HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-06-17 HUGGETT SMA03-007
PLANNING COMMISSION
COUNTY OF HAWAII
HEARING TRANSCRIPT
June 17, 2005
A regularly advertised hearing on the application of WESLEY AND KELLEY HUGGETT
(Formerly ERIC SOTO - SMA 03 007) was called to order at 9:09 a.m. in the King
Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel, Kamakahonu Ballroom, 75-5660 Palani Road, Kailua-Kona,
Hawaii, with Chairman Fred Galdones presiding.
PRESENT:Fred GaldonesABSENT & EXCUSED: Hannah Springer
Jeffrey McCallC. Kimo Alameda
Rene Siracusa
AndrewIwashita
Allen Salavea
William R. Graham
Rodney H. Watanabe
Chris Yuen, Deputy Planning Director
Norman Hayashi, Planning Program Manager
Phyllis Fujimoto, Staff Planner
Jeff Darrow, Staff Planner
Kiran Emler representing Department of Public Works
And approximately 13 people from the public in attendance.
APPLICANTS: WESLEY AND KELLEY HUGGETT (Formerly ERIC SOTO - SMA 03 007)
Continued hearing on a Special Management Area Use Permit application to allow the
construction of a three and one-half story, 45-foot high, 12-unit multi-family residential
development and related improvements on approximately 15,203 square feet of land. The
property is located on the west (makai) side of Alii Drive, adjacent to and north of the Sea
Village Condominium complex, Kahului, North Kona, Hawaii, TMK: 7-5-19:30.
GALDONES:Commissioners we are on agenda item number 1. Applicant is Wesley
and Kelley Huggett, formerly Eric Soto SMA 03-007. This is a continued hearing on a Special
Management Area Use Permit application to allow the construction of a three and one-half story,
45-foot high, 12-unit multi-family residential development and related improvements on
approximately 15,203 square feet of land. Norman.
HAYASHI:Thank you Mr. Chairman. Good morning members of the Planning
Commission. This application has been pending and has been continued on the Planning
Commissions agenda since 2003. All of you are familiar with the basic background information
on this particular request. Since the last hearing last month we received 2 correspondences. One
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was from Charles Buscemi and the other from a William and Rebecca Hunt. The Hunts had
submitted a letter stating their opposition to the request. Mr. Buscemi had expressed some issues
and concerns that he had and I assume that Mr. Buscemi is here to present testimony on this
issue. The Planning Director is still recommending approval of this particular request. We
submitted to you an amended or revised recommendation and if you look atthe top of the
recommendation its dated June 7, 2005. We are recommending approval. And basically what
we did was make some changes by incorporatingconcerns or in the recommendation portion
addressing the PASH and the Ka Paakaidecisions. Also talking about the biological
recognizance of the property and the other historical and cultural resources concerns or issues,
we also, as presented at our last meeting added a new condition number 3, which states that a 20-
foot wide easement shall be provided for vehicular access and utilities to the project site. Are
there any questions at this time?
GALDONES:Commissioners any questions of Norman? Commissioner Graham?
GRAHAM:No, I just had a couple of specific questions about the recommendations
nottheconditionsofapprovalbutyouknow-sinceweoftenadopttheserecommendationsif
they go along with something ahead on pages 2 and 3 of the recommendations. And, maybe
theyre just more wording issues but you know, it feels to me they do touch on relevant things.
Like on the first new paragraph on page 2 about a third of the way down says the revised project
will not create significant adverse impacts upon immediately adjacent properties as surrounding
properties are zoned and in residential and commercial uses. Because of something being
residential and commercial use doesnt necessarily indicate to me that there wont be impacts
because of something going on adjacent. So I just was kind of wondering about the logic of a
sentence like that, if you had any thoughts about that.
HAYASHI:And your question is?
GRAHAM:I dont find a logical progression in that sentence. It sounds like the- as
surrounding property zoning seems to be the basis for saying theres no significant adverse
impacts upon immediately adjacent properties and that doesnt sound very logical to me.
HAYASHI:Well this is basically what we are representing that we feel that there is no
substantial adverse impact based on what surrounding uses of the area is. Single family
residential, the Sunterra office structure and the Sea Village. However if the Commission feels
that that is not a finding that they would like to include you are free to delete that particular
finding.
GRAHAM:Sure and maybe what youre saying- another way is that, this is not a
conclusion based upon purely the zoning of adjacent properties. This is more of a summary
sentence or something is that correct?
HAYASHI:Oh yes, yes.
GRAHAM:Okay. And then on, a little farther down the page it talks about the view
corridor. So this would be like about 6 lines up from the bottom. And it says there is a better
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unobstructed viewpoint a few hundred feet north of the property. And Im just wondering if, you
know if theres an assurance that that better unobstructed viewpoint will remain as such in the
future. Is that a viewpoint thats seen right from the road and theres no problem or is that a
viewpoint that may go away in the future?
HAYASHI:Well, Im trying to-
GRAHAM:Okay.
HAYASHI:Its been a while since Ive looked at this also so.
GRAHAM:Sorry.
HAYASHI:Are you referring to the second to the last paragraph that saysthat the
viewplanetotheshorelinetowardthepropertyfromKuakiniHighwayandtheQueenKwillnot
be impacted? Is that it or?
GRAHAM:The one right before that.
HAYASHI:There is a better unobstructed view a few hundred Well basically it
says that there are other areas that would provide this viewplane from Alii Drive to the shoreline
and basically what our- this statement means.
GRAHAM:Yeah I understood it as such. My question is, I dont want to be in a
musical chair situation wheres this other viewplane in the future. It may no longer be a
viewplane. Is that a viewplane thats not going to be interrupted in the future is what Im
asking?
HAYASHI:As far as that particular area is an open space thats right next to the bay so
I think if you-. Thats an area, which is actually in front of a property thats going to be
discussed at a future meeting. I think its Kahului landing, I think thats the area that were
referring to.
GRAHAM:Okay, does that mean like the viewplane makai from the highway there,
theres nothing that will come up in the future that may obstruct that.
HAYASHI:Thats correct. Yes. Yes.
GRAHAM:Good, thank you. And then the third one I had was again on, this ones on
the top of page 3 and the first new sentence there it says, again maybe this is a wording thing.
The proposed development would not have any adverse impacts to the recreational resources of
the area, as the shoreline fronting the property is very rocky. So, I dont know, I mean rocky
shorelines are certainly used for recreational resources like fishing and snorkeling and all that so
again maybe its the word as in there. It doesnt feel to me that saying the shorelines rocky is
sufficient to say well then it wont have any adverse impacts but maybe thats not what youre
trying to say.
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HAYASHI:Well basically were saying that this particular area has not historically
been used for residential, recreational purposes although the area has been used for fishing
purposes. There are other recreational areas in close proximity to the subject property and one of
the area is that area by Kahului, I think its Kahului Landing, whichis further north of the subject
property that we talked about not having an obstructed- having a unobstructed view from Alii
Drive.
GRAHAM:Yeah, so then again maybe similar to the first one I brought up then, the
word as in the middle is not implying-
HAYASHI:Yeah, you know that could be.
GRAHAM:Cause or something like that.
HAYASHI:Yeah.
GRAHAM:Thank you.
GALDONES:Further discussion, any questions of Norman Commissioners? Seeing
nonemaywehavetheApplicantorhisrepresentativespleasecomeforward?Mr.Mooerslet
me just swear you in. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the
Hawai¡i County Planning Commission?
MOOERS:I do.
GALDONES:Mr. Mooers could you please state your name and your residence address
for the record?
MOOERS:My name is Greg Mooers. My address is Box 1101, Kamuela, Hawai¡i,
96743.
GALDONES:Mr. Mooers you having heard the discussion, the background report is still
the same but the recommendations have been revised. Do you have any-. First of all do you
have copies of them and do you have any comments to them?
MOOERS:Yes I do have copies. I do have a couple of comments Id like to address
some of Mr. Grahams points. And then Id like an opportunity at the end to, I know there are
people to testify today, to address any issues that may be raised. Just in summary I would point
out that this is I think the 8th hearing on this project and the hearing is for Special Management
Area Use Permit, its not a change of zone application. Regarding Mr. Grahams comments, the
first one I think regarding the adverse impacts typically the issue I know when we do an analysis
is always is the use consistent with adjoining properties. So in other words, would you be
introducing a use thats inconsistent? And in this case since you have a 130-unit condo right
next to this project the assumption was that the use would be consistent and it would not be
detrimental. I understand thats a pretty wide ranging statement but that was used in the analysis.
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Regarding the viewplane I think Norman adequately addressed it that the viewplane over
Kahului Bay is the view that Dr. Terry and this by the way comes directly from Dr. Terrys
visual impact analysis, which is an appendix or exhibit to the application. Regarding the
recreational resources, there are really 2 issues here, 1 is theres a surf spot known as Tikis out in
front of the property and surfers access that from Kahului Bay, its a much easier method to get
into the water rather than go out over the rocks. Any fishing that takes place on the shoreline
would continue to take place, theres no effort to restrict any lateral access along the shoreline
there. Over the last two years a number of issues have been raised Id just like to review them
briefly and then if theres any new specific information introduced today, Ill address that. I
think the Director has gone through, looked at the appropriate zoning. Hes obviously, weve
had a great deal of testimony on this and hes still recommending approval. The easement issue,
if you look at your condition number 3 and 12 it requires that the easement be provided and
theres been some question about whether or not Vacations Internationale has provided it, will
provide it, whatever. Its quite clear that if they do not provide it we dont have a permit, for a
numberofreasons,condition3,condition12andalsosewerconditionwhichiscondition
number 6. So that the Commission has great assurance that if that easement is somehow not
obtained as Vacations Internationale has promised then the permit would not be valid. I will
point out, I went back and looked at the last I think 12 SMAs Ive received and I have never had
a condition placed on a driveway width within an SMA thats always been an issue thats been
addressed at Plan Approval. Im not saying it shouldnt be considered but Im saying that its
unusual and we have no problem accepting the 20 feet that came from the Department of Public
Works. The next issue was raised was the issue of the burial. The site and the site you realize is
a very small site; its less than half an acre was inventoried by Dr. Rechtman and his inventory
survey is included. At one of the earlier hearings, Ms. Nagai alleged that there was a burial
there, she was aware of during her youth. At that time we scheduled a meeting with Ms. Nagai
and the attorney, or excuse me the Archaeologist representing the Sea Village Association Paul
Rosenthal and Dr. Rechtman and I, myself went out and the 4 of us walked over the site could
find no physical evidence of any burial at that time. Ms. Nagai did indicate that the burial she
thought was near the old kiawe tree and so we talked with our architect Mr. Foulk and he assured
us that that tree and the burial are going to be within the setback area so that theres no effort to
build over a burial. Dr. Rechtman recommended and we concur that a archaeological monitor
should be present on the site when theres any ground disruption so that if any sites, whether this
site or some other site are discovered that all work would stop and State Historic Preservation
Division would be notified and we would comply with whatever conditions they might have.
