PD BACKGROUND (REZ 09-101) - Laserfiche WebLink

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The applicant had retained the services of appropriate design professionals, and construction plans were developed shortly after the rezoning was approved. These included plans for Plan Approval, Building Permit, and Grading Permit. However,the heavy demands of the Applicant's medical practice precluded a more focused attention to this project,resulting in having misunderstandings with the initial contractor and a subsequent lengthy litigation. Concurrently, the Applicant also had to find ways to refinance the project. This came at a time when Hawaii and the rest of the world were trying to recover from a major economic global meltdown and the financial crisis that began in 2008. This added to the difficulty in securing the timely refinancing of the project after expiration of the first 5-year construction window. Undaunted, however,the Applicant started to redesign the project with a new architect and work with a different contractor to arrive at a cost within its budget. The revised plans have been approved by the County, and its building permit is being withheld pending identification of a contractor and payment of the filing fee. This will be done immediately upon approval of the rezoning time extension. During the interim,the Applicant has authorized the contractor to do only the limited site work. It is thus self-evident that the Applicant intends to do the project and hopefully have it completed within the requested 5-year window. B. Granting of the time extension would not be contrary to the General Plan or Zoning Code. It should be noted that since the site was rezoned, there has not been any significant land use regulatory change in this area. The Hilo Community Development Plan has not been updated, and thus,the only relevant planning policy document still rests with the County General Plan. The proposed request is still not contrary to the General Plan's Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide(LUPAG)Map that defines the subject property and its immediately surrounding area for Medium Density Urban uses. The most recent revisions to the General Plan(February 2005)did not make any changes affecting the subject site. The current designation on the LUPAG map is the same as when the subject property was initially zoned CN-20. There are a number of commercially-zoned and related uses proximate to the subject site. Most notably, the proposed Wailani Project is situated west or mauka of the subject site, while the Ka Waena Lapa'au Medical complex is located at the intersection of Ponahawai Street and Komohana Street. Along Ponahawai Street and less than five hundred(500) feet away,there is a new medical office and physical therapy office. 8