PD Background Report (PL-SPP-2023-000040)

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Policy 4: Encourage Affordable Housing and Smart Growth Of the five (5) identified strategies, only one (1) has some relevance. Strategy 5 suggests that "Ag-zoned lands west and south of Waikoloa Village that are designated as `Alternate Urban'Expansion lands in the County General Plan...shall remain in 'A-5a'and 'A-20a'zoning until already RS-10 zoned lands at Waikoloa Village have been substantially developed. " The thrust of this strategy was to time development,particularly residential development, so as to avoid scattered developments even when the need is not there. In this case; the subject project is not a residential one and the request is via a Special Permit with a limited life, unlike if the property were zoned. In that sense, the request would not compromise that objective. 3. The desired use will not adversely affect surrounding properties or the general character of the area. All of the adjoining properties to the north and south are undeveloped. There are no pending urban and/or ag-related entitlement requests of these areas. Given the entitlement process,any urban type of use would extend beyond or at least near the life of the existing life and requested 10-year extension. The time extension will help amortize the cost of constructing a much needed hangar. The proposed hangar will be located in a natural alcove situated approximately 10 feet below the road line of sight. As such,the alcove will provide a natural shelter for the hangar and that together with the existing lava landscape should help minimize its visibility from both Waikoloa Road and the Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway. (Figure 6) It should also be noted that in conjunction with the amended Special Permit in 1995,there were noise related and flight control conditions to address potential impacts to surrounding properties. (See Exhibit B) To help address noise issues,Blue Hawaiian Helicopters purchased ten(10) of the helicopter industry's first low noise passenger helicopters in 2000 called the EC 130134. In 2012, it also committed to purchase ten(10) more of those helicopters, which will include the latest version of the EC130B4. Condition 10 requires an annual monitoring report, which calls for a list of any complaints received by the applicant and its disposition regarding its operations. No known complaints have been filed relating to possible infractions of the conditions. Excerpts of the most recent annual report(2021) is found in Exhibit D. An updated report for the year ending 2022 will be submitted to the Planning Department in May 2023. s