COM 0716.000 2012-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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J Yoshimoto, Council Chair and Members of the County Council Page 7 with the County's service and circulation systems. The overall goals, policies and standards are set forth to physically plan the lands in the County in the best interest of the island's residents. These state the following: LAND USE - GENERAL • Zoning requests shall be reviewed with respect to General Plan designation, district goals, regional plans, State Land Use District, compatibility with adjacent zoned uses, availability of public services and utilities, access, and public need. LAND USE - COMMERCIAL- PUNA DISTRICT • Centralization of commercial activities in Pahoa Town, rather than along the Pahoa By-Pass, to serve the residents of Lower Puna shall be encouraged. According to the 2010 U.S. Census data, the Puna district contains the second highest population in the County with 45,326 residents, compared with 50.927 for the South Hilo district. Additionally the population of the Puna district has experienced significant growth over the last 30 years (76.8% from 1980-1990, 50.8% from 1990- 2000, 44.8% from 2000-2010) and will continue to rapidly grow due to the relative affordability of land in Puna. Comparatively, the population of the South Hilo district increased only 7.5% from 2000 to 2010 and is projected to be lower than the population of the Puna district by 2015. However,job growth and the provision of goods and services such as grocery stores and medical clinics have not kept pace with the population growth. Clearly there is a great public need for additional commercially-zoned lands in the Puna district, particularly in Kea'au and Pahoa which have been identified in the Puna Community Development Plan as regional town centers for the district. The General Plan Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide(LUPAG) is a graphic representation of the General Plan's goals and policies to guide the coordinated growth and development of the County. The General Plan's LUPAG Map for Pahoa Village was amended in 2012 to encourage rezoning of lands to urban zoning districts in order to provide these necessary goods and services. One of the primary reasons for the LUPAG Map amendment was to support the policies contained in the Puna CDP to develop Pahoa as a regional town center for the lower Puna district by increasing the designated urban density within the town center and directing commercial and industrial uses away from the Pahoa Bypass Road. With this amendment, the LUPAG map designation for the property was changed from Urban Expansion to Medium Density Urban which allows for higher density urban uses such as village shopping centers and multiple-family residential. Thus, the requested CV zoning request would allow for uses that are consistent with the Medium Density form depicted on the LUPAG Map.