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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-08-05 TDELOZIER PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAI€I HEARING TRANSCRIPT AUGUST 5, 2005 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of TIMOTHY DELOZIER (REZ 05-005)was called to order at 9:15 a.m. in the County Building, Councilroom - Room 201, 25 Aupuni Street, Hilo, Hawai€i, with Chairman Fred Galdones presiding. PRESENT:Fred GaldonesABSENT & EXCUSED: Hannah Springer C. Kimo Alameda Bill Graham Andrew Iwashita Jeffrey McCall Allen Salavea Rene Siracusa RodneyWatanabe IvanTorigoe,DeputyCorporationCounsel Christopher J. Yuen, Planning Director Norman Hayashi, Planning Program Manager Phyllis Fujimoto, Staff Planner Jeff Darrow, Staff Planner And approximately 30 people from the public in attendance. APPLICANT: TIMOTHY DELOZIER (REZ 05-005) Continued hearing on the application for a Change of Zone for 19,500 square feet of land from a Single Family Residential „ 10,000 square feet (RS-10) to a Neighborhood Commercial „ 10,000 square feet (CN-10) district. The property is located along the west side of Manono Street, approximately 195 feet north of the Manono Street „ Lanikaula st Street intersection, Waiakea Houselots, 1 Series, Waiakea, South Hilo, Hawai€i, Tax Map Key 2-2-27:42. GALDONES:Commissioners, we are on Agenda Item No. 1. Its an unfinished business. The applicant is Timothy Delozier (REZ 05-005). This is a continued hearing on the application for a Change of Zone for 19,500 square feet of land from a Single Family Residential „ 10,000 square feet (RS-10) to a Neighborhood Commercial „ 10,000 square feet (CN-10) district. Jeff? DARROW:Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning, Members of the Planning Commission. If I can direct your attention to the location map. The location of thisapplicationiswithintheSouthHiloDistrictofHawai€i.Morespecifically,were looking in the area of the Waiakea House Lots. The area is identified in blue. This is on EXHIBIT A the West side of Manono Street, 195 feet north of the Lanikaula and Manono Street intersection. The applicant in this case, Timothy Delozier, is requesting a change of zone from Single Family Residential „ 10,000 square feet to a Neighborhood Commercial „ 10,000 square feet. The request is in order to convert the existing dwelling into an area for his mortgage company, Amera Mortgage Company, as well as one other small business. This is the proposed layout that was submitted by the applicant. It shows that there is a proposed parking area in the rear of the property. One condition that has been put on the change of zone application is that access will be limited to a single location, Condition C, to Manono Street. At our last Hilo hearing a motion was made to send an unfavorable recommendation to the Hawai€i County Council. The motion did not pass with four ayes and three noes. And since our last hearing weve received two letters. One is from Mr. AaronBandy,andanotherletterfromLouandGailRhoades,alongwiththeletterfrom the Rhoades there were numerous petitions submitted from residents in the area. Those have been passed out to the Commissioners. Are there any questions? GALDONES:Commissioners, any questions of Jeff? Seeing none, will the applicant or his representative please come forward. Good morning, Id like to have you sworn in first. Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Hawai€i County Planning Commission? DELOZIER:I do. GALDONES:Could you please state your name, your residence address. DELOZIER:Timothy Delozier, 1438 Kilauea Avenue, Hilo, Hawai€i. GALDONES:Mr. Delozier, do you have a copy of the recommendations and also the background report? DELOZIER:Yes, I do. GALDONES:Do you have any further comments on those as a follow-up to our initial meeting we had the last time here in Hilo? DELOZIER:I assume youre referring to the feedback from the various other agencies? GALDONES:Well, if you feel you need to address those, you are free to do so. DELOZIER:No. GALDONES:Do you have any other comments that you would like to present to the Commissioners before we call for public testimony? 2EXHIBIT A DELOZIER:Yes, I do. GALDONES:Proceed. DELOZIER:Hello and Aloha and good morning. Id like to begin my testimony today with an expression of gratitude. Thank you, Planning Commissioners, for failing toeacha recommendation on my Change of Zone st Application at the July 1 hearing. You may find it odd that I would thank you, but your failure to successfully reach a recommendation at that hearing has prompted me to ponder and look deep inside myself to consider all sides of the impact of my request. I came to the last hearing expecting my request to be pretty cut and dry. My application clearly meets and conforms to all allowable uses for this location based on the recent revision to the General Plan. I was shocked to find out that there was opposition in the neighborhood and was presented the letter and petition signed by the neighbors less than 10 minutes before my hearing began. None of the neighbors had contacted me for discussion, questions or concerns of my application prior to that time. Therefore, I encourage you to please consider all of the facts of my testimony this morning. First, I am just an average citizen looking to run a successful small business. My intention with this Change of Zone application is to have a comfortable place to work and housemyemployees.Thebiggestdrawbacktolocatingmybusinesselsewhere, especially in other larger office complexes closer to the downtown area of Hilo, is a severe lack of parking. The bulk of businesses that I work with located in town have parking issues. Even at our current location on Kilauea Avenue, parking is growing tighter and tighter. Due to this issue, I chose to look elsewhere to locate my business. The nature of my business is community-based. While I do work with clientele on the mainland, my passion lies with assisting local residents in purchasing or building new homes. My favorite transactions are ones that involve local, first-time buyer clients. For these clients, the process of purchasing a home is quite intimidating and frightening, especially the mortgage portion. I realize this and make every effort to put these clients at ease. One of the things that I can do is to offer a place of business that is warm and friendly for them. That is difficult to do with a typical cold, fluorescent-lit office complex. Having clients visit my office in more of a residential setting is much preferred because they will feel more ‚at homeƒ. My application clearly indicates that my intensions are to maintain the residential feel of this building by renovating it back to its original 1930s charm. At the July hearing, the concern of reasonable reassurance was brought up „ specifically the irreversible nature of approving use of this property for commercial purposes. I can understand this concern, especially because of the potential for other uses that would be allowed possibly in the future. I can only say that I offer my most sincere reasonable reassurance that the use of this property will remain as a small, community office indefinitely. I have been a mortgage banker for over 14 years. I do not have the desire or skills to do anything else and harbor a unique and genuine passion for my profession in what I do. There are parties present in this room that I have provided mortgage services for that Im confident would be happy to attest to my dedication to 3EXHIBIT A customer service. I just turned 33 years old and do not see myself doing anything other than residential mortgage banking. By the time I am ready to retire, over 30 years from now, who knows what the neighborhood will look like. But until that happens, I have every intention of using this property to house a mortgage company to continue to offer affordable, creative and comfortable financing specifically tailored for the unique Big Island real estate market. I am not a big-time real estate developer or, even worse, a greedy mainland investor motivated by profit and increasing net worth with no concern for the local community. I moved to Hawai€i from Portland, Oregon and was drawn to the quality of life here, so much so that it was easy to convince my parents to relocate with me. I have a history of supporting local community. I am an active affiliate member of the Hawaii Island Board of Realtors and my involvement and support of that organization resulted in the honor of being named the 2004 Affiliate of the Year. Recently I made a substantial financial contribution to the Lehua Jaycess to help fund one of the best fourth of July fireworks displays in Hilo in years. As a member of the Lehua Jaycees,Iwillbeparticipatinginthe2006FireworksCommitteetomakenextyeareven better. Finally, I previously spent 7 years volunteering on an average of over 100 hours per month with an at-risk youth program as a mentor and a manager. Hopefully you now have a little bit more information about me, including my motivations for this Change of Zone application and rest easier. Most importantly, I hope that you can clearly see that of all of the possible commercial uses for this property, my business is one that most amicably can co-exist within a residential area. My current location is, as well as my previous location on Manono Street was, immediately adjacent to residences. I have and had good relationships with all of these neighbors. I could understand and respect objections to other types of businesses that would truly have a negative impact to the neighborhood, but I am not running anything that is detrimental to the environment, such as a noisy or pollutant generating manufacturer or automotive repair shop. I am not requesting to operate a business that generates high levels of traffic such as a restaurant or convenience store. The reality is that a mortgage company with 7 employees and 2-3 clients per day would be, in my opinion, one of the most compatible in a residential neighborhood location. These comments segue perfectly into addressing the concerns of traffic. I have spent some time observing traffic patterns and levels during the peak hours. I dont see that there is much validity to the objections of this use due to negative impacts or hindrance to traffic flow on Manono Street. The majority of my employees arrive at 8:00 a.m. and work through 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The majority of my employees live in the Puna District. In the morning hours, they will be making a left-turn into the parking lot. The bulk of the morning traffic is in the direction of Hilo, so a left-hand turn here would be made with ease. In the afternoons, as they depart to go home most employees will be making a right-hand turn onto Manono Street. For those that live either in Hilo or Hamakua direction, if a left-turn in the afternoons proves to be a challenge, the property is conveniently located close to Lanikaula so a right-turn could easily be made in that direction and circle around to Lanikaula then back in a northerly direction from there. The location of this property makes the chance of impeding traffic flow minimal to nil. If the property were closer to the Lanikaula intersection, further from that intersection or located on the other side of the street, the chances of impeding traffic would be much 4EXHIBIT A greater. The reality is that the level of traffic generated by a mortgage company is next to none. Consider the alternative: a multi-unit housing complex would have more cars coming and going more often and at more around-the-clock hours. As far as the objection that approval of this application removes viable housing from a tight residential real estate market, thats valid. However, in the bigger picture there is a large volume of spec construction currently being built on this side of this island. Once these homes hit the market, which we are beginning to see at this time, the balance of supply and demand should be more in check. There are also some large multi-unit housing complexes being proposed and currently in design. Finally, on the bright side of the recent revision to the General Plan, the doors are now open for applications for multi- unit residential projects in this neighborhood. The reality is that this housing shortage is most likely short-term and should be turning around soon. The combination of a large volume of residential construction and an eminent increase to interest rates will balance supplyanddemandinthenearfuture.Removalofoneresidentialunitfromthehousing market will result in minimal impact, especially when the use will be changed to house a company that specializes in providing affordable and creative residential mortgage financing. I encourage the Commission, as well as the County Council, to examine why we have experienced this shortage. It has been partially driven by the tightening and constraints on zoning, including the elimination of CPRs and Ohana units. Finally, I would like to address the concern about the parking lot being used for drinking, drugs and other covert activities after hours as was brought up at our last hearing. I was posed the question if I would have any objections to blocking the driveway entrance with a gate or a chain. My reply was I have no objection to this proposal. In fact, after further thought and consideration, I would even install motion-sensing flood lighting in the parking lot to help prevent any activities of this nature from occurring during non- working hours. Obviously this General Plan revision has created quite the controversy. I remind you of st Directors Yuens testimony on July 1, ‚the General Plan change is definitely a strong plus factor in this application.Im sticking with ourrecommendation. The word is out of this General Plan revision. You are certain to see future applications for zone changes in this area. I know of at least three other zone change applications for properties on Manono Street that are in process and coming your way in the very near future. Case in point, please refer to todays agenda, you will be reviewing an application later this morning for an industrial use in this same neighborhood. I have received support from several immediate neighboring property owners. Aaron Bandy was not able to join us, but submitted the letter provided to you this morning. Finally, as a businessman, I would like to share one final motivation for you to consider. Allowingmetolocatemybusinessinthispropertyaffordsmethelong-termstabilityof affordable office space. I