. And if our Madam Director would like to elaborate on her proposed bill,before we go into public testimony? LEITHEAD TODD: No. AU: Okay, well then we'll just go into public testimony. Please raise your right hand. Do you swear to, do you swear and affirm to tell the truth in front of the Hawai`i County Planning Commission today? FUKE: I do. AU: Okay. Please state your name, where you reside, and you have three minutes. FUKE: Sure. Good morning, Mr. Chairivan and Members of the Commission, Happy New Year. My name is Sidney Fuke. I'm a planning consultant. And my business address is 100 Pauahi Street, which is located directly across of this building. On this matter, I think that the purported concept that the bill is proposing,which is Councilman Hoffman's bill, is commendable, which is to enable more public input. The recommendation of the Planning Director is much more appropriate. Very briefly, the reasons are two-fold. One is that it's an appropriate separation of functions between the legislative branch and the executive branch; and, secondly, it's a question of efficiency. First as it relates to the separation of functions between the legislative branch, we know that the legislature or in this case the County Council, it establishes and adopts the policies. And once these policies are established then it becomes the responsibility of the executive branch,be it the Planning Department or the Public Works Department, to implement and administer them. In this case, the County Council adopted the Zoning and the Subdivision Codes and amendments, such as rezoning for example. These Codes establish standards for subdivision and zoning, such as roadway width, water, height, lot size, setback and such. To use an old cliche, however, because"one size does not fit all," a process - such as the variance or PUD - to allow relief by the Planning Director from these standards was created. Further, notification to surrounding property owners, notices in the newspaper, posting of a sign on the property were also required to better enable the public to weigh in on the request, as the staff had kind of pointed out. 4