2022-04-21 Leeward Exh D (Item 3&4 Hawaii One1 PL-REZ-2021-014&PL-SMA-2022-012)

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appreciate the favorable recommendation by the Planning Director on both the amendment requests. The focus of the amendment request is pretty straightforward, and it's really asking for more time in which to complete the subdivision and more specifically to the Condition K within the Change of Zone ordinances to provide that opportunity where the drainage system improvements can be constructed at the same time with the other subdivision improvements, say, the water, the roads, and the sewer system. The applicant, as staff mentioned, purchased the property in foreclosure in 2013 about four years after the Change of Zone and State Land Use Boundary amendment and SMA permits were issued. In those seven years since the applicant has made very diligent efforts to pursue and complete the subdivision as prescribed by those approvals. And I won't go through it because staff was very thorough in discussing it, but their efforts, as mentioned earlier, did include obtaining a Planned Unit Development permit from the County Planning Department, getting SHPD approvals for both the burial treatment and data recovery plans, designing and then filing a subdivision application in 2017, then also at the same time working with the county in designing and securing the approvals for the proposed three-acre La`aloa Park located to the north of the project site, and that included an environmental assessment and issuance of a finding of no significant impact, applying for Plan Approval for the park as well. And also the subsequent year, the following year I should mention, the applicant also made efforts to purchase the property located to the west or makai of the project site in order to facilitate the construction of the Pi`ilani Street, which will provide direct access to the subdivision from Alii Drive. The applicant was successful in securing tentative subdivision approval for the first phase, which consists of 18 single-family residential lots and went through great effort to design all of the subdivision improvements, the civil work, for which they were able to get the County approval in 2019. Even though you may not see a lot of activity on the ground, I think the applicant in the presentation and as I've discussed has clearly demonstrated a significant amount of efforts in getting the necessary approvals and permits in order to secure final subjection approval. Unfortunately, at the end of 2019 they informed the Planning Department that they lost funding, and that's when basically everything came to a stop. In order for them to seek out additional sources of funding to complete the subdivision, they need and require these amendments to the entitlements both the Change of Zone and the SMA permits in order for them to go ahead and try to find those alternate sources of funding. As confirmed by the Planning Director in his recommendation report, there have been no significant changes in the General Plan or the Zoning Code relative to the project area. It continues to remain consistent with the goals, policies, and standards of the General Plan relative to economic and land use elements of the Plan. The project itself is considered infill by the Kona Community Development Plan, which is intended to really promote urban development within or adjacent to existing developments thereby relieving development pressures on Agricultural or Open designated areas. And finally, the project does, we've demonstrated that project does remain in compliance with the concurrency standards of the Zoning Code relative to water, traffic, and civil defense sirens. 7 EXHIBIT D