have recently been given notice to vacate the premise that 5EXHIBIT A were operating in. In four years of business here, this is the second time that this has happened. The task of finding reasonably priced, adequately equipped office space with sufficient parking has proven to be quite daunting. Relocating a business is very costly and causes a serious disruption to conducting business. As explained earlier in my testimony, my focus is providing creative and affordable mortgage financing. Having a building which I own allows me to accomplish this with reasonable reassurance that I will not be forced to relocate at the whim of a landlord again. I feel that I have addressed all concerns and objections from the previous hearing. I offer reasonable reassurance that other commercial uses for this property are nil. I strongly feel that of all the potential commercial uses, a small mortgage company would top the list of most compatible within a residential neighborhood. I have put on my empathy hat andthoughtlonganddeepabouthowIwouldfeeliftheshoewasontheotherfootandI was a resident of Waiakea Houselots. Honestly, I would happily welcome a small, local mortgage company to be my neighbor. I conclude by requesting that you please support my zone change application and issue a recommendation of approval to the County Council. GALDONES:Thank you, Mr. Delozier. Commissioners, are there any questions of Mr. Delozier? Commissioner Siracusa. SIRACUSA:Thank you. First, I want to thank you for clarifying, for agreeing to my suggestion - it was my suggestion about chaining off the driveway so that after- hour people could not access that parking lot - and taking it one step further. That will help considerably. Ever since the last hearing, as I drove around Hilo, I kept noticing all these ‚For Rentƒ signs on commercial locations, some upstairs office spaces and others on the ground; and I kept wondering why it was so difficult for you to find anything; and now youre adding an additional clarification by saying that its a question of parking. On the other hand, you were saying that you only expect two or three cars a day. So then I wondered, well, youve got seven employees, is that plus yourself or -? DELOZIER:The seven includes myself, yes. SIRACUSA:Okay, so it would be them plus your two or three customers a day. It doesnt seem like a tremendous requirement in parking. Its certainly not a Walmart situation. There was another thing I had in my head and it sort of drifted away for the moment. But, oh, right, you were talking about how much impact your business would generate, but youve also said that you plan to rent out part of the space to another small business. And we have no way of knowing how much traffic that business will be generating in addition, or how much impact it will have. And thats almost asking us to approve a pig- in-a-poke here. You know, we might say, well, only two or three cars, that doesnt sound 6EXHIBIT A too bad; that sounds doable, not too much impact, especially if we can get some kind of an agreement. And I would ask the Director afterwards if thats possible to put in some sort of a condition that the house would not be taken down as long as it was in good maintenance and safe condition, so that we dont have to worry about the whole issue of golden arches down the road or something like that. I dont know if thats a possibility that we could work into the, but Id like to ask the Director to address that after a while. But is it absolutely necessary for your financial viability here to have a second business occupy the location? DELOZIER:Its not, and its not in the immediate plans. At this point, for, of all, if I can backstep for a moment if I may. Your comment with regard to signs available, given the fact that Ive recently been given notice to vacate where were at now, Ive seen those signs; and, honestly, Ive called a majority of those numbers. The biggest challenge is Im not a big business. The bulk of these spaces are 2,500 square feet,3,500squarefeet,andtherentsaremorethantriplewhatImpayingcurrently.Im a small business with six employees. Tripling the rent would leave me in a position to where I would have no choice but to let somebody go; and thats really the decision that Ive been faced with recently. I have located some temporary space for a while. The issue, again, is there is no parking. I have two assigned parking spaces. My employees and myself will all have to park blocks away and walk to be able to get to our location of business. The setup of the home currently is it is a two-bedroom one bathroom, approximately 1200 square feet residence, built in 1934. The open area below the home has adequate head clearance and has the potential down the road to possibly be enclosed and house another small business. When I say another small business, the intention or the type of business would be something similar to what I do, maybe an insurance agent or somebody along those lines. That space would be less than 800 square feet. So in terms of total, total traffic, again, its nominal. SIRACUSA:Thank you. GALDONES:Any other Commissioners with a question of Mr. Delozier? Seeing none, Mr. Delozier there are a few members from the public who wish to testify. So if you could surrender the chair, please, I would like to call upon them. We have three chairs. We have six individuals from the public who have signed up, so I would like to call on three of them. Gail Rhoades, Lou Rhoades, and Kathy Hirayama, if you could please come forward. I need to have you sworn in; and when you are giving your testimony, please speak into the microphone so that we can have you recorded. Could you please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Hawai€i County Planning Commission? Ms. Hirayama? HIRAYAMA:I do. GALDONES:Mr. Rhoades? 7EXHIBIT A L. RHOADES:I do. GALDONES:Ms. Rhoades? G. RHOADES:I do. GALDONES:Ms. Hirayama, well start with you. Could you please state your name, your residence address, and you may begin your testimony. HIRAYAMA:Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Director Yuen and Commissioners. My name is Kathy Hirayama and I am the owner of Hirayama Brothers Electric; and Im here because I own three parcels in the Houselots, Waiakea Houselot area. In fact, my business is located where my home used to be. Ive live in that area for 30 plus years. The home that I had where my children was raised is now a 50 by 70 building that houses HirayamaBrothersElectric.ThereasonwhyImheretoday,Ireadaboutitinthepaper so I did some background investigation on my own. And I felt like it was seriously, if I had a business, like Ive never met Mr. Delozier. In fact, I had him pointed out to me today by Jason Armstrong. But I felt like since Ive been in that area for over 30 years, it has been a mixed use type of area. And I recall when Merle Lai was on the Council they were planning at one time to make it an industrial area; but because some of the residents were against it I guess they never pushed it forward. But, you know, thank goodness for my neighbors; and I hope and I think I am a good neighbor. My business there, theres a lot of people in the area who were widows and they felt like we were a clean business, we operate early in the morning if we do, we do not make any noise, we try to conform to the quiet of that community. And theres a lot of small businesses. And I recall when there used to be Orchids of Hawaii right on Hinano Street that converted to Big Island Candies. Go further down the road, there is Dons Grill, one of the finest restaurants in town. You have CU Hawaii. In fact up on Manono Street right by Lanikaula theres the Tanouye building that was built there. At one time they used to house Neils Automotive Supply. I think that made more noise than Mr. Delozier is going to generate. And my daughter lived in the house where the Gayatan family used to live, the yellow house on the corner of Hinano and Lanikaula. Next to that house is Les Carpet. Next to Les Carpet you people approved a building going up now thats going to house an electrical contracting company, which is one of my competitors; and Im happy for him, you know. But Im only talking here because I felt, and I dont normally ever go before any Commission to speak about anything, but Im here because I felt like youve already opened the barn door years ago, the cows are already out. I dont know what you guys are going to do. But if he is a good neighbor, and thank God for the vision of those in the past that were in the power to grant a zone change for me. I have now seven of my members working in my company. Weve been working together for umpteen years; and weve enjoyed a quality of life because of decisions that were made by people like you. And I believe that were a good neighbor, were a community, were involved in the community every day of our lives. We love Waiakea Houselots, we love the Big Island. And I think businesses, small businesses just like -. Im an owner of a home and I think thats a dream of every individual, is to own the property and the house that you live in. So does 8EXHIBIT A small businesses feel that their dream is to own the house and the land that houses their business. So if theyre good neighbors -. And I want to read something that I wrote and I hope you will indulge me. The impact to the neighborhood should be minimal. The nature of the business is professional, its quiet and not busy. There is a minimum number of employees, which is seven. Parking on the property will alleviate street parking. The location of the parking lot will minimize the non-residential feel of the building. In fact, the property will be clean and well maintained. And I hope Im saying the truth, Mr. Delozier. I hope youre listening to what Im saying. Because I dont know you, so I dont know if thats your intention; but you did say thats what youre going to do. It will look better than some, I drove around that property. I go past there. At least three-four times a week I pass on Manono Street. And let me tell you, you know, theres an overgrown of greenery and vegetation now in that area. Cars are parked all over the place, its now spilling into the streets. Theyhavedilapidatedbuildingsinvariousstagesofdis-useanddisrepair.AndIthink Mr. Delozier is not going to take away from anything but hes going to add, hes going to add a little bit of something better for that community. So I beg you, I humbly ask you to please approve his rezoning. Thank you. GALDONES:Thank you, Ms. Hirayama. Commissioners, are there any questions of Ms. Hirayama? Commissioner Salavea. SALAVEA:Thank you for your thoughtful testimony, Mrs. Hirayama. Id just like to know when abouts your business had started in that Waiakea Houselots area, about what year was that? HIRAYAMA:In 1973 we operated on Laukapu Street; and then I bought a house from Mr. Hirota on 510 Kalanikoa. I had the house removed, I sold the house. It was removed to another location. I had approval to have a 50 by 70 building built at 510 Kalanikoa Street. And the house in the front is my home, too. SALAVEA:Currently? HIRAYAMA:Yes, we have a current home there. SALAVEA:Okay, thank you. HIRAYAMA:And the reason why we stay there once in a while is because when the boys have to muster out at 5 in the morning to go to Kona to do a project, I dont want to go all the way from Wainaku down to Hinano Street at 5 in the morning, because Ive got to get up at 4:30. So I sleep there just to open up the gate. And I have my son now since he just got married, he has occupied one of the bedrooms. But Im a Houselots area lady. SALAVEA:Its very nice to see you still active in the business. 9EXHIBIT A HIRAYAMA:Thank you. I want to retire but nobody will let me. GALDONES:Commissioners, are there any further questions of Ms. Hirayama? Commissioner Iwashita. IWASHITA:Thank you. Thanks for coming, Ms. Hirayama. I was one of the Commissioners that voted to not allow this change of zone. And what Id like to find out, andmy concern in what Id like to ask you about is that, you know, the Houselots area as you say is historically residential and there have been these businesses that have been allowed to comeup mostly on the fringe of the area. And we have the housing shortage now, no question. And how were going to resolve that or how thats going to be resolved is an issue I think that as Planning Commissioners, you know,wehave to seriously consider that. So do you have any thoughts -? I know you said you would like small businesses to be able tobe allowed in the area. Have you thought about how that wouldaffect,youknow,peoplelivingintheHouselotsarea?Becauseoneofthe thoughts that I have is that the Houselots area is a prime area for Hilo to look at in terms of, you know, becoming a more, providing more housing and, hopefully, you know, they have a broader range of housing options in that area. Do you have any ideas about that? HIRAYAMA:I dont have a magic wand and I really cannot tell you except that I know that when the businesses came in they, at that point in time, a lot of the residents in fact the kumiai, you know, that kumiai that we have the lower house lots kumiai, they werent against Big Island Candies coming in. There were some, Im sure. But youre telling me how, you know, even people who work in the industry and even like Mr. Yuen, its a, I dont know, its a problem as to how were going to do affordable housing. Right now theyre wrestling with all that problem. They just passed the General Plan and even that I dont -. Is it completed, Mr. Yuen? Is the General Plan completed? YUEN:Yes. It was passed in February 2005 and it redesignated this part of the Houselots from Low Density Urban to Medium Density. HIRAYAMA:To Medium. No, but has all the addendums been written, everything has been done? You know, I know the Plan was passed. But has everything been completed that was supposed to be put in there? YUEN:There are some amendments that Im preparing but none that affect, at this time, at least, none that affect this area. HIRAYAMA:Well, for me, I know that a lot of the people who lived in the Houselots area, now they do not live there. Well, the people that used to live, like the Imaizumis across the street from me, there was a widow living across, she passed away; and that was the vacant house which was causing people to go in there at night and sleep so they tore the building down. But I think a lot of the people that own properties there - I dont know, I didnt do a research, but I could do it „ I dont think they really are there. I think they have a lot of