COM 0026.000 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

j r Honorable James Y. Arakaki, Chairman and Members of the County Council Page 3 * The development of commercial facilities should be designed to fit into the locale with minimal intrusion while providing the desired services. Appropriate infrastructure and design concerns shall be incorporated into the review of such developments. Also, in the General Plan, a Course of Action for commercial development within the South Hilo District recommends that "Appropriately located commercial zoned lands shall be allocated as the need arises" and "Commercial zoned lands in proximity to the University of Hawaii at Hilo shall be allocated as the need arises." This request would be consistent with the urban form depicted for Hilo in that it would add commercial uses serving the entire City of Hilo and its surrounding region in a central location and in close proximity to other similar commercial activities. Rezoning of surrounding properties to a Commercial-zoned district is testimony to the demand for commercial-zoned areas within the City of Hilo. The Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide (LUPAG) Map of the General Plan is also used to evaluate a change of zone request. This map reflects a graphic expression of the General Plan's goals, policies, standards and courses of action, and it displays the physical relationships among the various land uses. It also establishes the basic land use pattern that is intended to guide the direction of future development on this island. It is used as a long-range planning device; and its boundaries are broad and flexible. In this case, the requested zone change conforms to the General Plan's Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide (LUPAG) Map which designates the property for High Density Urban uses. Such a designation may allow uses such as commercial, multiple family residential and related services (general and office commercial; multiple family residential up to 87 units per acre), provided the goals, policies and standards of the General Plan are met. The Hilo Community Development Plan (CDP), adopted by Resolution in 1975, is intended to provide short and middle range implementation strategies for the goals, policies and land use pattern presented in the General Plan. While the Hilo CDP and its Zone Guide Map, adopted over 15 years ago, suggests a Multiple Family Residential-4,000 square feet per unit (RM-4) designation for the project site, it recognizes the need for future commercial development to reinforce existing commercial areas by encouraging it to fill in to be a unified City Center rather than further disassemble to other parts of Hilo. This City Center is defined as the area of High Density Urban Development as outlined by the General Plan, which extends southward from the Wailuku River to the general vicinity of the University of Hawaii at Hilo. The expansion of the High Density Urban designation during the 1989 General Plan update to include areas in the immediate vicinity of the University of