Theres been an issue raised regarding the determination of what the setback should be and I
think youll notice in some of the letters you receive theres still some references made to some
variance that were requesting and the applicant is not requesting any variance. The applicant
just requests that the determination is made by the department and all applications be utilized and
that the rules be followed. Those are the issues that have been raised to this point. Im sure that
there may be other issues raised in testimony today and I will address them as they are raised. At
this time Id like to answer any questions that the Commission may have.
GALDONES:Commissioners any questions of Mr. Mooers? Commissioner Siracusa?
SIRACUSA:Yeah I thank you for clarifying those points because when I saw them I
was wondering about how come there was no answers to them in our written material. You say
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that the architect has assured you that they were going to be mauka of the alleged burial site.
MOOERS:Thats correct.
SIRACUSA:Im wondering if that includes the heavy equipment?
MOOERS:Yes.
SIRACUSA:Will the heavy equipment also avoid that area or are they just talking
about the actual building per say?
MOOERS:The typically, Im sorry Cory Foulk whos our architect is here, I think
maybe hes better prepared to answer that.
GALDONES:Mr.Mooers,Imgoingtohavehimswornin.Couldyoupleaseraiseyour
right hand? Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Hawai¡i
County Planning Commission?
FOULK:I do.
GALDONES:Please state your name and your residence address.
FOULK:Dr. William C. Foulk, F-O-U-L-K. 75-5888 Alii Drive B-3, Kailua-Kona,
Hawaii 96740.
GALDONES:Thank you Dr. you may proceed.
FOULK:Okay, as far as the setback area goes, I dont believe that the building is
mauka of the proposed or what theyre suggesting might have been the gravesite. Its actually to
the south of it. That tree and such are in the side yard setback that were, its a 14-foot side yard
setback were using. Now in that area thats a designated flood zone and so were not allowed to
amend the grade there. Were not allowed to change the grade substantially. The County of
Hawaii Engineering Division mandates that we leave that grave the same because they dont
want the water to be deflected by a variation in the grade and knock somebody elses house or
some such deal like that. So, were really restricted as far as what we can do with equipment in
that area. There will be heavy equipment on the site theres no doubt about that, there will be
excavation going on. The Department of Engineering rules require that if any kind of an
archaeological feature or artifact is found during excavation, that all work stop until the
Department of Land and Natural Resources can come on site and survey and all of that. So those
are all rules that are in place that we have to abide by SMA or not I mean thats just the way it is
here. Okay.
SIRACUSA:Im aware of what youre saying but you didnt answer the question, the
question was will there be something done, like the area roped off or something to prevent the
heavy equipment from even just driving over the gravesite?
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FOULK:Thats-, I dont know what area we would rope off because nothings been
identified there honestly. In 1972 this site was over-excavated by, to a depth of 12-feet below
natural grade and those boulders pushed out to sea to help protect Sea Village. Now, when
Roper did that in 1972 he substantially altered the grave there, where the gravesite might have
been. If you stand on site in that location today, the actual grade is about 4 feet at that location
below the adjoining property line, which is just a few feet away. So you can see that the
bulldozers have come in there cut down and pushed a substantial amount of material out to sea to
protect Sea Village, some time ago and thats according to the architect that was involved with
Sea Village at that time Jack Parazette. So to answer the question we are happy to rope it off but
we dont know what to rope off, theres, no one has identified anything there.
SIRACUSA:I was given to understand that it had something to, it was something in
relation to an old kiawe tree that had been cut down.
MOOERS:Ms.Nagaihadsaidthatwhenshewasachildthatsherecalledthather
father told her there was a grave by the tree. At that time she did not indicate that shed ever
seen the grave other than the fact that she knew of it. When we went on site with the 2
archaeologist we could find no physical evidence of, of any grave. There is an old kiawe stump
there but again Im not quite sure what we could rope off. I think that the point that we raised at
the time was that there may be a burial there because theres history, oral history from Ms.
Nagai. And were not disputing that. The problem is, is there or isnt there, you know was the
burial disturbed by the bulldozing work done you know in the 70s. And we dont know that.
So the solution really is in consultation with our archaeologist is whats the protocol. You know
should we start digging to see if we can find this grave? And they both said no. That thats, that
is not the protocol. What you do is that you, you dont dig in the area but if theres any ground
disruption work that you have a monitor present so if anything is discovered you would stop all
work. In this case we may have you know machinery on that site but we will not be able to dig
in that site so we should not be disturbing that. But with a monitor there if anything is disturbed
you know all work would stop. If you look at condition number 9 its basically what that says.
SIRACUSA:Yes and thats a standard condition anyway thank you.
GALDONES:Commissioners any further questions of Mr. Mooers? Seeing none. Mr.
Mooers we have people from the public who have signed up for testimony so if you could
relinquish the chairs please. I have 3 individuals from the public who have signed up to testify
on this matter. Charles Buscemi, Brian Haney, A.J. Gallant. Are the individuals here? If they
are please come forward.
HAYASHI:Mr. Chair. While theyre coming up I just wanted to enter into record this
document that was submitted by A. John Gallant.
HANEY:Thats from me.
HAYASHI:Oh.
HANEY:Brian Haney.
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HAYASHI:Oh, Brian Haney Im sorry. And Mr. Gallant also had, has submitted
some-
GALLANT:DVDs.
HAYASHI:DVDs. We dont know whats on this. Thank you.
GALDONES:Gentlemen could you please raise your right hand? I would like to have
you sworn in. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Hawai¡i
County Planning Commission?
TESTIFIERS:I do.
GALDONES:Couldyoupleaseeachstateyournamefortherecordandyourresidence
address. Please speak into the microphone so we can have you recorded. Thank you.
GALLANT:John Gallant. 75-6002 Alii Drive #4213, Kailua-Kona, Hawai¡i 96740.
HANEY:Brian Haney, a part time resident of Sea Village. My mainland address is
1000 Bourbon Street #341, New Orleans, Louisiana.
BUSCEMI:Charles Buscemi. My mainland address is also 1000 Bourbon Street
#341, New Orleans and I live part time here at 75-6002 Alii Drive #1205.
GALDONES:Okay thank you gentlemen. Mr. Gallant would you like to start with the
testimony?
GALLANT:If you dont mind Mr. Haneys feeling a little ill, I was going to let them
go first, Ill go last if thats okay.
GALDONES:Its okay with me.
HANEY:Thank you. I just like to say Aloha to everyone and thank you for
listening to us this morning. I apologize, Ive got a cold, Im a little stuffy and it might be hard
to understand so I hope thats not a problem. Since I testified before you at the April meeting, I
was able to meet face to face with Mr. Huggett and have spoken with him numerous times on the
phone. Happy to report that Im looking forward to having him as a neighbor I think hes a
really great guy, which is a good thing. We have had a lot of discussions about the project. No
physical changes have been proposed to it yet. We did, had some discussions about construction
impacts and we have his verbal agreement that those will be minimized and hes going to do try
and do some rental income impacts at the Sea Village units. We still have a couple of issues,
which Id like to discuss with you today though. One of them has kind of been resolved I think
as much maybe as it can the other one, theres still some open issues on it. And I guess Id like
to start with the driveway safety first and I think thats the most important issue that were
dealing with here today. I think youve received letters from Virginia Isbell our Councilwoman,
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shes currently proposing an ordinance which is going to give Hawai¡i County a ordinance for a
minimum driveway width. And youve also, I think Josh Green sent a letter to the Planning
Department yesterday also saying that he hopes that well be able to insure the safety of our
driveways until that ordinance is put in place. Just to give you a little bit of history on this Ive
been working on the driveway ordinance issue since early in 2004. We had really hoped that
once the property had been put up for sale that-. And actually I should say it had been put on
hold, that we would be able to get a driveway ordinance in place before the project came back in
front of you again so we wouldnt have to deal with this. Unfortunately we hit a little roadblock
in the Planning Department back in November of last year. They had replied that they thought
that it would be better if we waited for this because we needed to wait until there was a bunch of
changes being made to the code. I sent them a letter asked them when that might be and what we
could do in the interim. I didnt hear anything for 4 months. It took some phone calls and
getting Virginia Isbell involved to get things back on track. So we essentially lost 4 months there
and thats why were asking you to put on a contingency on this project today. Just to let you
knowthatorifyoucould,Idontknowifyouallhavetheslidesuptherebutonthesecondslide
there is various driveway recommendations that are in place here. Theres this one here, theres
actually 5 different ones. We have the ITE standard, which recommends a 30 foot width for
commercial driveways that includes units that are multi-family dwellings with 5 units or more
which the proposed project would fall into that category. Thirty feet is recommended and safe.
They say however if you get 24 feet in width and you get 20-foot flares that will help you
minimize the impact of the decreased width. After that we had the Department of Public Works
submitted 2 different plans for the driveway. Their preferred plan called for 24-foot widths with
15-foot flares but they said we could maybe go down to a minimum of 20 feet with 15-foot flares
also. The last recommendation is the one thats the condition before you on- today and it calls
for a 20-foot easement width, it doesnt mention the pavement width and it also calls for no
flares. This would be the least safe of all the options that are on the table right now so we have
some concerns about that and we dont feel its sufficient. You might ask, well 2 things Id like
to point out real quickly, one is the ITEs minimum recommendation and the DPWs preferred
recommendation are very close to each other, twenty four feet slightly different on the flares.
