2007-12-12 Planning Commission Minutes

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Commissioner Woodward congratulated Mr. Salavea on the job well done; however, he expressed his concern that they are probably dealing with less than 5 percent of the population to create a policy which is going to be codified into law. Mr. Salavea said that they are aware of the fact, that he feels they have to rebuild community capacity to participate in the governmental affairs and civic engagement type of activities. Commissioner Siracusa mentioned that in Puna the major issues that came up during the CDP process are transportation, natural resources, public facilities, infrastructure, land use and housing, and asked if there are any patterns or consistencies across the districts. In response Mr. Salavea said that the CDP process provides people with easier access to involvement than the Commission or the County Council process does, and in that regard, local rule and empowerment is a big theme; he mentioned the issues of transportation and affordable housing are common to all districts. Chair Graham mentioned that, in response to Commissioner Woodward’s earlier comment, in North Kohala there had been a group of people who went out with a questionnaire on community issues and got 12.5 percent of the community to respond, which gave the NKCDP a good start; and when the Focus Groups finish up their process, he feels more people will come out again and give their input. Commissioner Alameda named some community organizations, and pointed out some of the attendees might be from those groups who also represent another population. Mr. Salavea also noted that people have a network of their own that they expand out to, and words get around easily in a small community like North Kohala, and they are confident that if the information is provided early enough to the primary groups, more people will have a general idea of what is going on by the time the plan becomes available. Commissioner Domingo observed that there will have to be some changes in the planning process when the CDP is done and adopted by ordinance, which then becomes law and definitive with little flexibility. Director Yuen stated that, with respect to the question of law and mandatory, a lot would depend on how things are worded within the CDP; things can be worded so that they must be carried out precisely, however, for the bulk of things, the CDP would primarily provide a decision making framework and guidance, and it would still require some judgment in the end. He said that the Planning Commission will hopefully have much clearer guidance as to what the overall attitude to a typical issue is; the CDP doesn’t provide the exact answer to each situation, but it should tell the Commissioners, as well as the County Council in some cases, to have either a positive attitude toward something or to start off with a negative attitude. In response to Commissioner Domingo’s question, Mr. Salavea said that he has not yet encountered the situation where the community wants something that is contrary to the General Plan and therefore they want the General Plan amended, and he noted that the CDP is in line with what the General Plan provides. He added that a variety of information on the CDP is available at www.hcrc.info. ELECTION OF The Commission took this item up at 4:12 p.m. with no one 2008 OFFICERS from the public in attendance. 6