2009-07-01 Windward Planning Commission Minutes

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the plan submitted is conservative and an increased improvement over current conditions in the area. Mr. Thomas agreed with the Chair that the plans are to excavate Mahimahi Street to about 80 feet below the existing roadway, noting evidently there are two adjacent properties where illegal mining has occurred. Mr. Chamberlain said the lowering of the roadway will be done in two or three phases and he agreed with the Chair that he will be coming back to the Planning Commission for further permits as he plans to acquire four adjacent properties. In response to Commissioner Kern’s inquiries, Mr. Chamberlain said he has been in the mining business off and on, he did a lot of subdivisions on industrial zoned lands and he owns a hard rock quarry in Oregon that has about 2.6 million tons of hard rock. He then added that when mining is complete, he was thinking of using the land as a rain water reservoir, to which the Chair noted protea farmers in the Ocean View area put liners down in holes for their agricultural water. In response to Commissioner Ogata’s inquiry, Mr. Thomas said under the best management practices on dust control mitigation, proper dust fencing and silt screens will be put in place, as well as properly misting or wetting the rock products to minimize dust emissions. There was no one from the public wishing to testify on this application. The applicant stated the proposed conditions were acceptable. It was moved by Commissioner Ogata and seconded by Commissioner Domingo that the application be approved as recommended by the Planning Director, with conditions. The Chair stated he saw no problems with the application as it is the most responsible cinder and rock quarry operation the Commission has considered. Commissioner Domingo felt this was a worthwhile project as he saw a more organized effort in mining the property with strict regulations and oversight. A roll call vote was taken and motion carried with five ayes (Ogata, Domingo, Ishibashi, Kern and Woodward) and one absent and excused (Iwashita). The Commission took the following item up at 9:24 a.m. with approximately 14 people from the public in attendance: APPLICANT: MARK JERNIGAN (SPP 09-81) Special Permit to allow the removal of cinder on 43,608 square feet of land situated within the State Land Use Agricultural District. The property is located along the south side of Mahimahi Drive, approximately 356 feet east of the Mahimahi Drive – Lurline Lane intersection, Hawaiian Ocean View Estates Subdivision, Kahuku, Ka’u, Hawai‘i, TMK:9-2-145:59. Mr. Darrow oriented the Commission and public of the subject and surrounding properties on the location map and site plan, and summarized the request due to safety reasons as the adjacent landowners removed cinder creating vertical faces to the east, west, and south boundaries of the property. He then showed overview of the area showing some of the mining going on and noted the Planning Director’s recommendation that the application be approved with conditions. 2