2010-03-05 TPD ENVISION - Laserfiche WebLink

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O’HARA: My name is Eileen O’Hara, and the address is 15-2782 Papio Street, that’s Pahoa. And I am here today -. I was expecting the presentation and anticipated more of a Q and A. I’m here today as a representative of the Vision Keepers. You may have heard the name of the group. We’re associated with the EDH Plan in that when it was passed by resolution in the end of 2005. We were a group of volunteers invited to act as the “Implementation Committee,” although we certainly found ourselves more as the shepherds of the plan, because this plan has evolved through so much interaction with the public. The process began back in ’03 and the plan that was passed was a 20-year plan. We’re now up to the five-year update which we want to recognize that this is an action plan, that it doesn’t sit on the shelf, that it does produce a response, and it is constantly a collaborative process with the community. Newcomers into the community, and existing people in the community all have collaborated on the vision that we are presenting in this updated Matrix.I also want to emphasize that this is a guidance document, this is not the County Code. The recommendations that are coming forward through this guidance document are those that have been heard from the public, such as the height limitation. The height limitation does allow for a five-story building that does allow for a mixed use building in Downtown Hilo, and it would have to pass through the County Code to become law. So this is a guidance document. We have worked with property owners, business owners who are located in Downtown, residents of all ages from the school age to retirees, as well as all levels of government in working this process. And we were fortunate, very fortunate, to have assistance from the American Institute of Architects where they came last year and did a sustainable design action team process with us; and we held public meetings to get public feedback. And this team of, I believe it was seven professionals, architects, and others in the planning area that spent time with us here in Hilo and gave their recommendations from the level that they work at, which is all over the country and in communities that are similar and dissimilar to Hilo. So we got a lot of good feedback through that process. Everything that’s in this update has been brought to the public through annual town meetings and also through public meetings. So there has been a process. I understand we’re going to be deferring for another month or two to allow more of that collaborative process to occur. This is a very good plan. This is something that we really want in place to direct the change that we know will happen and to insure that it’s done in a manner that benefits everyone, and that we all have a town that we are proud of and can live in and have fun in. So I thank you. WOODWARD: All right, thank you. Do we have any questions for Ms. O’Hara? Commissioner Domingo. DOMINGO: Thank you for your comments. In all your discussions has a primary concern been that of bringing people back to Downtown to support the businesses that exist there today? O’HARA: Yes. The plan has six focus areas.One of the focus areas is economic revitalization of Downtown Hilo. So that has been an emphasis. Another thing with the plan, it takes a while for our public to be aware of these various processes. This was a first for the Planning Department, this type of community-based planning. And here we are 2010 and we are now hearing from, you know, all the landowners and business owners in the Downtown area. So it has become collaborative process, whereas in the very beginning it probably wasn’t so. So their concerns about economic revitalization are being listened to and are being built into the plan. 10 EXHIBIT B