PD BACKGROUND REPORT (PL-SMA-2022-012_AmendSMA-07-024_&_PL-REZ-2022-014_AmendREZ-07-075)

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In the 7 years of its ownership of the property, the Applicant has: • Applied for, and secured the approval of PUD 15-032 that allowed for certain exceptions to the Zoning and Subdivision Codes in order to promote its pedestrian-friendly design for the subdivision; • Applied for and secured Tentative Approval of Phase 1 of La`ipala PUD Subdivision that will create 18 residential lots; • Negotiated with an adjoining landowner to secure the ability to construct a subdivision access road (Pi`ilani Street)that will provide direct access to Alii Drive; • Complete and secured approval of construction plans for the Phase 1 subdivision infrastructure as well as the new subdivision access road to Alii Drive; • Financed and prepared an environmental assessment for the 3-acre neighborhood park off of Laaloa Avenue, securing a Finding of No Significant Impact(FONSI); • Designed neighborhood park and secured Final Plan Approval, with final construction drawings currently being prepared for approval by the County; • Completion of archaeological reports and mitigation plans in accordance with State Historic Preservation Division requirements with data recovery ongoing; and • Working to secure new source of financing to support the completion of subdivision infrastructure. The Applicant made such significant progress towards securing Final Subdivision Approval of Phase 1 that it actually made that request of the Planning Department, only to inform the department in December 2019 of the loss of financing, which was unexpected and sudden. The amendment requests will provide the Applicant with an additional 5 years by which to secure a new source of financing for the project, as well as to offer the option of a surety or complete construction of the required subdivision improvements in order to secure Final Subdivision Approval as permitted by the Subdivision Code. 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 in 2009, there have been no significant changes to the land use regulatory structure affecting the subject site. There has been no amendment to the County General Plan. While the Kona Community Development Plan was amended, its outcome resulted in having certain provisions be deemed a"guideline" instead of a"mandate". There was also no significant amendment to the Special Management Area rule that would affect the project. As such, the general reasons for the Leeward Planning Commission's initial favorable recommendation, as outlined in the Planning Director's Recommendation report (Exhibit D) and the Director's administrative time extension approval (Exhibit F) are still applicable. 18Page