2007-03-16 TBILLS - Laserfiche WebLink

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GRAHAM:Allright,seconded by Commissioner Domingo. And we have discussion. Mr. Woodward, no? WOODWARD:No. GRAHAM:Ms. Siracusa. SIRACUSA:On page 4, at the very top it says Controls on further subdivision or rezoning will not help the situation because almost all development is occurring on existing lots. And Im having trouble with that one because every lot is existing, you know. And when people come in for rezoning, its to make a lot, usually make a lot smaller. And certainly subdivision is to make more lots. So I dont understand, maybe Im missing something here in the thought processes of the Director, and I would like him to clarify that for me. YUEN:Well, its really a question of scale. And if you were to look, lets take the Highway 130 between Keaau and Pahoa. Theres something like 20,000 existing lots there, and there is a potential for more lots to be created. Most of the lots actually that have been created by new subdivisions in the area, almost all of them are Hawaiian Homes and, again, are basically outside the Countys land use authority to try to control that. Aside from Hawaiian Homes you haveaverysmallnumberofnewlotsthatarecreatedbynewsubdivisions.Andyoucouldgo back, you know, 10 years and you might have a single digit percentage increase in the number of lots from new subdivisions. So to pass a bill thats trying to control additional subdivisions so that you have 20,000 lots instead of 20,400 lots I think is not really productive. Its just not, it doesnt significantly change the situation. Its not that you throw up your hands, but youre not going to make a significant improvement by refusing subdivision of existing lots. On the other hand, what youre doing is youre preventing somebody from, and Im talking about here the traffic aspects of it. Im not talking about the location where it might be a bad place to have a subdivision. You know, those site specific issues still have to be dealt with. But thats the basic point here, is that the growth and population that takes place on the existing lots is so large that to work on or even to greatly worry about the growth aspects of having subdivisions of existing lots is, you know, its focusing on the wrong problem. SIRACUSA:I could see your point if you were looking at it over a very large geographical area, however, and when youre talking about a difference between 25,000 lots and 25,400, for example. But when you get down into an area, say, of a small subdivision, even a small subdivision can make a tremendous difference. Youll recall that Ive recently written you a letter about a whole series of subdivision proposals coming for Kaohe Homesteads and how if that process is allowed to continue theres a potential for a density increase of 388% in a very small area. And so thats really foremost in my head when Im reading this stuff, is relating it to my own community. YUEN:Well, there is a valid issue and the issue is this, under the current Subdivision Code, if you have the zoning, as long as youre on a County road, you have no further road requirement. The County can make you do some improvements on the frontage of the road; but under the current Subdivision Code there isnt the power to make people do off-site road requirements for the County road. 6EXHIBIT D