rental properties in that area. I know next to me, back of me 10EXHIBIT A theres two houses. Side of me, Linda Lodge lives next to me, to my business. Next to the house in the front where my house is, theres a duplex. Across the street theresa residence, then theres an empty lot, theres a woman living by herself in another house. So Im surrounded by houses. IWASHITA:And thats something that we should try and maintain? HIRAYAMA:Well, I believe, you know, you should balance. And I believe that if a community and a business is coming in and theyre adding to the community, not taking away, I think they should have a right. Especially if its a business that is good for the community, I think there should be no reason why they shouldnt be there. I know when I went in for my zoning, there were a few people who didnt want it; but then there was a lot of the neighbors that didnt object. So I think in life, you know, we balance things. And thats your job; and thats why you folks are here, you know. IWASHITA:One of the things that, you know, you asked Mr. Yuen about the GeneralPlan.OneofthethingstheGeneralPlanprovidesforisthedevelopmentand passage as part of the law of whats called community development plans. And thats something that you and your neighbors will have an opportunity to do, although the last time Mr. Yuen indicated that thats sort of out in the future right now. And, to me, itd be better, instead of the Commission here making this decision, that the community would get together and develop their plan, the community development plan. And projects like Mr. Deloziers would be looked at locally. And all of you in the community could figure out what to do; and the Council would pass that and pretty much they would, hopefully, be in agreement in the area of your community as far as, you know, how everybodys land is going to used. So this balance is a decision made not by people from all around the island but from people in the community in your neighborhood. So when that process comes up, will you be one of the people to help? HIRAYAMA:Well, Im always there to help in anything. But can I ask you a question, do you know how long for the General Plan to pass? IWASHITA:Too long. HIRAYAMA:Okay. Thats why I ask you that question. You know, as a business person, every day is a loss, you know, especially when we were building our building. It took us two years to do it. It took us a long time to rezone and it took us a long time to talk to our neighbors. See, things just dont happen in the construction industry, and you can ask Mr. „ especially in your rezoning. Look what happened to your General Plan, look whats happening to your community, your addendums, its still on-going. How long will Mr. Delozier have to wait to operate a business that he wants to in his residence? That would be my question. GALDONES:Ms. Hirayama, Id like to move the hearing along. We have a long agenda today. If you dont have anything further that youd like to add -. 11EXHIBIT A HIRAYAMA:No. GALDONES:Any further questions from the Commissioners? Otherwise, thank you very much, Ms. Hirayama. HIRAYAMA:Thank you all. Thank you very much. GALDONES:Ms. Rhoades, could you please state your name and your residence address and you may begin your testimony. G. RHOADES:My name is Gail Rhoades. I live at 1045 Manono Street. Thank you for allowing me to testify today. Last month I brought to you a petition of people who live on Manono, approximately 12 signatures. You have now received over 3 dozen petitions, signatures, the majority of them homeowners in the Waiakea Houselots area. I sentout180letterstotheyellowareafromMililaniovertoKalaninoe(sic),Icant pronounce it, and over to Lanikaula, so that square area. I received 20 back that said vacant or no mail boxes. I have received over 36 including four more that you dont have that came in just this week; and, amazingly, more of the homeowners were surprised, they were not aware that the General Plan had changed the neighborhood to Medium Urban Density, just as we were not aware. When we bought our home nine years ago, we thought we were buying into a quiet residential area with the exception of the lawn mower sharpening place next door to us, which is now defunct and rundown, which is an eyesore for the neighborhood. And a number of these homeowners expressed gratitude to me for pursuing this. And I am happy to hear from Mr. Iwashita that there will be a push for the local residents to have input into what happens in the neighborhood; and I would be more than willing to serve on that committee or group. Regarding the kumiai, I take exception with the other testimony. One of the original kumiai, Lillian Takemura, actually came to our home and spoke with us; and she went down to the Planning Committee and she was very surprised that the neighborhood that we live in had been changed to Medium Urban Density. And she expressed concern, and she is in support of denying Mr. Deloziers application. I am concerned about the traffic. I find it not believable that he would have only two or three clients a day. I recall when getting my mortgage there were many clients at the mortgage company per day. I dont have statistics on that but from my own personal experience I know it doesnt take very long to go through the mortgage process. Again, I plead with you to deny his application. I feel that the area should remain residential; and it is where I want to retire. And I hope to pursue with Stacy Higa and the Council to rescind in the General Plan the Medium Urban Density and put it back to Low Density so that it remains residential. And thats all I have to say. GALDONES:Thank you, Ms. Rhoades. Commissioners, are there any questions of Ms. Rhoades? If not, Mr. Rhoades, could you please state your name and residence address? 12EXHIBIT A SIRACUSA:I have a question. GALDONES:Oh, you have a question. Im sorry. Commissioner Siracusa. SIRACUSA:Thank you. Youre objecting partly on the basis of,I assume, the fact that Mr. Delozier was claiming that he wouldhavehis company and then rent out to another company as well, as there would be two businesses in that building? Is that correct? G. RHOADES:That is a surprise to me. That was not mentioned in the letters that st I received, nor was that mentioned on the July 1 Commission meeting. So that is news to me today, which even further strengthens my desire to not have a business across the street from my home. SIRACUSA:So even if Mr. Delozier agrees not to have a second business in that building your objection would still stand. Is that correct? G. RHOADES:Yes. SIRACUSA:Thank you. I wanted to clarify that. SALAVEA:Chairman Galdones? GALDONES:Commissioner Salavea. SALAVEA:Thank you for your testimony. Just to clarify for the Commission, could you tell us exactly where do you live in reference to the proposed business? G. RHOADES:I live directly across the street from the house. So their house faces my lot; and my driveway will be facing their driveway for the exit purposes; and it will contribute more traffic. SALAVEA:Thank you. GALDONES:Seeing no further questions, Mr. Rhoades, could you please state yourname,residenceaddress,andyoumaybeginyourtestimony. L.RHOADES:MynameisLouRhoadesandIliveat1045ManonoStreet, directly across the street with my wife from the residence in question. I believe the biggestproblemforusandtheManonoStreet,atthatendofManonoStreetisprobably going to be the traffic. I think the traffic in and out of our driveway is already fairly significantatcertaintimesoftheday.Middleofthedayisusuallynottoobadbutat8 oclock in the morning and 5 oclock at night it backs up well past our house and the houseinquestion;andsometimesittakestwoorthreelightchangestogetoutofthe driveway. Thats not every day. Most days I can get out in one or two light changes, but 13EXHIBIT A it has taken me three light changes to get out of my driveway some mornings. So I think the idea that the traffic is not a significant issue is not correct. I just dont believe thats true, so I wouldnt want you to overlook that. I think theres two big issues here. One is the residence in question, which is what youre here to address. And Im concerned about that also, but I think theres a bigger issue than probably the reason I personally am more concerned about this change in zoning as for how its going to affect the whole neighborhood in the future. This particularbusiness, my wife would disagree with me here but -, may not be that huge an impact and make a big change to the neighborhood. I hope it doesnt if it is approved. And I would concede that in my opinion it may not make a big difference, but one another business moving in there with it may. And plus, you know, even though he says hes going to be there for 30 years, plans change and we dont know what might come therein the future. And Im more concerned about whats going to happen in the whole neighborhood, and probably mybiggestconcernisthechangeintheGeneralPlan.AndIthinktheideathatthe residents in that area support the change in the General Plan is blatantly false from what Ive seen. Weve walked two streets and talked to every resident there and none of them were aware of it; and none of them that I talked to like the idea. And in the letters we got back from what my wife sent out and the two or three people that have called us and talked to us about it, none of them were aware it was changed. In fact they thought they still lived in an area designated residential, and they were upset by it and they did not like it. I did hear the one lady that my wife talked about that is a member of the kumiai and, I guess, theres more than one kumiai group in that neighborhood. There was, I think the person that just testified talked about lower kumiai. So I presume this person is from the upper kumiai, because she referred to the area around Big Island Candies as the neighborhood there. The kumiai in that area were not against that. But the kumiai that she belonged to, which is in the area were talking about now, I think the line is of the Lanikaula Street that runs, no, the airport road, whatever that, thats Lanikaula, maybe it is, I dont know, I just know airport road. But that road there, I think, is the dividing line from what I heard. Now this is just recent talking with neighbors. I dont know that I fully understand what that is. But it seems to me the kumiai that existed in the area where we are was very much against businesses moving into the area and was against Big Island Candies but they felt they really just shouldnt say anything about it when that came because of the fact that that wasnt their area. So I just dont think some of the notions that people have about what the neighborhood, what the people in that neighborhood think and want are true; and I think you ought to take that into consideration in your considerations for this particular situation and for the changes made in the General Plan. Cause I think the changes made in the General Plan are very much against the communitys wishes of the community that Ive talked to in that area and what weve gotten back from the letters we sent out. And I think that covers what I wanted to say. Thank you. GALDONES:Thank you, M. Rhoades. Commissioners, any questions of Mr. Rhoades? Commissioner Salavea. 14EXHIBIT A SALAVEA:Thank you, Mr. Rhoades. A question for you and your wife, would you be opposed to a higher residential use for this particular piece of land that would conform to the Medium Density designation that it currently has or do you want to -? L. RHOADES:I would prefer the street that we live on to remain as residential. I mean, I -. SALAVEA:Medium Density or Low Density? L. RHOADES:Id prefer Low Density. SALAVEA:Low Density. L.RHOADES:ImeanIthoughtthatswhatthestreetweboughtonwaszoned Low Density, which I understand it was; but now the General Plan has changed that, but I dont think the neighborhood knows that. And I dont know where the idea that that was supported by the neighbors came from, but I think at least in the area that were on, on that section of Manono and directly behind us from the neighbors Ive talked to, this is very blatantly false that the neighborhood supports that change. In fact, they were completely unaware of the change, the people that Ive talked to. And ones finding out about it are shocked and upset by it. SALAVEA:A follow up to that question, and Im not sure if you know the answer. When you purchased your property was it designated as Low Density to your knowledge? L. RHOADES:We were told it was Residential and we were told the business on the corner, the lawn mower shop, was grandfathered in, which somebody else told me is not true. But two or three other people Ive talked to have told me the same thing, that it was grandfathered in before the requirements for -. SALAVEA:Business? L. RHOADES:I mean, they started operating and operated a long time before anybody questioned it so they were allowed to continue, is the story I heard. Now I dont know if thats true or not, its just what Ive been told. SALAVEA:Thank you. GALDONES:Commissioners, any further questions? Seeing none, thank you very much. I would like to call upon Mr. Loeffler, Ms. Cole and Ms. Herrington. Would you please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Hawai€i County Planning Commission? Mr. Loeffler? LOEFFLER:I do. 15EXHIBIT A GALDONES:Maam? COLE:I do. HERRINGTON:I do. GALDONES:Thank you. If you have no objections, Mr. Loeffler, I will start with the ladies. LOEFFLER:No objections. GALDONES:Thank you. Could you please state your name, your residence address, and you may begin with your testimony. HERRINGTON:Thank you, everyone. My name is Gwen Herrington and I live at 2410KaiwikiRoadhereinHilo.AndIworkonManonoStreetandhavebeeninHilo for over 20 years now, and Ive seen lots of changes. But one of the things that I would like to address this morning, why I came, is because to me Manono Street is a very busy street and has been a very busy street for as long as I can remember. Its one of the cross streets and there have been businesses on it since I came here. And so I dont think, it doesnt seem to me to be out of its use to have what I consider or would think would be an extremely low impact type of business to be there. And I think we need more small businesses and I think we need to really support them. And I think that anyone who is willing to take on employees and provide jobs, more power to them. Im sure not -. But to help them to help our community -. And I know Mr. Delozier, Ive done business with Mr. Delozier, and some of my customers as well. And I think that really you would be very lucky or the community would be very lucky to have someone like Mr. Delozier on their side and in their community as a good neighbor, really. And as far as the traffic goes, I know we have lots of traffic increasing all the time here. But I dont think that, I dont know, it just seems like Manono is a busy street and will continue to be a busy street, irregardless really of what new things are there. So I guess I just would like to be in support of someone being able to follow their dream of being able to provide services to the community and be a good neighbor. And Im sure that any of the concerns that the community, the neighbors do have that they have a very willing and open ear with Mr. Delozier. I think that hes very reasonable and very compassionate. And the people that I have had work with him, Ive had him work with customers for two years to help them learn how to buy their own home. I mean thats phenomenal. And when you think about people who want to make that fast buck and in this really fast real estate market, well, I know someone that he has turned away because he didnt like what they were going to do here. So, I dont know, I just think that its unfortunate that we have to see our community change in ways that maybe we arent prepared for. And its, you know, we want to keep our community feeling and have good relations with everyone, but growth is happening. And, once again, its not as if its 16EXHIBIT A going to be another Big Island Candies with tour buses with hundreds of people popping off and on, you know, and diesel fumes and all those things. So thank you very much for your time. Im a little nervous, I dont usually do this, but I felt very strongly in support of this. So thank you very much, all of you. GALDONES:Thanks, Ms. Herrington. Commissioners, are there any questions of Ms. Herrington? Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Thank you. I just wanted to clarify for you and some of the other people here that were not making judgments based on Mr. Deloziers personality or whether we feel that hes a good person or that he will be an asset to the community or not. We have to look at the long-term impacts of the zoning change. And what can happenoncethereisazoningchange,thatrunswiththeland,itdoesntrunwiththe landowner. And as Commissioner Iwashita pointed out, or I think it was, maybe it was Commissioner Salavea, anyway, anything can happen in a persons life. And then once that zoning change happens and other people come in, they can do things that would not have been done otherwise to the property. So we may think that Mr. Delozier has a great plan which wouldnt, you know, would be an asset and at least not a detriment to the community, but we potentially open up a can of worms when we do rezoning; and thats what we have to look at very carefully and not whether we think that Mr. Delozier will be an asset to the community or whether hes involved in lots of good organizations and things like that. HERRINGTON:Oh, I realize that. May I just add one more thing, please. If the zoning is this Medium Density, does that mean that potentially there could be a condominium building across the street where there could be multi-families living there, or is that what that means? Im not real clear on that. YUEN:Yes. HERRINGTON:So then I would think that if someone wanted to go there and leave the zoning as it is now, you could have a greater impact as far as families living there and cars coming and going, and that type of thing. Is that true or -? YUEN:No, Im sorry. I misunderstood your question. HERRINGTON:Okay. YUEN:With the change of zone, you could build a multi-family building. The area is currently zoned for single family. And although this change of zone, the applicant wants to do a commercial business, once the change of zone is granted you can do a number of things, including an apartment building. HERRINGTON:I see, with the change. 17EXHIBIT A YUEN:With the change of zone, but not under the current zoning. HERRINGTON:The General Plan allows for Medium Density, is that what that -? YUEN:The General Plan is the first stage. If the General Plan, but then a property owner still needs to go through a change of zone if they wanted to do a commercial building or a multi-family building, apartment building. So the General Plan made it possible to apply for the change of zone. The change of zone would be consistent with the New General Plan. It would not have been consistent with the Old General Plan. HERRINGTON:I see. I guess back to what you had mentioned, too -. It just is my experience of living here all these years that Manono Street is really very busy and there are lots of businesses on it. And I work in one of them so it seems like its in line with howitisatthisparticulartime.Butthankyouverymuch. SIRACUSA:Thankyou. GALDONES:CommissionerIwashita? IWASHITA:Thankyou.Idontknowifyoucananswermyquestion,but-. Well, this one you can answer. Where do you work? Which business do you work at? HERRINGTON:I work withBig Island Land Company, which is right on Manono Street. IWASHITA:Youre a real estate agent? HERRINGTON:Yes, sir. IWASHITA:Okay. I would like, well, let me just, Im going to use you as a sounding board and then there may not be a question at the end of this. HERRINGTON:Ill do my best. I signed up for this. IWASHITA:The, and we all know as youve testified that there have been a lot of changes in the Houselots area and on Manono Street. The concern that I have, really, and the more I think about it the more focus I become on the housing issue that we have and providing adequate affordable housing within a reasonable distance from where people work. Mr. Delozier has testified that all of his, all of his employees come from Puna, right? That is why we have traffic problems. Thats why Oahu has traffic problems. Thats why Maui has traffic problems. People live too far from where they work. Okay? So when I talked earlier about the community development plan in general and in particular for the Houselots area, my vision is that when this gets done -. And I hope the Council allocates two, three million dollars right away to get the process going so it doesnt take a long time, like Mrs. Hirayama indicated, you know, and it has. Thats 18EXHIBIT A historically how its done. But time needs to be spent in developing a clear vision for the future of Houselots and the rest of our island. Okay? So my concern is, and this is, you know, I love the factthat Mr. Delozier is in the Lehua Jaycees; I used to be in the Lehua Jaycees, Im muchtoo old to do that anymore. But, you know, and I hope they do a lot more things, and I hope you grow to a 200 member chapter, none of these 30 guys, anyway. But in the big picture is what we need to look at, all right? In the big picture I look at it as a process. And as I stated before, I dont see us, these anointed Commissioners, as the best way to do this because the community has a lot of different views. Right? And only some of you come out to express your views. Theres no way for us to really know the whole, you know, the bigger picture in the community, to get the whole story, the real story and what the best way that you all feel, you know, should be developed. Myidealisthat,youknow,Houselotsandmostplacesonourislandgetdevelopedso that people can live where they work so they dont have to get in their car, they can walk or ride their bike, or do something else to get to their job. Right? Then that takes care of having to build lots of expensive roads. So thats the perspective that I have that Im judging this request. Because the request is for this change of zone as indicated before, grants rights that cannot be taken away unless were willing to pay for it later on. Okay? So in my mind its much better to go through the community development process to get to where Mr. Delozier wants to get for his place and for the whole rest of the Houselots area. And thats why I find it difficult. And that has a direct impact on the housing issue as I stated earlier. So do you disagree with my view? HERRINGTON:Well, I wouldnt disagree at all. I think its, you know, an admirable view, really. Im not sure in my mind if I find it realistic for it to be affordable housing; and this is where I have great concerns for my customers who arent able to afford, even in the Houselots. I dont really think that youd consider housing in the Hilo area affordable in general, which is why we have so many people living on the outskirts, because theyve been pushed out there. IWASHITA:And whats available, really, in the real estate market is your single family detached dwellings, right? We dont have a real viable plan to promote other types of dwellings, multi -. HERRINGTON:Right, other types of accommodations, right. IWASHITA:Multi-, yes, that would give the variety and, you know, so forth to diversify the market and provide a broader choice. Okay? That I see is the problem. The community development plan is a way for the community, houselots owners and renters, and everybody, can say, you know, this is how we want to see it. And so we can have, you know, $600 a month rentals as, you know, maybe whatever is reasonable, right, I mean affordable up through luxury little condominiums. If they want to, you know, they can $5,000 a month, whatever. There should be a choice. Okay? But this process does not, its a very cumbersome heavy-handed process that doesnt allow, really, to promote 19EXHIBIT A that kind of diversity? Right? Our law is basically, its easiest for developers to go get a subdivision, single-familydetached dwellings, right, and sell them for today $300,000, $400,000, $500,000 a pop, right? Thats the easiest thing to do; and thats why we have our problems. Okay? Thats my view; and thats why I say we should do it in the community development process and Mr. Delozier, you know, should go through that, help us expedite that process, talk to Councilman Higa and the rest of the Council to allocate the money to get the job done in a better way. GALDONES:Ms. Herrington, before you answer the questions -. HERRINGTON:I know you have time constraints, yes. GALDONES:No, Id like to remind the Commissioners were here to take testimony from the public and we are not here to debate our position with them. So if we haveanyquestionsinrelationtotheirtestimonythattheyhavepresented,pleasedirect your questions to their testimony; but lets not get into the debate with them. I would appreciate that. Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Yes. I just wanted to remind Commissioner Iwashita, although I agree about community development plans, but Mr. Delozier has a timeline, he has to get out of where he is, and he doesnt have time to wait for the County Council to take it up and raise a bond issue and all of that stuff. So we cant wait for the community development plan based on Mr. Deloziers situation. It would be pertinent in future situations that come up, but I think we have to deal with this one based on what we have in front of us today. GALDONES:Commissioner Graham. GRAHAM:I have a quick question for the Planning Director in regard to his response before to this testifier when you were explaining the relationship with the General Plan to the zoning and that the zoning needs to be changed in this situation, but because of the New General Plan, it would conform to the General Plan to change the zoning. Ive been on the Commission for a bit more than two years now and weve had a number of rezonings, as I recall, in this general area, of course, many of which would have been before the New General Plan. So I should know the answer to the question. But the question is were we approving these rezonings that weve been approving when they were not in conformance with the General Plan? YUEN:No. The rezonings that you had before were on areas that were typically designated industrial already on the General Plan. The rezonings that I remember being processed through in the last couple of years, actually in the last four years before this, were along Kawili Street, which is already an industrial area in the General Plan. They were for properties fronting Kawili Street. We also did a property, I believe, Kalanikoa Street over off the left-hand side of the map near Piilani Street where it was also industrial. So this is the first one that has come up in a block that was still Low Density Urban in the General Plan until it was changed in February 2005. The 20EXHIBIT A block is roughly Manono Street makai to Laukapu Street, if Im recalling correctly, and coming over from either Kawili Street or Lanikaula Street and to the left, going to the left on the map. Theres a, I cant rememberthe exact boundaries of the area that was changed. So that when, there was testimony that there were rezonings on the fringes of Waiakea Houselots. There were places that were, well, you know, at one time virtually the entire grid there was residential and there were areas thatwere in the General Plan and rezoned in sections, not in this central part, not more toward the central part of the Houselots. So youve seen businesses come in like where Mrs. Hirayamas business is, which is on the Kalanikoa Street, kind of on theleft corner of that grid that you see there. And there are businesses that you saw come in for rezonings along Kawili Street; and you see those werent in our time. But youseethat ‚Lƒ shaped area along the Kawili Street- Manono Street frontage, that was rezoned, Idont know, in the eighties some time. So, but all these were consistent with the General Plan Maps. GALDONES:Okay.Anyfurtherquestions,Commissioners?Seeingnone, Ms. Cole. COLE:Thank you. Hi! My name is Christie Cole; and I actually live at 1046 Manono; and I also work for Amera as an underwriter and funder. I actually have gone around to a couple of the neighbors as well, on the sides of me and behind me; and a lot of people are not actually really, had the real information of how a mortgage company operates or how big it is. Theyve been informed that it is like a bank. Were not a bank. We dont have people coming in and out all day long. Theres just a few of us that come in and out. We do a lot of the stuff over the internet and through phone and by fax to where we dont have a lot of people that do come in. We have been having problems with the parking due to the fact that the construction loans that we have going right now are all being done and theyre all going to permanent loans. So we do have some traffic coming in due to that of everybody getting everything