2009-12-04 TSUGAI - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

If I can direct your attention to the screen. The applicant Brian Sugai is requesting a change of zone from Agricultural 1 acre to Neighborhood commercial 20,000 square feet for one acre of land. The property is located in the South Hilo district and it is just east of Komohana Street, which is on the map here running in a north-south orientation; and Ponahawai Street runs east and west. The actual property is outlined in black and it’s located a few hundred feet south of the Komohana Street-Ponahawai intersection. The General Plan designation for the property, and actually almost the entire surrounding area, is Medium Density Urban. This is an aerial photo of the property. You can see that Alenaio Drainage Canal that runs between this residential area here and the subject property, and then again the Ponahawai-Komohana Street intersection. And this is a site photo of the property looking towards the Hilo Airport direction. This is the access here; and you can see that it’s vacant and vegetated. And this is a view of the driveway here looking south. The property is on the left side of the slide; and then you can also see the view of the driveway looking north. This is the driveway right here, looking towards Ponahawai-Komohana Street intersection. The applicant is proposing to construct a 20,000-square foot office building to include medical offices for himself and others on the ground floor as well as a residential unit for himself on the second floor. And this is a site plan. It’s a preliminary site plan that the applicant submitted. It shows the access off of Komohana Street. The drainage canal is over on the right side of the slide; and the proposed 20,000-square foot office building. The Director is recommending that a favorable recommendation for this change of zone be sent to the County Council. Are there any questions? WOODWARD: Any questions for Maija from the Commissioners? Commissioner Domingo. DOMINGO: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The recommendation for approval contradicts the original recommendation for denial in regards to the previous submittals. What has changed from that time to this time to amend that recommendation? COTTLE: What has changed is that we looked at the applicant’s request again and looked to see whether certain conditions could be placed on the request in order for it to conform to the General Plan. And so we placed three additional conditions. Those are Conditions E, G and H. And two of them are related to traffic and access on Komohana Street. And we believe that the applicant is requesting to develop an office complex at this time. Based on trip generation rates, it would generate about 30 peak hour trips.And if the applicant were to develop some type of commercial use that would generate more traffic in the future, then we’ve placed this condition that they complete a traffic study and any improvements required by Department of Public Works. DOMINGO: In deference to the Department and the staff in trying to make the changes, you know, what happened further confirms my philosophical view with regards to planning, that there’s no right or wrong in the planning decisions that we make. It depends on who’s reviewing 2 EXHIBIT A