Thats- those are where we feel we should be. The other recommendations, youll notice that the
Planning Departments condition on there is 33% smaller than the recommended ITE guidelines,
dropping from 30 feet down to 20 feet theres no flares on there. The flares are what you need
to, if youre going to decrease width you have to add flares to increase the safety. So thats what
were looking is to get something thats more in the middle on this put in as a condition. You
might ask me why does this matter so much. Id urge people, if you have just a couple of
minutes after the meeting and you can drive down Alii Drive theres a place called Lulus Bar
and Restaurant right across from Huggo's on the Rocks. Stand there and have your back facing
the ocean, theres a driveway on the right hand side of the building. Its 21 feet. It serves a
commercial building, it should follow the same guidelines as are in this document. Theres little
or no flares on this driveway. Just stand there for 5 minutes, watch the cars come in and out.
People slow way down to make the- a very sharp turn into this small driveway. You also notice
when people are coming out the other direction a lot of the times the people on Alii Drive will
stop. If theyre trying to turn in they have to stop, let the other person come out before they can
make the turn to get in. Now you know back in the 70s when there was 700 people in Kona
maybe a 20 foot driveway was fine. Were dealing with a completely different problem here
today. We have a traffic issue going on and we have these large SUVs and pick-up trucks that
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everybodys driving. We need more space than is provided by these smaller driveways. And so
thats why were asking for this movement to get us safer driveways. Also Id like you to think
too about that driveway in front of Lulus its 21-feet, its flat graded, its got a decent line of
sight and its in a 15 mph zone. Now drive just a little bit further down Alii Drive to where the
proposed project is imagine a 20 foot driveway with a sloped grade going down to this property
which is below the grade of Alii Drive. It doesnt have a good line of sight and its in a 30-mph
zone and its 20 feet instead of 21 feet. And imagine the cars that are going to be turning in
around the V.I. office building, which is on a variance and is already too close to the highway.
This is not a safe situation. Its not something we feel comfortable with and this is not
something where its you know were being greedy because were living at Sea Village. This is
a public safety issue and as residents of Sea Village were going to be impacted more than
anyone else because our driveway sits just 35 feet away from this one. So, thats basically
covers what the problems we have with the driveway are. If you can flip to the next slide, this
one shows some photographs of the driveway. And the first top photograph shows the view
comingupthedriveway;youcanseethegrade.YoucanseetheV.I.officebuildingontheleft.
We have existing problems some of, which are actually proposed to be taken care of already by
removing the vegetation on the Sea Village side. Thats part of the agreement that was
negotiated between Mr. Soto, the previous owner and the Sea Village Board. The second
photograph coming up out of the driveway shows the view into downtown. This is what
somebody will see when theyre making their normal left-hand turn to go into town coming out
of this driveway. This is a very common turn that people are going to be making and the view is
negligible. You have to basically pull your car into the pedestrian and bike lane in order to get a
view of whats coming down the highway. We see this as a major issue. There was 2 known
accidents that I know of personally in this area already. One of them was a building right down
the road very similar to the V.I. building, too close to the road; its got a variance. Its that big
tall white building that hangs over the Tiki surf area. Somebody plowed right into the entryway
of that about 2 years ago. The car smashed the entire entryway. Fortunately nobody was
standing in the entryway so as far as I know at least nobody in the house was hurt. Im not even
sure what happened to the driver. I heard the crash while I was sitting on my lanai. The V.I.
office building sits in a very similar situation. Its staffed with people 8 hours a day. We have
guests that walk across this driveway checking into their condos over at Sea Village. This is
going to be a lot of pedestrian traffic going back and forth across this driveway. People situated
8 hours a day right at the mouth of this driveway. If somebody plows into this building the way
they plowed into that other building somebodys going to get hurt or somebody could die. Its a
real concern. I wanted to point out that the ITE in their guidelines mentions that 12% of all
traffic related fatalities happen because of poor driveway design. Seventy people have died on
the Big Island in the last 2 years in traffic fatalities, accidents are on the rise and there are 7 or 8
of those by statistical probability that would be due to poor driveway design. We had 7 or 8
people that have died in the last 2 years because of poor driveway design. Now I know that the
Planning Departments busy and I was a Transmission Planning Engineer in Silicon Valley
during the dot com boom, you got my sympathy guys. You know buildings are dropping out of
the air and you gotta figure out a way to serve them. I know its difficult but if you take a day or
two and you work on your driveway design and you know some building permit takes a couple
of extra days thats a couple of extra bucks out of somebodys pocket because they didnt get
their permit quite as fast as they should have. If you dont take the time to work on your
driveway design thats 2 or 3 lives per year that youre putting on the line. And when it comes
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down to lives versus money I think I know where the government should be on that. Now the
good news on this is that I dont think the solutions are that difficult here. We have met with
Mr.- Dr. Foulk and we have discussed this with Mr. Huggett as well and havent made any
progress on getting these improvements in but I think that you know based on my discussions
with the engineering folks that it doesnt seem like it should be too difficult. And you know, I
may be wrong on that but Im definitely open to discussion. Ive spoken with Ki and Ron both
down at the Engineering Department and what were looking for is something that meets the ITE
standards, 24-feet with 20-foot flares. We think that this is reasonable. It was the DPWs
preferred design. This is what they wanted. Theyre our Engineers we pay them money and if
they say this is the design that we prefer I say thats the design we should have. If its buildable
and its possible we should have it. Now theres going to be about over 4 million dollars spent
on this project and Im guessing based on the price of real estate in Hawai¡i that theres going to
be a lot of money made on the project as well. All were asking for is a small piece of that
money to be spent on the driveway to improve public safety. Thats not that much to ask for.
Someofthechangeswerelookingfor,wewantflaresincludedinthatcondition.Wedlike
some vegetation changes made. From what I understand the vegetation changes are all on the
County right-of-way so you know if we wanted to they could be ripped out at any minute but I
mean were trying to be good neighbors here so wed like to work with people on this. And you
know it may require some minor concessions from the neighbors. Theyre already talking to the
V.I. folks, they need to get additional easements and make modifications to the handicap ramp.
These facilities are already being touched. We think that we just need to improve that design a
little bit it shouldnt be a major deal. My second little beef here is something that I came across
and this was a year and a half ago. I hope its still not true but Im afraid it might be. I tried to
get some location specific accident data to find out where the problem spots on Alii Drive were.
When I called the police department I was informed that they couldnt give that out to citizens
because of concerns about liability arguments. Now that would seem to be unconstitutional to
me, thats public information I should be able to get it. Thats neither here nor there I can kind
of understand why you wouldnt want lawyers digging around in that stuff but I found out later
that the Planners, I spoke to the Planners here on the Big Island and Planners at the State in
Hawai¡i and they said they didnt have access to this data. And you know I dont have any proof
of that but if thats true thats not good. As somebody who plans an electric system I know- I
have to know where the outages and the overloads are or I dont know where to spend my money
to fix the problems. So, Im not sure if this is the right venue for that but Id like to think that
somebody would get that problem fixed. I know Im taking up a lot of time here so Im going to
kind of rush through the issues on the shoreline setback. You know we did have some concerns
about the way the shoreline setback issue was handled in this case. Rule 8 and 11 do state that
the Planning Commission and Department are charged with protecting the shoreline. Rule 11
states that the setback shall be 40-feet. They do allow a couple of exceptions, the one in this case
was when, if a buildable area goes below 50% that they are able to go down to a 20-foot
minimum setback. Now, weve kind of worked through this issue with Mr. Huggett and I want
to say that you know, they have already made some concessions on the design of the building in
the setback and were relatively happy with how that went. So my concern here is not so much
with Mr. Huggetts project as it is with the process that we went through and since we dont have
a contested case this is sort of my last chance to say anything so Id like to sort of chime in on
the way the process worked on this. The 2 problems I have with Rule 11 are the deal with the-
problem we ran into with the eroding shorelines. And the other one is in the definition it says
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that the buildable area is calculated using required setbacks but never specifies what the required
setbacks actually are. And I just want to point out a couple of quick problems if you can flip to I
think its the one after slide number 6 it shows the- an example lot. And, at the top its example
property in 2003. Supposing you had this example property here and we have a certified
shoreline which is right next to the edge of the property line which is very similar to what was
going on with the proposed project and you have a 40-foot setback and that yields a 51%
buildable area. Now suppose a couple of years later the shoreline actually erodes 2-feet closer to
the shoreline well that pushed your buildable area under 50% and according to the Planning
Department Rules that gives you the 20-foot setback. So now your buildable area increases. The
shoreline erodes 2 feet closer to the property but your buildable area goes from 51 to 60% so that
increases the profit on the building. Thats actually good news for the developer. Unfortunately
it moves a building 20-feet closer to a shoreline thats eroding; that doesnt make any sense if
were trying to protect the shoreline. And also in Rule 8 and Rule 11 theres discussion about
flooding and tsunami issues. So here we have a property thats got an eroding shoreline problem
andweremovingthebuildingclosertothewater.Imsorrythatjustdoesntmakeanysenseto
me. I think, I would prefer to see this as if somebody goes below 50% the setback should be
adjusted so that they can maintain 50%. We should never go lower than 50% but somebody
shouldnt get a bonus because the shoreline eroded. Its not good for the public and its not good
for their neighbors. Theres a similar situation, I wont spend any time on it but it deals with the
fact that the required setbacks for a one-story building and a three-story building are different.
So a one-story building if you use the required setbacks for a one-story, that may be greater than
50% in a one-story building but have a 40-foot setback. Yet when you increase the height of the
building now the setbacks and the sideyard get bigger, the buildable area goes below 50% now
you end up with a 3-story building that goes on the water where a one-story building would have
a 40-foot setback. Its just a confusion because nobody says what the required setbacks that are
used for the calculation are. I cant say which ones better but I would think that if a one-story
building isnt going to be on the water then the 3-story building shouldn't either because the view
impacts and the impacts on the shoreline are going to be greater. I do want to point out as
Commissioner Graham had mentioned before you know there is some discussion about you
know there arent any impacts on the neighboring properties. You know we realize that Mr.
Huggett has done his best to minimize this and we do appreciate that. I do just want to show on
the next slide that there is a photograph that shows the view from the end units at Sea Village.