taken care of and finalizing the construction. The traffic on Manono isnt that bad. I mean its a lot, but I can get in and out of my driveway. The Rhoades do live right across the street from me. Ive seen them coming in and out and taking left-turns on their driveway as well. I usually take a right onto Manono and go around the block as its easier. But sometimes I do take the left onto Manono going down towards Kekuanaoa as my children go to Kapiolani. So I go that way and make it easier. The buses stop in front of our houses. I do, there is traffic that does stop that let us in and out of our driveways. I dont have a problem getting in and out at all. So, and yes, we do need to move soon. The parking that we have we share with three other businesses; and it is hard. We are right next to Tykes Laundromat and it makes it real hard to get in and out or even find a parking spot. Half of the time I leave my car at home and walk three blocks up to get to work so there isnt a parking problem for me at the moment. I did live in Puna and moved into town to make it easier for me to get to work and not have to deal with the traffic from way out there coming in. So I think that 21EXHIBIT A we should change it. I have borrowers coming to my house at the moment now so I can make application so there isnt problems. GALDONES:Thank you, Ms. Cole. Commissioners, any questions of Ms. Cole? Commissioner Salavea. SALAVEA:Im sorry, I missed the first part of your testimony. Could you just clarify for me if you are currently renting or -? COLE:I currently rent. SALAVEA:You do, okay. Thank you. GALDONES:Seeing no questions thank you very much. Mr. Loeffler, before I callonyou,thereisalsoanothertestifier.Idliketobringherup,LillianTakemura. Okay Mr. Cole (sic), thank you for being so generous to allow theladies to proceed first. I would like to call on you at this time. Would you please raise your right hand. I mean, Im sorry, please state your name, your residence address and you may begin your testimony. Please speak into the mike. LOEFFLER:Me? GALDONES:Yes. Yeah, its getting a little cold in here. LOEFFLER:I was beginning to think you wanted to cut us short thats why you put it on cold. My name is Kenneth Loeffler. I live on 1006 Manono Street in Hilo. Ive lived in this residence for 72 years. Id like to clarify some of the statements previously made about Manono Street; and its all pertinent to your consideration. The first thing, there was a previous statement made about all the rubbish and trash and old cars, junk cars on our street. Its true. The thing that you have to decide and visualize is that why is it true, why is it happening there? This new zoning mix is the primary factor. Okay? And its doing that with the houses, its doing that on Manono Street and everyplace else. And thats the debilitating effect of the dual zoning, the mix zoning that the General Plan implemented. The second point I want to make is about the Hilo Candies thing, if thats pertinent to your discussions, why the kumiais didnt come out in force. Well, the real story behind that is my investigation, because I was the primary spokesperson for the change in the General Plan that changed the whole thing around to the low density again. So I followed up on why was it. I was waiting to get the kumiai, lets go fight this thing about this big building thats going to come up here. And I met with one of the people of the kumiaus that were in that area; and the responses I got were that, number one, they made, the people who were building, the thing made a promise that they were going to have a community center for the old people now. The old folks there thought they were going to have a community center. Thats what it was told to me now. Whether thats true or not, 22EXHIBIT A its heresy. And, the second thing was that, I found out that all of this kumiai members were taken by the people who were proposing this program, allthe whips and big time guys in Hilo took them to the Nihon Restaurant, and wined and dined them to get their support. Okay, thats how the kumiai was not involved in that Hilo Candies project. Okay? Now Ill begin my own thing. I think Mr. Delozier is a very nice gentleman. Hes a very nice person. And youre correct, were not here about discussing whos nice and whos not nice. Were here to discuss whats best for the community, okay, and for the people who live there, the people who own the properties and so forth. Thats the decision that needs to be made. And for the, I know that some of you have heard all this before. But for the sake of the people who missed the testimony last week, the power brokers along with the blessings of the County Council had been successful in maneuvering the residential/commercial mix land use designation into the General Plan. And I was there tobuckit,soImnotsittingbackwaitingforsomebodyelsetodothething.Thisasinine classification challenges the very foundation of sound city planning and will only breed the destruction and decay in the quality of life of individuals impacted by the planning decisions. Its already happening on Manono Street and the rest of the Waiakea Houselots because of this new designation. You only need to take an excursion to the Waiakea Houselots area to witness the mess the land use designation has caused and will continue to cause in neighborhoods designated commercial residential mix. Heaven help the people whose lands get designated in that mix category. All this destruction is being perpetrated. At the same time our politicians are heralding the need for reasonably priced rentals and for affordable housing purchases. All the older homes that were going for cheaper rents, and people were buying some of them as residences, are no longer going to be there. Most of them are now bulldozed and waiting for the kind of building permits that youre going to see a battle for every one of them. The commercial residential mix has effectively destroyed many affordable rental homes. Where is there concern now for affordable housing, reasonably priced rentals? This mix is effectively destroying the huge potential for housing in the area. Its a boon to the real estate people because the houses are going to move, just like they did in Los Angeles when they did the house busting by moving a colored person into a white neighborhood and everybody started to sell out. Well, theyre doing this in the Waiakea Houselots with this zoning mix. They couldnt do it through the General Plan so they went ahead and, initially, but then they developed this new mix category, residential commercial mix category and that destroyed all what we did to change the General Plan into Low Density. My parents purchased the property I live on some 70 years ago. Well, we had, when they did so they had reasonable expectations of a good life for themselves and their children; and Im one of the children. With the advent of the commercial residential mix, the land use designation, this expectation has effectively been destroyed. The destruction is not simply by accident but by a design by those who developed and supported this classification. History will bear witness to this statement. I guarantee you it will bear witness. This commercial residential land use mix by design is the catalyst for creating 23EXHIBIT A residential slums resulting in a feeding frenzy by speculative buyers, sellers, and realtors alike. Believe you me, this is the sole purpose of half of these things that are going on. Its a residential land busting and its facilitating some peoples pocketbooks because the sales are skyrocketing in the area. Okay? The increased traffic from Kawili onto Manono Street, that is a result of other former political bugaboos, will present major traffic concerns when they start considering where theyre going to channel the traffic when they make the hookup between the Komohana coming down by the University. Are they going to come on Manono Street or theyre going to fill traffic to Kilauea and Lanikaula, no not Lanikala, well, the two streets that go across Hilo. If they decide to come down Kawili, ah hah, its going to be a major, major thing. And for any one to live on Manono Street where I live, say that they can have no trouble getting in and out of their property in the morning is crazy. Heres my secret to get out of your property, you know, in answer -. You know, you live inyourhousefor72yearsandallofasuddenonedayyouhavetobackout,thereare cars, when the cars are coming over the hill and you force them to stop, theyre not stopping because they want to, you have to back out and force them to stop so that you can get out of your driveway. Thats how I have to get out of my driveway because of the traffic. Any increase now is already, I dont know if Id ever feel it, but what am I going to do now? I have to throw a bomb in the road pretty soon to stop the traffic so I can get out. So traffic concerns are real, theyre not imaginary. Theyre real. From where I live, at least, up to the corner where they live is big time because of the traffic. Historically, the trade winds which blew gently through my home is now filled with dust from the roadway fronting my home. You cant do nothing about this. But living, you know about the traffic problem. This project will increase traffic and subsequently increase the dust problem, not to mention the noise pollution. Funny? Yeah, not so funny when you live under those conditions and the conditions are going to get worst. The Directors widening of the road will impact my property if they intend to widen as a condition of this granting of the zoning change. This will bring increased traffic closer to my front door. Because theyre going to come down and theyre going to want to widen the street right up to my property and take some of my property away. So instead of being far back away from all this dust, Im going to be that much, another 9-10 feet closer to the highway. The dust pollution passing through my home, not to mention the already increasing noise from large trucks, with unlawful black, black mufflers, on cars, motorcycles, as well as large groups or organized vehicles which have been terrorizing Hilo as of late between 12 and the morning time, all over Hilo full blast, any street, 4 oclock in the morning, 3 oclock in the morning -. You call the police and theyll tell you, well, theyre entitled to be on the roads, too. Is police protection, police and more police the answer? I dont know. Is a zoning change necessary to eliminate some of these traffic problems? It is. But if it is going to increase the traffic it becomes a major issue for the people who live there. While Im only one voice, I was there when there were 200 voices I was speaking for. And we succeeded in changing the General Plan, of all things. The hardest thing to do in this County is change the General Plan; and we got it changed. And then boom, you come up and all of a sudden I get wind of the fact that its a commercial residential 24EXHIBIT A mix. I said this is the way to get around this Low Density thing that we battled all along. Because every six months or so there was a new person coming in for a zoning change and everybody had to get together and go come before you and try to block this zoning change. And so when we changed the General Plan it initially stopped the whole smear, all these zoning changes required. And now with this mix thing its going to be big time from now on. Its going to be a big time, the zoning request in the Waiakea Houselots area; and down goes this little thing. I thought it was funny when I was studying this thing. This thing came out in the Tribune Herald. It says all the things that are endangered in Hawai€i, all the plants and animals and whatever; and one of them was affordable housing. Affordable housing is in danger. Everybody recognizes that but nobody is doing a darn thing about it in trying to prevent it from happening; and this zoning mix thing is not going to help affordable housing. Waiakea Houselots now is already falling apart because of this. And all the older homes are gone because they want to put commercial buildings. One is going to turn into another office building some place upatthecorner.NextisgoingtobeKukuauandalltheotherareaswheretheyare supporting lower income people, people with not enough money to pay the high rents. Anway, if I sound like Im this haole from nowhere who doesnt know what hes talking about, I apologize for that because I am very emotional about where I live and the threat thats coming to our neighborhood. And it has been a long threat from years back with the other General Plan, and now it comes up. I went to the latest General Plan meeting with the Council and I stated my objections to this very issue; but nobody paid attention to me. They went ahead and did it anyway. So Im absolutely opposed to the project. I think Mr. Delozier is a nice gentleman and is entitled to whatever he can get out of whatever he can get from you. However, it affects me so negatively that my 72 years in Waiakea Houselots is at stake. And my piece of mind and what years I got left on this earth is not going to be as peaceful as I think it is because Im going to have to keep fighting this battle over, and over, and over again. So Ill see you next round. Thank you very much. GALDONES:Thank you, Mr. Loeffler. Commissioners? Commissioner Siracusa. SIRACUSA:Thank you. You know, every two weeks when the vital statistics get printed in the Tribune Herald, I count up the number of births and I write it down and keep a tally. I think Ive mentioned this before; and theres on the average of, you know, 30 new births every two weeks on this island. And even without the influx of people coming in from outside we are going through some major population increase. And that alone is going to generate a lot of traffic on Manono Street and every other street and highway on this island, even without this project. As a matter of fact, I think we can count on a lot more traffic coming from that source than from this project. So I just wanted to point out that, you know, traffic concerns are, yes, its a big problem; but we cant go out and give everybody prophylactics either, you know, as a cure-all of population and traffic jams. And I understand your feelings very strongly. Ive seen now a whole influx of development in my neighborhood that doesnt make me terribly happy; but we cant always get what we want and we cant keep other people from wanting to do 25EXHIBIT A certain things with their land. On the other hand there are, you say that you do have