2006-05-05 THirayama - Laserfiche WebLink

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yea or nay on this one. So I feel that under the circumstances I will be supporting it, cause I dont feel its taking away from affordable housing. GRAHAM:Thank you, Commissioner Siracusa. Since we are at a bare quorum with five of us here at the moment because our Planning Commission Chairman, Mr. Alameda, is out for an hour, it naturally arises in the mind that, well, for the most fairness to the applicant we could put off a vote until we have as many as we get here today, which would be six. But I dont want to appear like were gaming the system in any way. So Id like Commissioner Iwashita to say how he feels about that, if you would please. IWASHITA:Well, I think, procedure theres a problem with the Chair returning and considering this matter because he hasnt heard, he would need to review at least the minutes of the testimony presented; otherwise he wouldnt have had the benefit of the entire record on this matter. So I think procedurally that is a concern that I would have. Whether thats a legitimate concernornotontherulesoftheCommission,Imnotcertain. Idliketoaddressthequestionraisedbythefactthatthehousethatusedtobeonthisproperty has been demolished and how that should or shouldnt affect the consideration of this proposal. My view is that if this Commission looks at vacant land different from a lot that has an existing dwelling that is being used and saying, well, were not going to take that into consideration, to me what that does is it will encourage speculators to buy property, raze the land, knock down any buildings on it and then come in for proposals that will get better consideration. And so to me its not a good way to proceed, you know, with that kind of a rationale. I really believe that the best way to proceed, you know, since we really dont have a Commercial shortage, you know, properties that are zoned Commercial that can be developed to meet whatever needs there are commercially, that we can forego this and really encourage the Council to take steps to spend a couple million bucks or whatever its going to take to get the Community Development Plans done. And then it will be a real clear picture for developers, like Mr. Hirayama and his company and others, in terms of where development will occur. And they wont have to come to this body to get it approved because the Community Development Plan would be relatively clear in terms of what uses will be done where, and with what kind of design perhaps, you know, that the community wants to see in how the commercial developments are done. You know, do we want nice storefront wide sidewalks, on-street parking, public transit available to get to these areas or do we want a Kihei strip mall, right? I mean thats what a Community Development Plan allows the community to choose; and that is, to me, the preferred smart way to go. GRAHAM:Mr. Torigoe, I might just ask a little bit for your counsel on this. If in fact we do take a vote and we dont have a five-vote majority going for or against, then presumably this moves forward to the next Planning Commission meeting; and I for that reason suggested that maybe we wait for Mr. Alameda to return so we have six. But Commissioner Iwashita brings up the good point that he hasnt been here listening to the testimony weve put forth. So do you have any comments on what you think would be proper and fairest? TORIGOE:Okay, lets see. There are two things that you mentioned. One was what would happen if you dont get five votes; and I think staff has indicated that this would have to come back again at least one more time within the 90-day timeframe. 12EXHIBIT B