And as you can see from this map up here you know and Ive talked to Dr. Foulk and I had to
agree with him on this one. When they designed Sea Village, they set us up to have our views
impacted. Those end units are almost 80-feet back from the water because of the shape of the
shoreline and the diagonal property line. So those units were, you know I understand how
theres not much you can do for them but those views will be severely impacted. The viewplane
on this slide is one that I was provided by Dr. Foulk several years ago and its a little bit out of
date I apologize for that. But it does capture essentially whats going to happen is those people
on the end will lose their entire view of the Tiki surfing area. This is the Spanglers the folks who
had their contested case denied. I hope you can understand why they might be a little upset that
they had this major impact to their unit and they didnt even get a chance to you know be
represented on that. With all that said, were happy that those, that you know theyve done their
best that they can on the setback issue. We do have some problems with the process and hope
that that will be corrected. In summary you know there were a lot of concerns that we have with
this project and after working through these issues with Mr. Huggett were really down to the
EXHIBIT A
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driveway as the key issue. And, its not an us versus them thing, this is a public safety issue that
needs to be addressed and you know theres one of my favorite prayers is the serenity prayer
which says you know God give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage
to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. And we are never going to
stop people from wanting to come to this island. Its a beautiful place and people will always
want to come here. We cant stop them we cant change that. But the one thing we can change
though is the way we design our roads and our driveways. We can make sure that its done
safely and I hope that the Commissioners today will have the courage and the wisdom to help us
modify that condition so that we will get that driveway that we need in there. And I did attach I
dont think all of you might have gotten a copy of it but some proposed language for that
condition that would change it and the key changes are it should say 24-foot width. It should
also say 24-foot flares and- 20-foot flares, Im sorry and the- it should designate the pavement
width not the easement width. So, thank you for listening.
GALDONES:CommissionersanyquestionsofMr.Haney?CommissionerSiracusa?
SIRACUSA:Yesitismyunderstandingthatitisnotwithinourprovincetochange
those shoreline setback rules and I can see where youre coming from on the points that you
raise. I would like to ask the Director would that be something that the County, would have to
be addressed by the County Council.
YUEN:No thats an Administrative Rule of the Planning Commission. I actually
agree with what hes saying, there is a quirk in the rules that when you get below 50% coverage,
when the shoreline setback and the other setbacks prevent you push you below a 50% useable
area on your lot you then jump from a 40-foot shoreline setback to a 20-foot shoreline setback
rather than it being graduated in. It could be, the simplest way would be to say you know take 5-
foot increments until you get to 50% rather than having to do a separate calculation each time
and ending up with say a 36.8-foot shoreline setback. But it is a quirk in the rules. On this point
and on the question of the driveway rule, which although the driveway is primarily a Department
of Public Works issue as far as being a lead agency on it, Id have to say I cant make any
promises about the Planning Department doing anything in the near future on it because of the
press of other projects that were working on.
SIRACUSA:Does that last statement refer to the driveway or the shoreline setback
issue?
YUEN:Both.
GALDONES:Any further questions from the Commissioners? Commissioner Graham?
GRAHAM:Id wanted to ask the Planning Director just to follow-up to Commissioner
Siracusas one since you brought up the driveway and this testifier was saying that the DPW did
recommend the flares and all and in our conditions we dont have the flares can you explain why
that wasnt put in the conditions?
YUEN:This being an SMA permit wed rather work on that at the time of Plan
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13
Approval. In Plan Approval theres a condition that says that existing traffic movements shall
not be hindered or obstructed. So we try to work on these at Plan Approval. I dont know what
is possible with respect to the flares. I believe that some accommodation could be made in the
Alii Drive right-of-way but we would prefer not to put that as a condition of the SMA permit.
GALDONES:Seeing no further questions. Mr. Buscemi.
BUSCEMI:Good morning Commissioners. I wanted to say thank you for hearing my
concerns. I havent seen many of you before. I testified here I guess about 2-years ago on the, I
believe it was on the Soto project and there were different Commissioners at the time. I just
wanted to say before I testify that some of my neighbors have heard comments about how we
are, how the Sea Village folks are professional complainers, professional project stoppers etc.
And I just wanted to say you know were not getting paid for this stuff I mean were not
professionals. And weve both, both Brian and I have flown here on our own dime from New
Orleanstwiceeach.Spentquiteabitofmoneyandtimeonthat.Thefactofthematteristhat
th
you know Mr. Mooers said and hes right you know this is the 8
time weve been here for this
permit and I guess my question is why are we still sitting here with this permit. There are some
issues that were brought up years ago that still have not been addressed and iftheyd be
addressed Id certainly promise to stop showing up. In any case Im sure you all know that Mr.
Haney has done a lot of work on the driveway and I appreciate all the work hes done and other
people at Sea Village do. And I wanted to say that theres still a few other issues. It will take
less time than Mr. Haney took but Id like to bring them up as this is probably our last chance to
say anything since our contested cases were denied and I understand that from now on
everything will be done in the Planning Department offices. These issues for the most part, these
first2issuesdonthavetodospecificallywithMr.Huggettsproject.Ihaveaquestionforthe
Planning Department I guess, now that our contested cases are denied we know now that if a
building is conceived in 2002, its not built and its resurrected in 2005 that the neighbors of the
project dont get a contested case. Okay. Suppose this project fails. Suppose its resurrected 5
years from now, do the people that live there in 2010 get a contested case? How about 2025?
There are probably people who havent even been born yet that might have concerns about this
project if its going to be- if the permit is going to be transferred from one owner to another at
infinitum. I think this is an issue that the Planning Department needs to address and I think that
the Commissioners would probably agree with me that this is a serious flaw. In fact if this SMA
permit approval, if its approved were to be appealed I think the court would seriously consider
that argument. Issue 2 in my little handout here is the Planning Department recommendation
th
that you have in front of you and Im going on the March 29
one now because I havent really
th
had time to look at the June 7 one but it contains false information. And it contains false
information about the easement which is really one of the most important conditions that there
are. I think its on page 2 or page 5. It says by letter dated January 13, 2005 Vacation
Internationale has granted the applicants an additional minimum 4-foot wide easement for
vehicular access and utilities for the project. I havent seen todays version but does that still say
that?
SIRACUSA:Yeah.
BUSCEMI:Thats not true. And you know frankly Im not sure why this keeps
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14
coming up because this has been talked about several times. V.I. wrote a letter that says that
they would grant an easement, they have still not given the easement and I mean I have nothing
against Mr. Huggett. I like the guy. He seems like a very nice person. Dr. Foulk has come and
hes met with us on several occasions and I appreciate that. But can the Planning
Commissioners be asked to vote on an approval that has such an obvious error in it? Okay. Let
me talk about the potential shoreline gravesite thats issue 3 and all were asking for here is that a
monitor be on site when the digging starts. Now, I dont know exactly whats meant by you
know if something is found that the County will be notified immediately I think thats one of the
conditions and maybe thats a standard condition but. There has been a ongoing discrepancy
with whether or not the gravesite first of all is there and second of all is going to be inside the
building footprint. Ms. Nagai herself spoke to me on the phone on Monday. Shes on Oahu
babysitting her grandchildren. She asked me to speak on her behalf. We heard what Mr. Mooers
said this morning and what Dr. Foulk said about how the tree is in the sideyard setback. And
that may very well be but Ms. Nagai says an shes always said that the gravesite is south of the
stumpandatthesamedistancefromtheshoreline.Now,southofthestumpisnotinthe
sideyard setback. And you know the building footprint as it was explained to us by Dr. Foulk
may very well encompass the gravesite. So we would ask that a condition be added that an
archaeological monitor be required to be present prior to and during groundbreaking activities
and that he be independent, a County employee I suppose not an architect hired by the project. I
think thats a conflict of interest that should probably be taken care of. Now its not to say that I
dont trust Mr. Huggetts architect but there have been discrepancies archaeologist, I dont, its
not to say that I dont trust him but there have been discrepancies all along with where this
gravesite may or may not be and I think it would just be better to have an independent third party
person there. You know this is just for Ms. Nagai and her family and honestly it just respects her
wishes and Im just speaking for her on this one. Issue 4, the driveway safety Mr. Haneys
already spoken about that. You know the County has no standard for minimum driveway width
and its a key safety issue. Theres not going to be anymore public hearings after this if the SMA
permit is approved today and there would be no chances for us to speak so we think that a
condition should be added to the application that the driveway meet the Department of Public
Works recommendation or the minimum ITE recommendation both of which call for 24-feet
wide one is 15-foot flares one is 20-foot flares. In any case a 20-foot wide driveway with no
flares is not recommended by any engineering department. Of all the options we have for the
driveway the one thats in the application is the least safe and you know if I can be so bold as to
say that I think that on designing something that has to do with public safety we ought to be
doing the engineering and following the engineers recommendations and then have the project
meet the engineering recommendations. We are not to be going down and looking at the
property and saying well what can they fit in. You know and in some ways I think thats
probably why the flares arent in the application condition. So we do respectfully ask that a new
condition or condition 3 be modified to require a driveway that is consistent with the ITEs
minimum recommendation. This is also a driveway that will be consistent with the proposed
ordinance by Virginia Isbell and is also for the most part consistent with the DPWs preferred
recommendation. Finally, you know if you decide not to change the driveway design well you
know thats your prerogative I suppose. I just want to say that we already know that the County
Police withhold public information on traffic accidents to the public and we already know that a
proposed driveway ordinance based on nationally recognized guidelines is about ready to be
passed or at lease brought up for a vote after it sat around for quite some time at the Planning
EXHIBIT A
15
Department. DPW and ITE recommendations are so far being ignored by the Planning
Commission or by the Planning Department I guess in this case with this, the Planning
Department recommendation. If an injury or a fatal accident occurs at that location after the
DPWs recommendations have been ignored you know I think well all have blood on our hands
and Im really not sure what kind of liability the whole County is accepting by doing that. And
as a taxpayer certainly I would rather not see the County accept that liability. So in closing I
think we have maybe a request for the Commissioners today to consider 4 options for this
application. The first one is to approve it as it is. There are I believe basis for appeal here and if
this is the last time you know were going to come before the Commission then its possible that
an appeal would be filed if that was the case. The second is to deny the application as it stands.