a way and, I dont know, I think its a nightmarish kind of way of getting out of your driveway quite frankly. I would be terrified to have to back out into traffic like that -. LOEFFLER:Yeah, thats what Ive got to do. SIRACUSA:And take that risk, but -. Did you want to comment on the possible comparison between population increase impacts on Manono Street traffic and Mr. Deloziers proposal? LOEFFLER:I absolutely want to address the traffic thing how you mentioned, its going to happen. But things that happen are not always as you see it. There are things that are going on in this community and this town that you people are not aware of. And this traffic you talk about and that Im speaking out coming up pretty soon on decisions is aresultofthefactthattherewasaneasementfromKomohanaallthewaydownto-. SIRACUSA:Yeah,youexpressedthatalready. LOEFFLER:Itoldyouthatlastyear;andasaresultofpoliticstheygrantedthe zoning, permits to build buildings on the side that there was the easement. As a result of that political maneuvering and fixing up, so to speak, I may have to pay the price for the traffic down the line. So -. SIRACUSA:Yeah, but youre not answering my question. LOEFFLER:Whats the question? SIRACUSA:My question was if you wanted to make any comments regarding the affects of population increase on increased traffic on Manono compared to this proposed development impacting the traffic on Manono. LOEFFLER:Okay. The traffic on Manono and the traffic of the increase in population are related to the traffic coming from Komohana, because they all bottleneck into the same place. SIRACUSA:Excuse me, people come from Puna too and travel along Manono Street, I do. LOEFFLER:Well, thats true. I know that. SIRACUSA:So I dont think its only whats happening up Komohana way. GALDONES:Commissioner Siracusa -. SIRACUSA:But, never mind. 26EXHIBIT A GALDONES:I do not want to get into a, as I stated, Id just like to remind the Commissioners lets not get into a debate with the testifiers. Were here to accept their testimony and make a decision on their testimony. So Id appreciate if you folks would refrain from doing that. LOEFFLER:Thank you. And I apologize if I seem arrogant or too forceful; but I feel what, I believe in what Im saying and Im here because of it. Thank you very much. GALDONES:Thank you, Mr. Loeffler. Ms. Takemura, could you please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Hawai€i County Planning Commission? TAKEMURA:I do. GALDONES:Could you speak into the mike so that we can have you recorded. Pleasestateyourname,yourresidenceaddress,andyoumaybeginyourtestimony. TAKEMURA:MynameisLillianTakemura.Iliveat650LaukapuStreetwhich is two streets parallel to where the Rhoades live. I received their letter and then I tried to see them several times and finally got to them about Wednesday, Wednesday afternoon. Im familiar with the area because, I wasnt born there but Ive lived there since I was five; and my grandparents have a property on Laukapu Street which is just oh, Id say about 200 yards from Big Island Candies, within that block right after Big Island Candies. But theyve been living there since the late twenties, 1920s. And I recently became part-owner of the home, of the property and two homes on the property and have invested almost $50,000 to renovate the old home in order to be able to live there for rest of my life. Its still not completed but I find that the block that I live in is mainly residential and the neighbors are very quiet. I have two neighbors who are about 96 years old. Theyve been there longer than, I guess when it was still pasture land. And my one neighbor on my right side is no longer there because he moved away way on the other side of town. But there are four new neighbors in that one block. They purchased the property and theyre constructing homes, very nice homes to mention that. However, I just came here to listen to the testimony of the Rhoades and as the testimonies of other people went on, I said I guess I have to come up here and say something, too. The area that I had checked with the Planning Commission at the County is bordered by Iwalani Street, Kekuanaoa Street which goes all the way up to the airport intersection, Kalanikoa Street on the inside, Kalanikoa Street all the way to Lanikaula Street, and then all the way on Lanikaula up to Iwalani Street. I had understood this area to be residential but I had discovered while driving through the area sometimes that theres something strange going on here; and there was a property for sale for many years by a group of children after their parents passed way. It was recently sold and it has changed the whole block. This is just a block over next to mine. And whenever someone wants to change the general zone, they send letters to the neighbors; but I guess because its in the next block over we didnt get the letter informing us that there was going to be a change made 27EXHIBIT A there. So our little block is still residential; and as I said its very quiet. And wed like to keep our section residential. Many of the children have grown up, their parents are dying because theyre all in their eighties and nineties. Many of them have left the area because theyve had to be put intocare homes. And the properties might be for sale but there are many that are still in trusts and overgrown with grass and weeds and trees. Id like to see those purchased by people who would like to build homes because it was a very, the whole houselots area used to be a very nice residential area. But now because of the businesses on the Kekuanaoa to Piilani Street blocks coming in, it has been changing. We have had extra heavy traffic, especially going through the subdivision going to the industrial area. I have to always figure on which way Im going to leave my house because I like to make right turns. The left turns take too much time and too much traffic. So I rarely go down to Kekuanaoa, which is just a short distance from my house to make any left turns. There are times when I need to get to Kamehameha Avenue; and thats when I do try to make the turns or go straight across the street as soon as I can. But IalwaystrytomakerightturnsbecauseitstheeasiestwaytogetoutofWaiakea Houselots now. But Im really not against small businesses, but I hope they can find another home somewhere else so that people can move into our area and build homes and live there. Id like to see more children living in that area. It was really nice. Thank you very for your time. GALDONES:Thank you, Ms. Takemura. Commissioners, any questions of Ms. Takemura? Seeing none, thank you. Are there any other members of the public wishing to testify on this subject matter? Seeing none, Mr. Delozier, please come forward. Mr. Delozier, do you have any closing statements before I turn it over to decision-making? DELOZIER:None. GALDONES:Commissioners, any final questions of Mr. Delozier? Seeing none, Commissioners, this comes with a recommendation from the Planning Director that it be favorably sent over to the County Council. Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Yes. I have some questions of the Director regarding the conditions of approval. Looking at Condition G, it refers to RS-10 zoning and impact fees based on RS-10 zoning; and I dont see why that condition is in there when were looking at an application to change it from RS-10 to Neighborhood Commercial-10. Is that a typo? YUEN:No. Although this project is stated as a commercial use if this change of zone is granted you can also do residential uses, including multi-family residential. If multi-family residential were developed it will be the policy of the County to charge a fair share assessment to that. We would exempt the one unit that is possible under current zoning. So, for example, if in years to come somebody wanted to put a 14- unit apartment building here, which would be possible with the change of zone, the CN 28EXHIBIT A zoning, we would have a fair share assessment for 14 units minus the one thats allowed under the current zoning. SIRACUSA:Okay. So its not that this Condition Gis not applicable; it is even with the proposed change of zone. YUEN:It is applicable. If its developed as a commercial building there wont be any fair share assessment because there isnt, the practice has not been. If the system though is changed to an impact fee system that does assess on a commercial building, then there would be an impact fee assessment, if that happened before a building permit were issued for this property, for example. So we still need to have that fair share impact fee condition in there. And the RS-10 zoning is simply to refer to the fact that if he did it as a residential project one unit would be exempted from the fair share. SIRACUSA:Thank you. I had another issue about Condition E which refers to the,letssee,theapplicantshallinstallstreetlightsandtrafficcontrolsasrequiredbythe Traffic Division, DPW, applicant shall be responsible for design, purchase, installation of such devices, etc., etc. And it was my impression that that intersection there has just recently been redone; and so Im wondering why that would be in there. YUEN:Well, traffic controls, the intersection was redone. The street lights, the traffic controls could be something as simple as a sign for the building itself. SIRACUSA:Oh, like a hidden entrance sign or something like that? YUEN:Something like that, or striping for the turn. Im not sure exactly what would be required here; but it is a standard condition. SIRACUSA:Okay. Then I have three suggestions I would like to see as added conditions. And one would be to incorporate Mr. Deloziers agreement to install a gate or a chain or something like that that would close off the parking lot after hours. And another would be his agreement not to develop a second business within that building, because that would keep the traffic down also not having a second business. I dont like the idea of approving a pig-in-the-poke, as Ive said before. And the third one, I dont remember that right of the top of my head now. But at least those two I would like to see incorporated. Oh, the third one had to do with my question, what I was going to ask you at the very beginning, if there was some way that we could protect that historical building from being torn down in the future, as long as its still a viable building that is, even if we changed the zone. Is there some process or some way we could word a condition that would protect that structure? YUEN:Is your purpose in protecting the building to, because of the historic significance of the building itself or because of the scale of the, the ultimate scale of the project that can be developed if its limited to something like the existing building? 29EXHIBIT A SIRACUSA:Both, both actually. YUEN:Let me give a general answer first. You know, in general the Commission can put conditions on. They have to be, let me read the wording. If youre going to add conditions, they have to be necessary to prevent circumstances which may be adverse to public health, safety, and welfare, or reasonably conceived to fulfill needs directly emanating from the land use proposed with respect to protection of the public from the potentially deleterious effects of the proposed use or for fulfillment of the need for public service demands created by the proposed use. We, in general, we are not recommending a lot of site specific conditions or limitations to a commercial zoning. And the reason for that is that the basic philosophy of zoning is that you, if youre going to zone a site to a commercial use you have to accept, people making the decision, us and the County Council, have to accept that the commercial realityisthattherearechangesintimeoverwhoisgoingtobetheoccupantofthe building, what kind of people that they have. And unless youre comfortable with that range of uses then you should not approve the zoning. So, and Ive mulled over going to a more, really, say, a radical change in the system where you would have more of a use permit type system of land use. And where you have a use permit, they come in for a specific use, you judge that and you approve it, or you dont approve it. The difficulty when you play that scenario out is that you have this extremely, the administrative burden of it is extreme. And the practicality of it is very difficulty because, you know, you take an applicant and they, say theyre going to do an office, there might be, its very difficult. Today youre a mortgage company but are you always going to be a mortgage company? And there was testimony, for example, that a mortgage company has, you dont have people coming in and out like a bank, but say you want the site to be a bank, the landowner may want the site to be a bank in the future. So thats a very difficult thing to do. We have limited, if I think of examples of things that weve done, though, that are similar to what youre talking about, we did in one case or, I believe in one or two cases, limit commercial zoning, I mean, I think it was RCX in those cases, to existing dwellings or buildings with a similar square footage because we were deferring infrastructure improvements based on that. In other words, the applicant had come in with a representation that they were doing a really small project and so, therefore, should not, I believe in the case Im thinking of it was sewer hookup and we said, okay, as long as you keep the same building as or something of a similar square footage you dont have to do a sewer hookup. So if the applicant does not object to it, I would not object to it. I would not object to, and if the Commission wants to make this as their recommendation, I wouldnt object to saying the building or something or a similar size. I think its difficult to, although its nice that theyre keeping the house thats there, I think it would be difficult for the applicant to promise that youll always have the same house because the house can burn down, and if the house does burn down that they wouldnt rebuild something thats more functional as a building. So that would be the limit of what I would consider reasonable. But I would ask for the applicants comments on a condition like that. 30EXHIBIT A SIRACUSA:Okay. I would approve a condition like that because as you say what if a bank went in there, the amount of traffic that would be generated in this already has been raised, you know, the issue of traffic and theimpact of that on people living and working in the community. And its one thing to have a low traffic generating business as opposed to the possibilities