PD BACKGROUND REPORT (PL-REZ-2022-018)

Home

3. Landownership Both the 13.944-acre property(Parcel 23) and adjoining 1.467-acre road lot (Parcel 31), hereinafter collectively referred to as "Project Site", are owned by the Applicant. The road lot was historically referenced as "Moonlight Road", and much of it directly fronting the subject property still exists on the ground as it accommodated the previous alignment of the railroad that once served the sugar plantations along the North Hilo and Hamakua coasts. 4. Statement of Objectives and reasons for the request The requested change to a FA-1a zoning district will support the subdivision of the project site into 7 lots ranging in size from 1 to just over 4 acres, as conceptually shown on Figure 3— Preliminary Subdivision Plat as shown below. The requested zoning will accommodate the configuration of lots in an area constrained by the use of existing cane haul roads within the property as primary access to the subdivided lots. Historically, the property was used as a service yard in support of the `O`okala Sugar Mill operations and later as pasture. Currently, the land remains fallow. As the property has been significantly improved with infrastructure associated with the service yard, the optimal use of the property is to subdivide the property into smaller lots that are aligned with the roadway network that crisscrosses through the property, allowing for optimal use of each segment of the property bordered by the existing internal roadway system. The Applicant is no longer to manage the entire property, and historical use and topography of the property is not optimal for larger commercial agricultural activities. 5. Proposed Project Details (see Figure 3— Preliminary Subdivision Plat) a. 7-lot subdivision with lot ranging in size from 1 acre to just over 4 acres. b. Primary access from Old Mamalahoa Highway via a series of existing minimum 50- foot wide former sugar cane haul roads that crisscross the subject property and portion of a 40-foot wide access and utility easement located on an adjoining property located along west side of subject properties. A portion of this 40-foot wide easement will be supplemented with a 10-foot wide access and utility easement within the subject properties in order to provide a combined 50-foot wide access and utility corridor that will be constructed to County agricultural standards. The former cane haul roads are constructed to standards far exceeding the County's agricultural roadway standards in order to support the weight of the cane haul trucks and other large and heavy plantation equipment, so it makes sense to adjust the configuration of the proposed lots to best take advantage of these cane haul road alignments. c. The existing structures associated with the former mill service yard operations will be retained within proposed Lot#1, to hopefully be repurposed into other uses by a 3Page