And I think theres 2 options that are compromises and Mr. Haney talked about these in length
and probably the best one is to change condition 3 to include the DPW recommendations. We
really do think that there is room there to do this. There is already going to be some dismantling
of structures in the area. Theres already going to be some vegetation cut down and wed really
liketoworkwiththedeveloperandwiththeDPWtoputasafedrivewayin.Thefourth
possible option is just to continue the hearing again. Well like Mr. Mooers said weve been here
8 times already. If it could be continued and we could work out those details in the next month
with the developer I think everybodys concerns will have been addressed. I just have this last
little thing to say and I want to thank the people of Hawai¡i for showing me aloha spirit. I think
aloha spirit invites everyone to come here. Ive been told well wheres your aloha spirit why are
you being so mean to this guy and that started with Soto and not with Huggett. Well you know
the aloha spirit I think it works both ways and it means that people who want to join the
community can do so but they need to respect the rights and the safety of the people that are
already here. Thank you.
GALDONES:Commissioners any questions of Mr. Buscemi? Commissioner Siracusa?
SIRACUSA:Several things Im trying to remember all the points you made when I
wanted to say something. Yeah, for your information in the new revision of the
recommendations on page 6 starting with line 1, 2, 3, 4, 56. Sixth line from the top and this is
underscored because its a ramsayered version recommends that an archaeological monitor be
present prior to ground disturbing activities in the effected area on the parcel. So it would appear
that that concern of yours is already incorporated.
BUSCEMI:Could I ask if that would be a Hawai¡i County monitor or would that be?
SIRACUSA:It does not specify. Usually I believe that those monitors are from the
DLNR Historic Preservation. Would the Director address that please?
YUEN:Historic Preservation has standards for who can be an archaeological
monitor. We do not have any such persons on staff. So they are people that are retained by
private parties however DLNR does specify what qualifications they have.
SIRACUSA:Thank you. The second point that I wanted to make had to do with that,
what you kept referring to condition number 3 but theres also condition number 12, which says
comply with all applicable State, excuse me, County, State and Federal laws, rules, regulations
EXHIBIT A
16
and requirements. So it would seem to me that this would deal with any requirements that were
put forward by DPW.
BUSCEMI:Well, the DPW hasnt put forward any requirements. Theyve put forward
recommendations.
SIRACUSA:I thought that you said that-
BUSCEMI:No.
SIRACUSA:That they had. That they were recommending.
BUSCEMI:They have recommended yes. The DPW have recommended a 24-foot
wide driveway with 15-foot, Im sorry a 20-foot wide I believe driveway with 15-foot flares but
thiscouldeasilybeignoredlaterononcethepublicinputisnolonger.
SIRACUSA:Excuseme,areyousayingthattheresadifferencebetweena
recommendation and a requirement then.
BUSCEMI:Absolutely.
SIRACUSA:Okay. And, well maybe we should ask Ki Emler to clarify that point for
us but the Director had already said that that sort of thing would be dealt with at Final Plan
Approval. Is that correct Mr. Yuen?
YUEN:Yes, I did want to clarify something on your previous comments.
SIRACUSA:Please.
YUEN:We are not requiring a monitor be present. That was a statement in Dr.
Rechtmans report. Thats not a condition of our current requirements and the reason is that we
had a statement from DLNR State Historic Preservation division that they believed that all sites
had been destroyed by previous grading and grubbing on the property. Hence we are not; the
Departments recommendation does not include that a monitor be present.
BUSCEMI:Could I say something about the previous grading? Its obvious that some
grading was done right at the shoreline because theres kind of a steep down slope there but Ms.
Nagais recollection is that the gravesite was south of the tree. Now the stump is still there so
obviously that wasnt graded. The tree couldnt have grown 10 feet below ground level. Where
the stump is is the original ground level prior to grading and so in the location where she things
that the gravesite is it has not been graded previously. Or if it has its been only minor and that
point was also included in a letter from the architect that Sea Village employed. Im sorry
archaeologist Mr. Rosenthal couple of years ago.
SIRACUSA:Director Yuen since Dr. Rechtman has made this recommendation would
you be adverse to adding that in as a condition to- say add it to number 9.
EXHIBIT A
17
YUEN:I have no problem if the Commission wants to add that as part- as an
amendment to number 9.
SIRACUSA:And then there was one other thing an that was the question of the tense
about the granting of the minimum 4-foot wide easement. The question on page 5 of the
recommendations, line 8 from the bottom that you pointed out about Vacation Internationale has
granted an additional minimum. And youre saying that, they have not. Could we get that point
clarified once and for all here or if they havent actually done the granting can we change the
tense on that? Or what do we do?
HAYASHI:Ill respond to that.
SIRACUSA:Thank you Norman.
HAYASHI:They have not yet granted the easement. They intend to grant the
easementandthereforewecanmakethatchangetoourfindings.Thattheyintendtograntan
easement.
SIRACUSA:Then I would recommend that we change the tensing or the wording
saying that Vacation Internationale has indicated that they intend to rather than put it as though it
were a fait accompli which it is not and then throws everything else into question by virtue of
being not exactly accurate.
BUSCEMI:Well I thank you for that and frankly Im a little surprised but thats really
good news if that is what the Commission is going to vote on and honestly the driveway issue is
perhaps the most important issue remaining and I think on the last page of Mr. Haneys packet
we have written what we would like as a proposed change to condition 3 for the driveway. And
that is a 24-foot wide paved driveway with 20-foot flares shall be provided for vehicular access.
That is the ITEs minimum recommendation and it is very close to the DPWs stated
recommendation and frankly if the current application is voted on the way it is I really dont
have all that much confidence that when the project goes in that were not going to have a 20-
foot driveway with no flares. I mean you know a recommendation is a recommendation but its
not a requirement. And this is our last- our last potential to bring these things up unless an
appeal is made and frankly nobody wants that. And so I would we could take care of that
situation before that. And finally you know to Cory Foulk and Mr. Huggett I appreciate
everything that you, all the time you spent with us and listening to our concerns. And I think we
all understood that the driveway was something we really werent prepared to compromise over
at least at this point. Thank you.
GALDONES:Commissioner Siracusa?
SIRACUSA:Im wondering if Mr. Mooers or his architect would care to comment on
this business of the driveway flare and if theyre willing to make some accommodations for
public safety?
EXHIBIT A
18
GALDONES:They will be, Commissioner Siracusa they will called upon later on to
rebut these statements that was made by the testifier.
SIRACUSA:Thank you Ill hold the question.
GALDONES:Thank you. Seeing no questions of Mr. Buscemi, Mr. Gallant?
GALLANT:Thank you. You going to have to wait a minute to find out about the
secret DVD here. Im going to jump off my notes and address something that I heard earlier in
this meeting. The applicants representatives were talking about the potential gravesite, talking
about the lady that remembers it as a child, the description from the father. And, I wrote down a
direct quote. He said, Were not disputing that when he was talking about the grave and the
location that she remembers it in. Were not disputing that. When the representatives were
asked if they could rope off the area they were at a loss because they dont know what to rope off
theydontknowwhereitsat.Littleconflictingthere,howtheygoingtoavoidit,iftheydont
even know where its at. To my prepared testimony this is the second time that Ive ever
provided testimony to the Planning Commission. First time was some years ago when Vacation
Internationale who at the time was Sunterra applied for a variance permit to be able to occupy
the building theyre in now which is adjacent to Sea Village. I testified in support of that
variance because I believed it was Sunterra Vacation Internationale. I believed they would be
good neighbors and I believed it was for the betterment of my neighborhood and I testified as
such. This case Ive got issues with. The primary one for me is the driveway safety and we get
to the DVD. Yesterday I took a radar gun and parked a little bit south of the Sea Village
complex with the radar pointing towards town and then had a video camera right behind the
radar gun so you see the speed and then you see the road, you see the cars. So you what the, the
speeding and things that are going on. Rather than have, the DVD is a little under 16 minutes,
rather than have that displayed here just to look at a bunch of numbers Im just going to testify as
to whats in here and then if this continues beyond this meeting obviously youll be able to view
it at your leisure. Theres no sound on it. The speed display youll see it about mid screen on
the right side of the screen. Im going to explain the setup a little bit so youll understand when
you do watch it. The radar was pointing diagonally if Alii Drive is like this, it was little bit
diagonal. And it picks up, what it does is it sends out a beam reflects off the cars and bounces
back and then the gun computer determines what the speed was based on that. It reads the speed
in both directions and so sometimes youre going to see the speed is going to flip flop real quick
like maybe 35-28-35-28. What its doing is reading alternately the cars in each lane its going
back and forth. Im not a certified radar operator. This is not a you know for court or police
purposes Im not saying that these speeds are exact but its enough to give you a good idea.
Basically youre going to see 2 scenarios. One is a lot of people that are speeding anywhere
from slightly over 30 up to the fastest one I taped and this is just in one consecutive 16-minute
period. The fastest one I taped was 49; there were 2 or 3 of those. I had one at 50 right before,
maybe 2 minutes before I had the camera running so I didnt get that on tape. But there are over
a half a dozen vehicles coming around that corner doing an excess of 40 miles an hour. Some of
them as much as 49 miles an hour. Speed limit there is 30. Okay, what you end up having is a
lot of traffic is in the maybe 35 to 38 range. Lets take 33 as the speed. Three miles an hour
over the speed limit must not sound like much. Three miles an hour out of 30 miles an hour is
10%. Now its starting to sound a little bit bigger. 10% maybe doesnt sound like a whole lot.