down the line of a very high traffic generating business. WATANABE:Mr. Chair? GALDONES:Commissioner Iwashita, oh, excuse me, Commissioner Watanabe. WATANABE:I understand your concern about the traffic and all of that but, you know, I think realistically if youre looking at any type of business they are also looking at traffic flows, meaning if they already see a congested intersection it is highly unlikely thattheywouldcompoundonthattrafficandmoveintothatarea.Youknowforone being someone that works at a credit union, were building another branch, we look at traffic, and if we saw something like that its not an area wed get into. But further than that, I think we have another one, I believe its number four, DeLima, thats coming up also. And I have some trouble with starting to put these limitations on the change of zones, mostly because I think the whole thing went through a process. The General Plan was changed. Whether everybody agrees with it or not I think is not the issue. Maybe here I think what we have to do is impose a General Plan. You know, if the General Plan somehow went through this five-, ten-year process, whatever, and it got changed to Medium Density, then from a Commission standpoint we just have to go along with the General Plan. Thats my point of view. Cause I can just see where were going to have, like Mr. Loeffler said, more of these applications coming in, and I dont know how were going to be fair if on this particular project we impose different restrictions. And because no one comes up and complains on the next application, then are we just going to say, okay, thats fine, go ahead? How are we going to be consistent then? I just think youre going to have to follow the General Plan in the end. Thats my comment, anyway. GALDONES:Commissioner McCall? MCCALL:Yeah. I generally agree with Mr. Watanabe that the process has basically been done, the General Plan has been amended. I feel that in general it is our idea, our duty to implement the General Plan. There is, the public definitely has their place here, and we understand, you know, where you guys are coming from. But I think this is a process that has been, is in the works already. I have a question though to Mr. Yuen. If we were to put a, lets say a restriction on the size of the building, for instance, say it has to be in the same footprint or whatever, what would the applicants, ten years from now if the applicant wants to change that, it would be to come back to have a change of, it wouldnt be another change of zone but it would be just a change to the conditions? Is that correct? 31EXHIBIT A YUEN:It would be an amendment to the zoning condition and it would have to go through the same processas this. Any substantive amendment to the zoning condition, you notify neighbors, you go through the Planning Commission and you go to the County Council. And let me say that Im not advocating a limit like that. If its okay with the applicant and it gets the applicant through the Planning Commission, I have no problem with it. MCCALL:Perhaps maybe then to, Ill just ask the applicant. Would you consider if a restriction was put on to stay with the same square footage that the house occupies now, would you be accepting of that? DELOZIER:The question that I would ask before Id be willing to reply to that is would that restriction limit my abilities to enclose the existing carport or enclose the existing area underneath the already enclosed building? I mean, as it sits now its a building-. YUEN:Well,itdependsonhowtheconditionisworded.Isupposewhat were, and what I should have said is if it makes a project something thats easier for you to pass the Planning Commission and the County Council, I have no problem with it. I would not, and from the standpoint of the Planning Commission, I think that, from the votes that have been taken so far and the questions that have been asked, that there are some Commissioners who are willing to vote for your project outright without any kind of special condition. I think there are other Commissioners who may feel otherwise and that this might help make it more palatable or attractive to them. You need to, if youre willing to go along with a condition thats like this, you need to let the Commission know how far you can go with that. I mean, theres no sense in putting on a condition that takes away what youre trying to achieve in doing the rezoning. DELOZIER:So in reply to that, back to you then, a condition like that I would find acceptable as long as I had the option to enclose the lower areas of the home. So its not, because as its permitted now and according to County records, its a two-bedroom and one bath. So as business goes on, it will be a little bit tight right now space-wise, but there are some areas downstairs that are already enclosed and there are issues of storage and, you know, those types of things. So as far as expanding beyond the existing footprint, if there was limitation that had wording along those lines, I would not have opposition to that, just with the clarification and understanding that the areas including the carport Is a part of the existing footprint. MCCALL:It would seem to me, I mean, if were talking about staying within the existing footprint, I mean, if you had a fire and the place burned down you could rebuild it and there would actually be no rule, if its in the existing footprint. As I read it, you could make a three-story instead to within whatever fits in zoning or something, but as long as it stayed within the same footprint. I dont know what other Commissioners think about that. 32EXHIBIT A GALDONES:Hold on, Commissioner Iwashita and then Commissioner Watanabe. IWASHITA:Thank you, Mr. Chair. I had a couple of questions for the applicant. If the Commission recommends a denial and you ultimately dont get a rezoning, will that put you out of business? DELOZIER:In the short term no, because I have, as explained, been given notice to vacate the location that Im in currently, and that is short term. That date is before I would be able to complete the process of County Council meetings and being able to accomplish the conditions that have been given by the Planning Department. So for the short term Im fine. The long-term its a tough question to answer; and the reason its tough is just the nature of the business that Im in. It all depends what happens with housing prices, what happens with interest rates, what happens with competition coming in,whathappenswithavailabilityofotherspacesavailableforleaseayearfromnow. Assuming that things remain the same and I would be forced in a position to move to another location to where rent triples what my current lease is, it wouldnt put me out of business, but it would cause me to reduce my staff load; and I would have no choice but to lay people off, yes. IWASHITA:Thank you. Other things I want to clarify „ when you purchased the property it was under the old zoning, the Low Density, right? DELOZIER:Right. IWASHITA:And from what I understand in our records so far, I just want to make clear, is that you attempted to submit an application to do this project under the old zoning and you were summarily told you cant do it, is that correct? DELOZIER:Correct. IWASHITA:So when you bought the property basically your understanding right now is you were not able to do the project that youre asking to be allowed to do, or the change of zone? DELOZIER:The circumstances at the time the property was purchased are different than they are now -. IWASHITA:Right. DELOZIER:So, yes. IWASHITA:No, I just want to get your understanding of when you purchased the property. Okay. Would you have any objection to adding a condition to the, if we were to consider doing this, adding a condition that would require one of the uses to be maintain a dwelling as part of the use of the property? 33EXHIBIT A DELOZIER:Can you clarify that for me? IWASHITA:Yeah, one of the conditions would be that -. You understand in the zoning change that youre asking for that dwelling is one of the allowable uses? DELOZIER:Yes. IWASHITA:Okay. So Im asking you if you would consider agreeing to, I understand right now one of your employees actually rents this house, right? DELOZIER:Correct. IWASHITA:So Im asking you whether or not you would agree to allow her or anothertenanttocontinuetousepartofthestructureasadwellingandthenyoucoulddo your office in another part? DELOZIER:So would that condition be in addition to the condition that I cannot expand beyond the existing footprint? IWASHITA:Not necessarily, no. Im interested, you heard my prior comment from the last time. My main concern is that residential use is, and Ms. Takemura she has left already but I, you know, my clear sense is that there are lot of people, renters and owners, that want to maintain houselots as a residential community. Okay? So thats why Im asking you, if you would agree to a condition that one of the uses that you would put property to would be to maintain at least one dwelling on the property. DELOZIER:Im unable to answer that at this time because the nature of the business that were in is highly regulated by HUD. And so one of the things that I would have to do before I could reply accurately to that would be see if something like that would be allowed by HUD. IWASHITA:Okay. Well, youre saying that HUD might have some rule that prohibits a mortgage broker from maintaining an office in a mixed use facility, like in LA or San Francisco, or whether it be -? Im sure, you know, offices are maintained in buildings where people have apartments. Why is, I dont understand how could that be a concern. DELOZIER:Theres, first of all, a difference in a clarification that needs to be made between a mortgage broker and the nature of our operation. Im not a mortgage broker. Im a HUD approved lender. So, therefore, the regulations that I fall under are much different, versus a broker. And I dont know for sure so, therefore, Im not going to make commitments until I would have the opportunity to verify accuracy of that. There are -. 34EXHIBIT A IWASHITA:If theres no rule prohibiting you from doing that, is that what I suggest something youre agreeable to in principle? DELOZIER:My pause is only just to visualize how it could be accomplished. I mean, as it stands now its a two-bedroom one bathroom how. And so if a condition like that was a part of this, where would someone live and where wouldwe conduct our business? IWASHITA:I dont want to tell you that. DELOZIER:I mean, its just -. YUEN:Well, you know, I think we have to be fair to the applicant here. Hes not going to be able to accomplish both operating within the footprint of the existing house,havingthebusinessthathewantstohave,andhavingaresidentialuse.Hecannot do that. IWASHITA:Whats the square footage of the property, I mean, house? DELOZIER:Its 1200 square feet. IWASHITA:Both stories? DELOZIER:No. IWASHITA:The present living area and the upper level of the building is 1200 square feet? DELOZIER:No. The present permitted area which includes the laundry area, one enclosed small area downstairs and the upstairs is 1200 square feet. IWASHITA:And the rest of the area is 800 or 1000 square feet? DELOZIER:In the neighborhood of that, yes. IWASHITA:Okay. I think it can be done but I told you Im not going to tell you how to do that. Im just asking you if thats a condition that you would agree to in principle. And your answer is I dont know? DELOZIER:My answer to that one is Id have to think about it. IWASHITA:Thank you. GALDONES:Commissioner Watanabe. 35EXHIBIT A WATANABE:Yeah, maybe I could make a suggestion. You know, were talking about potential conditions. And I dont know that, Ive already voiced my concern about that. Im wondering if we should attempt to take a vote first to see if its even necessary to go there. If we have the vote to affirmatively pass this onto the Council with a recommendation without the conditions, then maybe we could go ahead with that. GALDONES:If we are going to be voting, Id like us to vote on what the conditions that would be also included in the total package of conditions here. WATANABE:Yeah, thats why Im suggesting we take a vote without any conditions and see where we stand; and then if we cant get it fixed that way then obviously well have to discuss further about the conditions. Yeah, and if its agreeable to the rest then Id be willing to make a motion to that effect. GALDONES:YoucouldaccomplishthatbymeansofpollingtheCommissioners without having to take a vote. WATANABE:Oh, I wasnt aware of that. GALDONES:I do not want to go into action, take official action of voting on something because if we do vote on something then I would have, as a Chair, I would look at it as though its an official position. But if we wish to poll the Commissioners, state their position, I guess that would be okay to do that. But what Id like to do is we need to address the recommendations or suggestions from Commissioner Siracusa and see if the applicant, Mr. Delozier, is agreeable to the three conditions that she has stated, just roll it all into one vote if were going to include that in or not and then just vote on that as an amendment to it. So there were three, one is in the installation of a gate and have it closed after hours; second one is no second business; and the third weve already had some discussion about that. Its about tearing the house or rebuilding the house and keeping it in the same footprint. So the other two is also for his consideration. A suggestion is to have Mr. Delozier address those so that Commissioner Siracusa can decide whether she is going to incorporate that as part of the conditions that we will be voting on, unless you wish to abandon that suggestion. Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:No, I dont wish to abandon that suggestion. I have no problem with doing a straw vote as it were on the conditions. I think that Mr. Delozier had already stated that he had planned to put in the gate after due consideration and that he had no problem with limiting to a single business. So the only question for him would be whether he -. And I think he also stated, if Im not wrong, that he would be willing to accept the same square footage provided he would be allowed to close in the carport and part of the downstairs. GALDONES:Mr. Delozier, is that correct? SIRACUSA:Is that correct? 