2006-11-01 Planning Commission Minutes

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2.Aesthetics: They have located the tower in an area surrounded by mixed uses (agricultural and residential) rather than an area that is primarily in residential use. They have located the tower closer to the Keaau-Pahoa Highway where there are a considerable number of fairly tall powerlines such that the presence of their tower would not stand out as visibly as it would be at the first site they proposed. 3.Working with the community associations in the area: They have met with both the Orchidland Community Association and the Hawaiian Paradise Park Owners Association prior to the submittal of the proposal to gain their support, noting the Orchidland Community Association did send a letter of support and the Hawaiian Paradise Park Community Association although not necessarily supporting the project, simply acknowledged the application and thank the applicants for presenting their proposal to them. 4.Looking at alternative sites: They did look at a total of five sites (Vern WoodssatOrchidlandTradeCenter,MauriceThomassonthemaukasideof Wiki Wiki Mart, Wiki Wiki Mart itself, JJ Storages, as well as another th property further in the Orchidland Subdivision at the corner of 39 and Orchidland) and for a number of reasons, some of which amounted to not being able toreach an agreement with the landlord, lack of sufficient space, and the site not being able to provide sufficient coverage, they did not aggressively pursue those sites. He added that it was through the Orchidland Community Associations efforts that the Church on a Sure Foundation site was selected. Tommy Goya representing Cingular said they were looking at the Orchidland location as it would substantially improve cellular communication between the Pahoa and Keaau areas. He said after awaiting the contested case decision on the previous application, both Mr. Young and he approached the Church on a Sure Foundation; and as the landownersaidtheywereacquiringanadjoiningparcelduringtheirnegotiationsthey chose the subject site since it is 10 to 15 feet higher than the one they previously considered, noting because of the additional elevation of the lot there could possibly be a third provider. Mr. Young and Mr. Goya stated they have received and reviewed the Departments recommendation and the conditions were acceptable. Commissioner Siracusa thanked the applicants for taking the time to address the concerns expressed by the public and Commission. She then suggested the applicants consider painting their chain-link fence in matt black or dark green to minimize the visual intrusion. In response to Commissioner Galdoness inquiry, Mr. Young once all the proposed or future sites are in place there will still be several coverage gaps since the sites contained on their development plan are those that are budgeted only for the next year. He said 4