EXHIBIT A
19
Who wants to take a 10% cut in pay today? 10% sounds more now. Thats only at 33. Okay as
you go up to 36 miles an hour remember when youre watching this thats 20% faster than the
speed limit. And to put it in perspective just for purposes of discussion if a car was coming
around that corner at 60 and the reason I picked 60 is cause its double the limit. Anybody trying
to exit this proposed driveway is almost certainly going to be hit. If a car comes around that
corner at 60 cause you just simply cant see them, theres nowhere for anybody to go. So with a
doubling of the speed limit youre pretty much increasing your odds 100% that youre going to
have an accident. Okay so, the 10 or the 20 or the 30% or the 50% in between I think its a
higher percentage. If its a 10% increase in the speed, its more than a 10% increase in the safety
factor, the possibility of having an accident is my point there. Other times youre going to see
theres a lot of congestion on the road, which is basically just a lot of cars with not enough space
to be able to pull out. The majority of turns from that driveway are going to be left turns towards
town. And you just, when you have the congestion you dont have enough time to get out and
youve got it coming from both ways and sometimes youll have a mixture where youll have
congestiononewayandspeederstheotherwayorviceversa.Itsarealproblem.Ivelivedfull
time at Sea Village for about 3 years now. In that time it has gotten considerably harder to leave
the Sea Village driveway which is much safer than the proposed ones. Its further from the
curve. You have a little bit more line of sight. Its getting really hard certain times of day to get
out of there. In talking with neighbors other owners as they pop in everybody feels the same.
Some people are actually turning right; driving a ways then turning left turning around just to get
out of the driveway. Its a serious problem and Im hoping my testimony will convey that
because I know you havent had time to view the DVD. I apologize that, for that. Its common
knowledge a few days ago in the paper I read an article that the Hawai¡i Police Department is
down 70 positions right now. Its not the Huggetts fault that these people are speeding, okay I
feel sorry for them. I dont want to see an accident and I very sincerely believe that theyre- its
not a matter of if its only a matter of when. Watch this thing and youll see. My basic belief is
that actually the owners of the property have very substantial rights thats my personal belief. If
there was nothing else involved obviously then their rights prevail. Other people that are
adjoining have rights in the situation and so it tends to take away some of the Huggetts project
here. The view is nothing that affects me at all Im on the end of building 4 complete other end
of the complex. I have viewed the area though and I do see where its going to impact the view
on a lot of the units of building 1 of Sea Village. So I disagree that theyll be a negligible impact
on the view. Youre still going to be able to see the water but youre not going to be able to see
the sunset a lot of times. Youre not going to be able to see town. Maybe not the cruise ships.
You know the things that are beautiful to look at from my lanai so. Thats not an issue for me
cause its not there but on behalf of the neighbors that will be in those condos just like to throw
that out. I dont know this is a touchy subject Im not sure if this is pertinent or not so Ill bring
it up and you can decide. The access to the project of course it would have to be to the driveway,
which right not is on the V.I. property so theyd have to give the easement. The, when the
Vacation Internationale moved to the building theyre in, locally its called the long house cause
it kind of sits parallel to the road instead of perpendicular. Theyre on a variance themselves and
it seems like theyre close to the roadway. I dont recall what the purpose for their variance was.
I remember I wrote a letter in support of it but I think that would be something to see is if that
building is already obstructing the plane of view for this driveway. If thats what the issue was
that its closer and Im not sure that could effect the driveway. Given the fact that the, a lot of
the views from the lanais of building 1 are going to be blocked, at least the prime portion of the
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views, I then look at it and a lot of those units are primarily owned by Vacation Internationale
the ones that are going to be blocked. So, I start thinking okay the, this project wants to use their
driveway, use easement for the utilities, the sewers so on and so forth. V.I. intends to grant an
easement, which is going to block the view of several of their units. I understand the, and have
not verified this, Ive been told that the project originally started as 6 units and then got expanded
to 12. Im curious as to and this would have to come obviously from the Commission if you feel
its important. Im curious as to whether Vacation Internationale has a financial interest in this
project and if so why its not up front. If theyre going to block the views of several of their
units. Allow driveway access, parking, theres parking problems already. Theres a parking
issue actually going on at the Sea Village where all of the parking spots are deeded. But the Sea
Village some time ago decided to ignore that and to make the statement that parking- theres no
reserved parking its all first come first serve. In fact all of those parking spots next door are
deeded and right now some V.I. all their personnel park in empty spots. Were in the process of
having the Sea Village revert to the spot, parking spots because theyre owned by the condo
theyrenotcommonstheyredeededwiththecondo.So,V.I.isgoingtohaveasubstantial
parking problem when thats put into effect because they have no where on their own property
especially with this addition going on. Basically I really feel sincerely sorry for the Huggetts
because theyve got this land thats been drug out of for so long. You know I put myself in their
position and I think man deny it, pass it, something. Lets get it going. But, I see 2 scenarios
there in my mind that I would look at as if, if I was making this decision. One is that they fully
were aware of these problems, they knew that the burial site was an issue, they knew the
driveway was an issue, they knew the view was an issue. Okay either they were aware of all
these problems and they decided to go ahead and take their chances, its a risk or if they werent
fully aware of all of these problems then that strikes me as being just like the situation with Mr.
Buscemi and Haney where the Sea Village had a contested case, they dropped it. These guys
wanted to get in but it was too late at that point because they didnt get in initially. Well, if the
Huggetts did not know of these major problems then they need to deal with the Sotos. Just you
know same scenario. So to close up I guess the DVD will show you that theres a considerable
amount of speeding even in just a 16-minute period. Other time there a lot of congestion.
Theres a few spots where theres nothing happening for maybe 10 or 15 seconds. Those spots
are pretty rare out of 16 minutes and Ill entertain any questions.
GALDONES:Commissioners any questions of Mr. Gallant? Okay, gentlemen thank you
very much.
GALLANT:For the record I also did provide the Huggetts representative with a copy
of the DVD so they have access to it and can see it to right away.
GALDONES:Thank you. Mr. Mooers, Dr.? Mr. Mooers and Doc I will give you the
opportunity to address the concerns that were raised in the discussion.
MOOERS:Ill ask Dr. Foulk if hell respond to Mr. Haneys comments regarding the
driveway issues and the flares, etc.
FOULK:Okay. We all agree that the driveway issue is very important. I dont- Im
going to address the stuff here, I really believe that this is not the right forum for this and I know
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that the resources in this community are pretty well taxed and as a member, a long time member
of this community I dont believe with bringing stuff into the wrong forum to work on it. Well
have to work on this with the Department of Public Works, at length but going through it you
know the 24-foot driveway width would be a terrific thing to achieve. Were trying to achieve
an easement from V.I. to allow us the most width possible in that area. To attain a 24-foot
driveway width with a 15-foot flare on each side would require Vacation Internationale to cut 38
feet off of their existing building. I dont expect them to go along with any kind of an easement
agreement thats going to mandate demolishing half of their building to allow us access to this
site. Hopefully the Department of Public Works will be able to accommodate. It looks to me
about a 12-foot flare in the right of way and were required to achieve a 20-foot driveway width
right now. If we can get 24 that would be terrific. I really would be surprised if V.I. came up
with the idea that we could tear down half their building to improve this section. As a resident,
not a representative of this project I have lived within 500-feet of this for 26 years. I currently
live within 500-feet of this. I have two adult children that own properties within 500 feet of this
sothisisanabsoluteconcernthetrafficandstuff.Mr.Gallantsspeedissueisthesinglebiggest
concern I have and we are trying to get the speed limit changed to 15 miles an hour in that area.
Thats very important. Driveway width or not, speed is important. Again none of this is an
SMA issue though and all of this will be addressed with the Department of Public Works. We
have to. They wont sign it off until we meet not only their requirements but their interpretation
of their requirements. With the shoreline I think Brian said that our shoreline is eroding and
thats not correct not on this side anyway. This side is all rock. So the shoreline isnt migrating
inland on this particular side. Buildable area is- I agree with Chris you know this is kind of a
difficulty in the rule as far as how they calculate the 50% buildable area. I know that to me a
buildable space is a 3 dimensional space its not a 2 dimensional space. Attached to the zoning
rd
there is a height limit that defines the 3 dimension of that space. So if youre going to tax
somebody on a property based on their right to build then youre not only mandating a footprint
area but youre also mandating a height. And if you determine that they cant build to that height
you shouldnt be taxing them on it. And so personally I believe that the further, the taller it is the
further away it should be. You know thats kind of a standard rule. The higher it is the further
away from the road it should be, the further away from the shoreline. Thats not the way this
readsanditsnotthewayitscalculated.Onthisparticularsiteeveryincrementalsetbackfor
height takes about 1200 square feet of buildable area out of the site. So, by going up 3 stories we
lose3600squarefeetofbuildableareawhichisaddedintothosestoriessothatsarulethat
were going by. Were just following the code; were not doing anything there, no exemptions,
no exceptions. Driveways. I've misspoke, I didnt realize that Bob Rechtmans, that the
recommendation for a monitor was just a recommendation from Rechtman, I thought that was a
condition that we have a monitor on site. So speaking for Mr. Huggett here we had always
planned on having an archaeologist on site. I didnt realize that that wasnt a condition so if you
guys want to make that a condition thats, thats great. I mean thats terrific. Statistically 7 to 8
people were killed in driveway accidents on this island, statistically thats more or less correct.
Its a little less than that. Actually none have been killed. I would again rather see a wider
driveway there than what we have. This isnt our property so its difficult for us to come in here
and say hey were going to do something we have agreements with these other people. Positive
issues on this particular project that we havent been able to bring up. Im an adjunct Professor
of Environmental Science thats what the Dr.s about. So Im like Mr. Water Quality, Im Mr.
Shoreline. On all projects going in these days were required to filter the runoff before it enters
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the ground. All the injection wells and all of that stuff have to be filtered. This particular project
we have a 12 inch open drain line coming from Sea Village that dumps onto this property that
were going to be required to filter the effluent from that line before it enters the ground water.
As a swimmer and a surfer Im all in favor of that. I think thats terrific. Weve met with PASH
and come up with an agreement to get a nice public access to the shoreline, which doesnt exist
on this side at this time. We have to upgrade the water service in this area for fire and pressure
reasons by tying at the 8-inch line that ends at the top of the hill to the existing 6-inch main.
That allows the Department of Water Supply to service some of their existing facilities. They
can take one off line and have the other one keep the pressure up while theyre maintaining it.
Thats better for the whole community. We are going to- whatever we do with this driveway its
going to be better than it is right now. And the whole nature of the burial whether its there or
not has generated a substantial amount of additional archaeological study and research in this
area which is always good. So, thank you.