36EXHIBIT A DELOZIER:Yes, that is accurate. SIRACUSA:Then maybe we should just take a straw vote on the three separate conditions or just poll the Commissioners, and then we can see whether we want to put those in or not. It would certainly affect my vote on the entire change of zone application, as to whether those conditions were in there or not. And Id like to know how the other Commissioners feel about that. GALDONES:Commissioner Graham? GRAHAM:My thoughts go back to something Mr. Watanabe said a short while ago which was to the effect that, you know, we are going to be having more applications in this area. So if we are going to make some condition here on this applicantwhichsaysyouwontincreasethefootprintandyouwonthaveasecond business in the area, then Id like to be consistent as a Commissioner. So then am I feeling like, well, okay, on everybody else that comes up or something like that regardless of whether people are testifying, am I going to say, well, you cant increase the square footage and you cant have second businesses? I dont feel comfortable doing that and I dont like doing that. And I feel like, you know, if we feel the General Plan designation is really wrong then I think we can vote against this. But barring that feeling, I feel like it is consistent with the General Plan and we havent issues specified by Public Works that are specific to this application that require anything beyond what we already have in the conditions. So, whereas, I agree with the sentiments of the other Commissioners about wanting to preserve the building and these other things. You know, I dont want to get into the path, like Mr. Yuen said, of micro-managing too much and then because somebody doesnt come in and complain or testify on other ones Im not going to require of some other person. I just dont like that. So Im okay with the application as it stands. Thank you. GALDONES:Commissioner McCall? MCCALL:I agree. I, too, am happy with the application as it stands. I would be willing to accept some conditions if that was the way to get this through. But I am happy to, Id be, you know, willing to make a motion on this as it stands. GALDONES:Commissioner Salavea? SALAVEA:I guess I echo what Commissioner Graham has said regarding being consistent. And, as a Commission, Im new to the Commission so Im still in a learning process. But one thing that I try to embody in making decisions is to be consistent and apply the rules uniformly. As a body and the makeup of the, the makeup of the Commission changes, that application of the rules is subject to personal perspective and, therefore, I cant see how we can maintain putting conditions that would be consistent with past decisions on every applicant that came before us. And so I would, I 37EXHIBIT A reiterate what Commissioner Graham said and state that I would be for looking at the application as is, conditions without. I hope that made sense. GALDONES:Commissioner Watanabe? WATANABE:Well, obviously, Im for approving it without additional conditions only because, you know, again, I think its very difficult to be consistent going forward once you start opening that pandoras box of adding conditions. And I dont believe that you will consistently have public testimony necessarily against further rezoning which, I think, we can agree is going to occur. And so then it becomes an issue of whether, well, if you complain then well change. I think planning should be different, yeah, it should just be more consistent. GALDONES:Commissioner Iwashita. IWASHITA:As far as the conditions are concerned, well, its not a good place tostart.Iwanttoaddressthiswholenotionaboutconsistency.AndactuallyIwantto start where the General Plan is. The reference is to the General Plan designation and how we should be implementing the General Plan designation, and that somehow the Medium Density Urban General Plan designation anoints this project, and we dont have a choice. In my mind I see my role, the role, my role as a Commissioner differently. The General Plan designation is just that, its a general designation. It does not grant any landowner any right whatsoever, none. Thats why Mr. Delozier is here. Thats why any other landowner in the houselots area would have to come to this Commission first and then go to the Council to get a change of zone to do something different from the existing zoning and use allowed. The General Plan designation for Medium Density Urban use opens up the different possibilities; but it does not entitle the landowner to say, okay, this is what I want, Ill go to the Planning Commission and theyll rubber-stamp it. Thats not our job as I see it. I see our job as to look at the community and the specifics and the evidence in this case and decide whether or not this is a zoning change that we believe in the long run, in the long term will be the benefit, in the benefit not only for the applicant but for the houselots community in particular, and Hilo in general, and ultimately I guess for the whole island, if you look at it that way. But that is the perspective. So that the notion that because there was a change in February from Low Density Urban to Medium Density Urban that somehow requires us, or there is a bias towards, or however, theres a weight towards granting this application. To me its to ignore the evidence in this case, the clear community sentiment I think that has been established in the record, that this area should be maintained residential. Thats why I asked Mr. Delozier about maintaining a residential use on the property, because it is allowed in this mixed use situation. But, and, you know, so the difficulty that I see in our process the way it works is that if this is granted Mr. Delozier can do a 7-11, Mr. Delozier can set up an auto repair business; and we cannot stop that. Were saying thats okay. Right? And, you know, we dont have to take his statement that Im going to keep an office here because, you know, 38EXHIBIT A things change, something might come up in his life that requires him to sell the property as rezoned, and the first person to come along to pick it up is going to be Aloha Gas or something like that. And its, you know, then everything we talked about here today is moot; and we have by virtue of granting this Village Commercial zoning change created the circumstance where that can happen and weve let it go. So thats our role as I see it as Commissioners, to advise the Council to look at the big picture as it affects this particular application and not say, well, the General Plan has been changed so were going to grant this. That is, to me, an ineffective way to view this application or any application such as this. And so my sentiment, obviously, is to deny this application. And, you know, as far as conditions, I agree with the general sentiment that we shouldnt be doing little nit-picky conditions as to each application. But if its appropriate, and I think the evidence in this case will make it appropriate to require a dwelling use on this property, then thats something I would look at. That would be my main concern. Thank you. GALDONES:CommissionerWatanabe? WATANABE:IrespectCommissionerIwashitasopinionandallthat.Ithinkhis main trouble is with the process itself, you know, as far as how the General Plan was amended. But, you know, if youre going to argue the point that just because the General Plan was changed we shouldnt be rubber stamping it, then with a project such as Wesley Yamada, I believe it was, down in Puna side, I think most of us agreed it was a good project but we turned it down because it didnt fit the General Plan, not because we thought it wouldnt help the community. So, you know, if youre going to go on that argument, I think you have to be consistent, which would mean you would oppose the General Plan even if it meant approving a project if you thought it would add to the community. But we didnt do that there. You see, and thats I think where were having trouble. I think the other part is I dont that we each really are looking back at our district and saying, oh, well, well poll our district and they want this or dont want this, which means then its not so much democratic. Its just, you know, well, you got appointed so youre on the Commission now youve got all this power; and Im not sure that thats the way we want to do it. Im thinking somehow there was a process that went through the public process and thats how the General Plan got amended; and its not that were rubber-stamping it. Its that that process theoretically recognized the democratic process and we should try and uphold it. Thats my view anyway. GALDONES:Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Yes. I wanted to say that I agree with Commissioner Iwashita that the General Plan, I see it as a guideline, not a set of manacles for us. Because if that were the case then no one would have to apply for special permits at all, or anything along that line. And I think the reason were here is to judge each individual application on its own merits to a very large extent, and that would preclude consistency because every case is a little bit different. 39EXHIBIT A GALDONES:Mr. Yuen. YUEN:Can I just jump in on some comments on the General Plan and consistency. I dont think Ive ever said that the General Plan compels the Commission to take a favorable action on a rezoning application or that the General Plan, that youre supposed to rubber-stamp and take action, or theres no choice in the action. What the General Plan does though for an area, and the change that was made in the General Plan for this area of the Waiakea Houselots, it does set an overall policy direction. Under the previous policy direction it was Low Density Residential, Low Density Urban, which would be Single Family Residential in character. As Medium Density, it becomes a mixed use, a potentially mixed use area. So in this, as I said in the previous meeting, the change in the General Plan is a strong plus point for applications of this type that bring in commercial or possibly multi-family rezonings into this part of Waiakea Houselots. So you still have to look at the site specific nature. But if the feeling, if the attitude is that apartmentbuildingsandcommercialbuildingsarebasicallyincompatiblewiththeSingle Family area, then we should not have made the General Plan change. We did make the General Plan. So then the question is on the particular, is to look at the particular rezoning application to see if it is compatible. And if Mr. Iwashita wanted to say or if a member of the Council wanted to say, for example, that we would support apartment buildings in Waiakea Houselots under apartment zonings but not commercial zonings, that would be compatible and consistent with the General Plan, thats not how Im taking the General Plan. Im supporting small scale commercial uses like Mr. Deloziers; but its not something thats inconsistent or the General Plan doesnt dictate the decision being made a particular way. As I said, it is a definite policy, indication or definite step thats very much in favor of this application going through. GALDONES:Thank you, Mr. Yuen. The Chair is prepared to have some action taken on this and the Chair is prepared to have a motion. Commissioner Iwashita? IWASHITA:Im prepared to make a motion. GALDONES:Proceed. IWASHITA:Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that an unfavorable recommendation be forwarded to the County Council on the application of Change of Zone application (REZ 05-005) based on the following reasons and conditions, oh, Im sorry, based on the following reasons: The evidence in the record indicates that the predominant community interest and desires is that the area be maintained in a residential character. And that is the main reason that I see that this application should be denied. And if we were to consider a change of zone for the medium density urban use, it would be under a multi-family residential use, given the communitys desire to maintain the residential nature of the community. GALDONES:Is there a second to the motion? SIRACUSA:Second. 40EXHIBIT A GALDONES:It has been moved by Commissioner Iwashita, seconded by Commissioner Siracusa, that the change of zone application (REZ 05-005)be given an unfavorable recommendation and be forwarded to the County Council. Further discussion? IWASHITA:Mr. Chair? GALDONES:Commissioner Iwashita. IWASHITA:Yeah, I just wanted to reiterate that the Commissions roleasI see it really is to look at the evidence in this case and give it due regard. The documented evidence is that we have two sets of petitions that were submitted, all of which saying that they want to maintain the residential nature of the Houselots area. The testimony alsosubstantiatesthat.SothatifasaCommissionweregoingtogivewhatIconsider the appropriate weight to the testimony, then the application should be denied and, you know, that does not preclude Mr. Delozier from submitting another application to increase the use of his property and get a fuller return on his investment as it were. But I think we should honor the evidence from the community that they desire to keep it in a residential use. GALDONES:Further discussion? Hearing none, Jeff. DARROW:Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Commissioner Iwashita? IWASHITA:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Graham? GRAHAM:No. DARROW:Commissioner McCall? MCCALL:No. DARROW:Commissioner Salavea? SALAVEA:No. DARROW:Commissioner Watanabe? WATANABE:Nay. 41EXHIBIT A DARROW:And Mr. Chairman? GALDONES:Nay. DARROW:The motion does not pass. GALDONES:The Chair is prepared to entertain another motion. Commissioner Watanabe? WATANABE:I move that a favorable recommendation be forwarded tothe County Council on application for Change of Zoning (REZ 05-005) for the reasons stated within the Directors comments. MCCALL:Second. GALDONES:IthasbeenmovedbyCommissionerWatanabeandsecondedby Commissioner McCall that Change of Zone application (REZ 05-005) be given a favorable recommendation and forwarded to the County Council. Further discussion? Hearing none, Jeff. DARROW:Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Commissioner Watanabe? WATANABE:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner McCall? MCCALL:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Graham? GRAHAM:Aye. . DARROW:Commissioner Iwashita? IWASHITA:Nay. DARROW:Commissioner Salavea? SALAVEA:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Nay. DARROW:And Mr. Chairman? 42EXHIBIT A GALDONES:Aye. DARROW:The motion passes five to two. GALDONES:Mr. Delozier, you will be informed of todays action in writing. DELOZIER:Thank you. GALDONES:Youre welcome. The discussion ended at 11:44 a.m. Respectfully submitted, SharonM.Nomura,EastHawai€iSecretary 43EXHIBIT A