2004-06-18 TSMITH - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

agricultural without any of the planned nor existing infrastructure to support it. This is true whetherthe lots are half-acre or 7,500 square feet. The result is residential urban impacts. And the only way to minimize these impacts would be for the applicant to build as zoned as that is what our infrastructure level can handle. The General Plan document, Article 5, division 5, section 25-5-1 regarding residential RS zoning states a single family residential district for lower and low and medium density districts for urban and suburban family life having the facilities to carry out the above stated purpose. In the light of the General Plan for the area, I would suggest that this application qualifies, admittedly on the low end of the RS division, and the only reason the area may be lacking facilities is because of the general deficit of infrastructure in the area. The same document, Sec. 25-5-50, regarding the zoning classification the applicant seeks, RA zoning for residential and agricultural districts, states low density residential lots in rural areas where city like concentrations of people and structures andstreetsareabsentandwheresmallfarmsareintermixedwithresidentiallotsforuse only in areas designated in the State Land Use rural or urban districts. Here again the applicant qualifies. So what the County in effect ends up is the same low density, excuse me, the same low density urban residential impacts with none of the mitigation of a higher zoning, that a higher zoning requirement could provide. And as an aside, if one has lived in Kona as long or longer than I have, it feels pretty city like right now. If the General Plan document considers the facts on the ground today, then this application fits nicely. However, if the 1989 General Plan and the General Plan update documents are followed as a plan for a future low density urban situation, then the application is submitted with the wrong classification. I have made the comparison of the two classifications as I read them because if there is any advantage to the County by insisting that as per the General Plan, the application is submitted in the wrong classification, then this Commission should at least require that change before approval and hopefully gain an added infrastructural requirement of this applicant. As it stands now the General Plan calls for low density urban expansion. The applicant is applying for low density agricultural and will avoid paying for the urban impacts that the County will have to deal with. Id also like to take issue with the notion that a acre residential lot is low density; and for agricultural lots its actually an extremely high density and should be treated as such. The willingness to allow residential urbanization to happen in this manner is what has created the disaster of West Hawaii infrastructure. In truth the ultimate reason behind the opposition to this application is because of a previous zoning change approval that allowed an, in effect, residential urbanization without the supporting infrastructure. Our homes now sit on that land and we have had an education, bar none, on what a mess this type of zoning approval can create. The question here is can the Planning Commission require the applicant to provide for all of the infrastructural improvements on the Government Road (Church of God Road) to the extent that the improvements mitigate the obvious impacts this application will have on the neighborhood and if not, can the planners require a zoning change level that would provide a sufficient Impact Fee Assessment that would allow the County to create the needed improvements. Can the 10