MOOERS:Ijustinsummarywouldliketomakecoupleofstatements.YeahI
certainly applaud the work that Mr. Haneys done regarding the driveway safety issue but I really
maintain this is not an SMA issue and this is not a forum where we should be discussing it. Im
not an engineer; I dont know how many of you are. But for us to adopt a width and a radius you
know I mean the more sounds better but I have no idea what the implications are. I really
believe the appropriate venue for this discussion is in the Plan Approval process where our
architects and our engineers sit down with the Countys engineers and determine whats
appropriate. If the County wants to adopt ordinances thats great. If Ms. Isbell is going to draft
an ordinance of improving or changing the ordinance I think thats great. We are required under
the proposed conditions that we have to comply with all State, County, Federal rules and
regulations. So we would be required to comply. I just have a very difficult time to sit here
today and to figure if we can determine what the appropriate width and radiuses are. I agree with
Dr. Foulk I think that this is not the venue for that discussion. I think weve made every good
faith effort regarding the burial to either identify where its located and what the appropriate
treatments been. Weve never tried to dispute Ms. Nagais word. But even Ms. Nagai on the site
could not identify where the burial was. Theres no physical evidence of any burial on the site
and thats not to say its not there we just dont know. So the issue that I- we didnt dispute or I
did not dispute the burial being there is very true. Were not disputing Ms. Nagais recollection
or her fathers recollection but we simply dont know where it is and we have not been able to
locate it. I think the proposed conditions and the suggestion that was made about having a
monitor on site is a good faith effort to make sure that anything that could be there or would be
there would be treated appropriately. And we have no problem with the addition of that
condition regarding the monitor. Mr. Chairman if you or the Commissioner have any other
questions were happy to answer.
GALDONES:Thank you Mr. Mooers. Commissioners any questions of the applicants?
Commissioner Siracusa?
SIRACUSA:So first of all you would not object to an addition to condition number 9,
which would sort of enshrine the recommendation of Dr. Rechtman regarding a monitor?
MOOERS:We have no problem with that recommendation.
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23
SIRACUSA:Okay, and then you- Im looking at condition number 3 and wondering if
it could be reworded just to say a minimum 20-foot wide easement. That way if you can get
more youre not precluded.
MOOERS:I have no problem with that.
SIRACUSA:And, say with, possibly with flares if recommended by the Department of
Public Works which also leaves it open end. If they say yes, then you do it.
MOOERS:We have no problem. Typically in the SMAs line that Ive reviewed,
theyll say the access shall meet with the approval of the Department of Public Works. So if you
want to say a minimum of 20-foot wide easement meeting with the approval of the Department
of Public Works that would be somewhat consistent with previous conditions.
SIRACUSA:Okay thank you. Im wondering how my fellow Commissioners would
feelaboutthose2additions,changes?
GALDONES:Commissionersarethereanyotherdiscussionsoranyquestionsofthe
Applicants? Or further discussion on this application? Commissioner Watanabe?
WATANABE:My question would be to the Director. With that amendment or proposed
amendment to number 3 would you have any objection to that?
YUEN:I dont have, I think the addition of minimum is good for clarification.
The second part, I prefer that we just use the standard language that we have that says to follow
all State, County regulations and so forth. Because it appears to put the Department of Public
Works in the position of making a judgement call on the adequacy of the driveway. They may
feel that if they were given there, if it was up to them to approve this or not based on a 20-foot
driveway they might say no, we want a 24-foot driveway. I do not think that we have the power
to put that condition on this SMA permit for a 12-unit condominium building. So what Im
saying is that we shouldnt make a- Im concerned that the wording that was just said makes it
sound like Department of Public Works is supposed to make an independent decision later on
whether 20-feet is enough. And I dont think thats what was meant but I think it could be read
that way.
WATANABE:In other words, youre concerned that Public Works would feel like the
liability or the onus is all on them and then they would complete back up.
YUEN:Right, right. Whereas what we are saying is that there is a minimum 20-
foot driveway width and the actual connection with Alii Drive has to be worked out between the
Department of Public Works and the Applicant with what is best and most feasible given the
limitations on the right-of-way that theyre going to be able to acquire. So I would just prefer to
say to change the wording to minimum 20 feet on 3 and then leave the rest the same.
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SIRACUSA:Im wondering if then if you would be willing to suggest a new wording
that would take all that? Be simple but take all that into consideration.
YUEN:Well I think its covered by number 12.
GALDONES:Commissioner Iwashita?
IWASHITA:Thank you. This is a question for the architect I guess Dr., is it possible to
your understanding to have a 30-foot wide driveway no flares?
FOULK:Well, right now the long house the building thats owned by V.I. is 8-feet
from that roadway remnant that were talking about. The front door of it is 8-feet from the
remnant. The remnant is 16-feet wide. So if we achieve 24-feet it will mean that the driveway
would go right exactly to their front door, which we would have to seal off and move to the side
ordosomethinglikethat.InmydiscussionswithV.I.outinWashingtoninDecemberthey
suggested that they were going to give us a program for what their requirements for that space
was and if we could meet the program by, in less space they would allow us to renovate the front
part of that building. Which means we could take 4-feet off of it or 6-feet or something like that.
To sit here and say that sure V.I. would be happy with taking 8-feet or 12-feet or something off
of their building Id be speaking out of turn. You know theres just no way I can say that they
would be okay with that or not. So again I wish that I didnt have to be wishy washy about this
but were going to try and get the most width we can. Its better for our project too you know
its better for us to have a nice clean landscaped defined entry onto Alii Drive than it is to have
you know a substandard roadway. You know which is whats there now. And whats there now
is servicing Sea Village, V.I. and another 2 residences on that adjoining parcel. So theres about
the same traffic load right now as there would be with our building you know.
IWASHITA:Im trying to clarify in my mind. So what, my impression is that the
southern edge of that easement is fixed point and the only way to widen it is to go north and take
away some of the building is that correct?
FOULK:Yes, we spent a year trying to negotiate part of the southern, the southern
little tag there. Were restrained at the 12-foot mark, which would give us a total width of 28-
feet, by a beautiful Banyan tree thats there and we want to preserve that tree. But also we need
a quorum approval, we need a majority approval from the Sea Village Board for them to grant us
an easement on that side of the property, which means we would have to get 80 or 90 Sea Village
owners together to approve that. And after a year of attempting that we just determined that that
was not going to happen, its just not going to happen.
IWASHITA:So bottom-line the maximum it appears practically speaking negotiating
with V.I. would be a 24-foot, 28-foot?
FOULK:I think that 28 is absolutely, no 24-feet is a possibility without modifying
their building substantially. Beyond that we would have to modify their building, which we
believe that were going to end up having to do anyway but. As with all of this stuff you know
this is part of why we dont bring this into like an SMA forum because then theres a fire hydrant
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on Alii Drive and the fire hydrant needs to be relocated. And that needs to be relocated out of
the flares and then thats going to mandate a different size water line an so suddenly we have
huge amounts of complexity that come into here into whats already a complex process, the
SMA process. And thats why we tend to do this at the engineering department where we can all
sit down with our textbooks and sit down and go through all of this stuff. How is HELCO going
to get in there, how is the sewer going to get out of there, all of these things. You know, what
are the grades, whats going to happen to the runoff, what about cyclists, what about the
handicapped, all of those things have to be addressed and they could go on for years in that
forum much less this one.
IWASHITA:I need some clarification about, if we say its 20 or 24 whatever it is right,
then the process as I understand it from the safety point of view but we basically say Public
Works you take care of that and I guess my question to you Mr. Director is the comment that you
made sounds like if Public Works says well it cant be done for less than 24 so were not going
todoittheydonthavethatprerogative.Ifwesay20theyhavetodosomethingwith20.
YUEN:Right.IdontbelievePublicWorkshastheauthorityto,underthecurrent
standards, to deny them coming into Alii Drive at 20-feet. And to say we dont have a current
standard that says that they have to acquire more property from people whose property they
dont control or dont build the project. If you adopted a driveway, if you adopted a minimum
driveway standard and it was an absolute requirement it could have that effect. And thats one of
the complications of doing that is that you have properties that have certain zoning and that
youre, you may end up in effect taking away the zoning that people have if you adopt that kind
of a driveway standard as an absolute requirement versus being a guideline for new construction
where-. And let me give you the difference here you know you may you adopt an engineering
guideline. You may have a piece of property that is zoned commercial and has a hundred feet of
frontage and it still has to have a driveway and you should have a standard for how that driveway
goes in. And the ITE, so the standards tell you that. And whats desirable and how you should
build it and if there are no problems you go ahead and make them do it. You do, but then you
encounter these situations like we have here where theres old zoning and for whatever reason
when the zoning was granted the access is substandard. There are quite few situations like this in
Kailua Kona. You only see the ones that come in for SMA permits. There are a lot of them,
there are situations that they dont need an SMA permit, theyre not in the SMA and these things
are dealt with and worked on strictly at an Administrative level for the Department of Public
Works and the Planning Department at Plan Approval. Im concerned about; we discussed the
20-foot minimum with the Applicant before putting it as a condition. They didnt have a problem
with it. Theyre committed to achieving that 20-foot minimum. Im concerned about putting in
a condition that they dont know that they can achieve because of the limits in what were
allowed to consider on the SMA permits stage. Weve had this discussion a few times before
and I dont want to say and I wont say that traffic is never an SMA issue. There are
circumstances where traffic flow or control can rise to an SMA issue if it interferes with public
access to the shoreline. If they didnt have the ability to evacuate this building for example in a
tsunami, a warning kind of situation, that would be an SMA issue. But we are talking here, scale
is very important and we are talking here about a 12-unit condominium, which will have a 20-
foot wide driveway quite adequate for 2 cars to pass. Typical expectation on usage of that
driveway would be a car every 5 or 10 minutes.
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26
GALDONES:Commissioner Watanabe.
WATANABE:I have a question for the Dr.. You seem to have indicated that you have
been working with the neighbors on the what is that the north side?
FOULK:Weve worked with neighbors on both sides. Sea Village is on the south
and Vacation Internationales on the north.
WATANABE:So then am I right in assuming that if we were to go ahead and approve
this project and the people of Sea Village who are really concerned about the driveway they
might be more apt to provide you with an easement there?
