|
mostly zoned in ’60s and ’70s like Mauna Lani, Waikoloa development. Waikoloa Village was
<br />zoned in 1969. The interesting thing is if you go back and look at those old zonings, they are
<br />like three pages long after, you know, they go through the property description but then there are
<br />hardly any conditions, requirements and the like. So within, say, a particular, like a resort, they
<br />may have had requirements in the resort but they didn’t have any off-site types of requirements,
<br />affordable housing, build a road, those kinds of things. Then from about the late ’80s, mid to late
<br />’80s on, you’ll see typically zoning does have a lot of requirements. A lot of those projects
<br />actually haven’t been built or have been built out really slowly, and partially sometimes because
<br />they have a lot of requirements on them.
<br />And my take on this is that, first, there is going to be a period in the next few years of an
<br />economic downturn, and people will come in with rezonings and in many cases bad projects in
<br />bad areas, because the pendulum will have swung where people are more concerned about
<br />economic development, economic growth, you have tendency to approve some of these. There
<br />really isn’t a necessity to approve anything to have construction and development because there
<br />really is a lot built into what’s already been approved. So people have to be careful of this in the
<br />years that come, to not burden the County with bad projects that were approved because of an
<br />immediate economic climate. At the same time we have to recognize that even, you know, by
<br />putting a stop to zoning, you are not going to stop people from moving to the island and creating
<br />a continued need for improving public infrastructure. So there is no land use tag that solves that
<br />problem; that’s a problem that has to be solved by the County and the State actually going out
<br />and building roads and schools and parks and the like.
<br />WATANABE: Yes, Mr. Woodward.
<br />WOODWARD: Mr. Chairman, if I could comment on Director Yuen’s comment. I would
<br />agree with basically everything he says. There need to be controls. But the problem is, this – to
<br />use Barack Obama’s analogy – is using a hatchet when you need a scalpel. And you know, the
<br />parents who want to build a house for their son and daughter-in-law, and to do that they have to
<br />rezone their small piece of property, are not going to be able to do it because of this bill. So it is
<br />inherently unfair. And I have no idea on earth why the County – like I said, they must have been
<br />bored – I have no idea why the County Council put this bill before us. It’s the worst piece of
<br />legislation I have ever seen come before us.
<br />WATANABE: Thank you all for your comments. I tend to agree with a lot of those. I
<br />think, though, you know, again, they had an opportunity to pass some sort of impact fee; it’s not
<br />been passed. With regard to the Director’s comments, as far as the resort zoning that’s already in
<br />existence, we have an opportunity to impact that because they still require an SMA, and so –
<br />most of the time anyway, they still require an SMA – so you know, that’s where we can make
<br />some difference there. But anyway, I don’t think it’s within our power to resolve. Certainly,
<br />they’re going to have to look for a means to finance all of this. Mr. Housel, it looks like you
<br />have some comments.
<br />HOUSEL: Yeah, a question to Director Yuen. Because you are a short timer, will
<br />you present this, our recommendation to the Council?
<br />EXHIBIT B
<br />7
<br />
<br />
|