FOULK: Well
WATANABE:Which would allow you to make a more substantial driveway?
FOULK:What Sea Village has, what we negotiated with Sea Village and what they
didagreetodowastoallowustoputa4-footwidepedestrianwalkwayonthesouth-side.This
4-foot wide pedestrian walkway isnt included in the 20-foot right-of-way that were talking
about for the cars. This is a pedestrian only, its a sidewalk an elevated sidewalk with a curb and
a low wall behind it. So that gives us the net effect of having a 24-foot right-of-way there for
cars and people. As far as Sea Village coming back and saying hey well give you 8-feet instead
of the 4-feet for the, 4 for road and 4 for sidewalk weve spent years on this already and I dont
see it happening.
WATANABE:But physically its possible?
FOULK:Physically 8-feet on that side is possible, beyond that I think the tree
would be endangered thats there.
WATANABE:Okay, okay thank you.
GALDONES:Commissioner Graham?
GRAHAM:I dont want to keep blabbering this point but Im going to ask the
Planning Director one more thing in this regard. Basically I guess the way I feel is when I listen
to all thats gone forth it seems like it is probably somewhat of an unsafe situation. And, but on
the other hand I feel like the Planning Director is every bit as much concerned about safety as I
am and probably knows more about the specifics of that place so hes feeling I believe that it is
safe enough to merit his recommendation. And so Im just kind of trying to square what the
difference is and one thing that kind of came out a little bit from the last comment in regard to
Commission Iwashita was a little thing kind of got in my head. Is the Planning Director kind of
feeling that since these applicants own a piece of property thats zoned appropriately for multi-
family that they should be able, they have a right to do a multi-family there as long as we make
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all the reasonable things we can do for safety or is he one to say if it cant be done safely he
would recommend against it even though in this case he didnt.
YUEN:Its, we are dealing with the handle of an SMA permit. The SMA law lists
things that we can use to deny the permit or make conditions on the approval of the permit.
Theres a list of these things and one; things are there, things like water quality, public
recreation, public views to and along the shoreline. Traffic per say is not stated as an SMA
consideration and there is a case where the Planning Commissions denial of an SMA permit
because of traffic impacts was overturned by the intermediate court of appeals. And in that case
the County conceded that the traffic problem, though there was a traffic problem, didnt create an
environmental or ecological issue in the SMA. When weve talked about this before weve
noted that the SMA law does talk about public access. It does talk about public safety and thats
why a minute ago talking about, answering this question from Commissioner Iwashita I
mentioned a project whose affect was so severe that it would detrimentally effect public access
totheshore.Orifyouwerentabletoevacuatetheprojectthatwouldbethekindofthingthat
falls under the SMA permit. So, that being the case given that this is a request for a 12-unit
project on the safety issue I would remark that we dont have a situation where theres some
unusual sight distance problem. Theres hazards that are in common with other properties on
Alii Drive. Were talking about a situation where you do, you have a 20-foot driveway which is
wide enough for 2 cars. Its a typical; the typical urban street has an 11-foot wide lane just for
perspective. A typical car is about 5-1/2 to 6 feet wide. Its wide enough to pass 2 cars. You
will, people will, the flares make it easier to turn in and out, you can turn in and out more
quickly. But, and it would be certainly desirable to have flares. I cannot say that in this
circumstance it rises to the level that would justify us to put a condition on that would effectively
be something that they might not be able to meet and it effectively, could effectively make the
permit nullified or kill the permit because of that concern over not being, have flares or not
having a wider or less or not having a wider driveway. So, Im not just sitting here. Its a little
different than a change of zone application. A change of zone you have a very wide, you have
essentially unlimited range of issues to consider and its, you dont have this list of things that
says you consider these things and dont- and you dont get to consider other things that might
make sense and I have to say this for general public. The general public comes in and theres a
hearing on this application and naturally they expect us to deal with the full range of possible
issues however this- we are constrained by the fact that this is an SMA permit application. So
its not that Im sitting here and deciding I would like a 12-unit condominium in this particular
location. We are dealing with the fact that they are zoned for a 12-unit condominium. The only,
the hurdle that theyre here is the SMA permit. If there were a problem with affecting the water
quality as a result of this we could recommend denial and the Commission would be justified in
recommending in denying it. There are other issues if it had a negative impact on public
recreation affected something that was a, say there was a popular public swimming beach in
front of it, we could deny on that basis. But on to, you have to understand that to make a
condition that they acquire more property from adjoining private owners to make a wider
driveway is not something within their control and thus a condition like that could effectively,
could, it could be like saying no you cant do this. And I dont think that thats within the range
of choices that we have as a Commission on this particular project.
GALDONES:Commissioner Watanabe?
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WATANABE:On the other hand though you dont Mr. Director wouldnt you agree that
assuming we were to approve this project and if the people of Sea Village were genuinely
concerned about the width of that driveway that they would probably go back to the table and
make that a possibility? But you know in making that a condition might allow the people of Sea
Village to vote against it for other reasons like not wanting the project right? So if we just went
ahead and approved it as is with that 20-foot minimum and if they were genuinely concerned
about the safety then it behooves them to talk about that easement. Get back to the table talk
about that easement.
YUEN:Its- I would not want to put a condition in that forces them to go back to
the table with the adjoining property owner. What theyve done is good because it allows people
a way to walk in and out without getting in the 20-feet of the driveway. Youre, I think youre
correct in what youre suggesting that if you put a condition that requires them to get another 4-
feetfromSeaVillasforexamplethat,andtheyhavetogobacktotheSeaVillasownersitwould
be apparent to the Sea Villas owners that simply by rejecting that they can not have the project
happen at all in its current design and that may be what the owners- that may be the most
desirable thing for those owners at least some of them.
WATANABE:Actually Im not proposing making any further changes Im just
suggesting that I think the solution assuming we were to approve it would become evident with
that approval and things will work themselves out. So I dont think its going to be as large an
issue once we approve it. I think the solution probably is there because as I understand it
physically it is possible to achieve a wider easement than has been proposed without disturbing
anything. So I kind of tend to think that this issue of driveway safety may go away with the
approval.
YUEN:Thats possible but I dont know.
GALDONES:Any further discussions? Any further questions? Otherwise there being
no further discussions or any questions of the applicants from the Commissioners.
Commissioners there is a recommendation from the Department to approve and there also has
been some discussion regarding making an amendment to condition number 3 and also to
condition number 9. Commissioners? Commissioner Watanabe.
WATANABE:In the matter of Wesley and Kelley Huggett, SMA Use Permit 03-007 I
move that we approve based on the, with the amendments to item 9 and item 3, based on the
Directors recommendations.
GALDONES:Do I hear a second?
MCCALL:Second.
GALDONES:It has been moved by Commissioner Watanabe and seconded by
Commissioner McCall that the application by Wesley and Kelley Huggett, Special Management
Area Use Permit, SMA 03-008 be approved by the Planning Commission with the amendments
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to condition number 3 that it would read as a minimum 24-foot and on condition number 9 that
the monitor be present. Discussion?
WATANABE:Excuse me I believe the amendment the amendment was to 20-feet,
minimum 20-feet am I right on that? I dont think it was 24?
GALDONES:Its just the insertion of the word minimum.
WATANABE:Oh okay, okay.
GALDONES:Along with the background report and the revised recommendations are
part of the acceptance of the SMA permit. Further discussion from the Commissioners? Hearing
no discussion, Norman?
HAYASHI:ThankyouMr.Chair.BeforeItaketheroll-callvotewewereaskedby
legal counsel yesterday to poll the Commissioners as to whether, since this was a multiple
meeting situation, to poll the Commissioners if they had reviewed the entire record before taking
the vote.
GALDONES:Proceed Norman.
HAYASHI:Commissioner McCall?
MCCALL:Yes Ive reviewed the entire, I believe I saw the first Soto application but I
have all the information and reviewed it.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Graham?
GRAHAM:Yes.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Watanabe?
WATANABE:Yes.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Siracusa?
SIRACUSA:Yes.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Iwashita?
IWASHITA:Yes.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Salavea?
SALAVEA:Yes.
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HAYASHI:Chair Galdones?
GALDONES:Yes.
HAYASHI:Thank you. With that Ill take the vote and that is to-.
IWASHITA:Excuse me. I have a clarification.
HAYASHI:Yes.
IWASHITA:Your question is as to all thats been presented in the last several, the
current hearing, its not the old proceeding right?
HAYASHI:That would be the hearings that, all of theinformation that was provided
toyoupriortotoday.ThepacketthatwasprovidedtotheCommission.
IWASHITA:Imjustconcernedabouttheoldstufffrom2003cause,whatwas
provided from the current set of hearings with Mr. Huggett right?
HAYASHI:No, Im referring to the documents that were provided even the previous
meetings and some of those were provided to you by the Staff.
IWASHITA:Right in this Huggett application not the Soto?
HAYASHI:That includes the Soto application.
IWASHITA:Maybe Im just misunderstanding.
HAYASHI:When Mr. Huggett, we brought this back to you, we had provided with
you copies of the previous minutes of the hearings that were under the previous application
which was Eric Soto.
IWASHITA:Okay. Ive seen that. Okay, I just was concerned that it didnt include.
HAYASHI:Okay, thank you. Yes. I believe Staff had provided you with all of the
documentation. We just wanted to put that on the record. Okay with that- take the roll call and
this is to approve with amendments to conditions 3 and 9. Commissioner Watanabe?
WATANABE:Aye.
HAYASHI:Commissioner McCall?
MCCALL:Aye.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Salavea?
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SALAVEA:Aye.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Siracusa?
SIRACUSA:Nay.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Graham?
GRAHAM:Aye.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Iwashita?
IWASHITA:Aye.
HAYASHI:ChairGaldones?
GALDONES:Aye.
HAYASHI:Mr.Chairmotioncarrieswith6ayevotesand1nay.
GALDONES:ThankyouNorman.Mr.Mooersyouwillbeinformedinwritingof
todays actions.
MOOERS:Thank you Mr. Chairman.
GALDONES:Thank you.
This discussion ended at 11:12 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynette Sanemitsu, West Hawaii Secretary
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