2024-03-17 PL-REZ-2022-000033 Request to Transmit to County Council

Home

Ms. Barbara DeFranco, Chairperson And members of the Leeward Planning Commission Page 2 of 3 March 18, 2024 Commission's December 17, 2022 meeting, that resulted in its decision to defer action until the Cultural Resources Commission had the opportunity to review the proposed requests. A meeting on this matter before the Cultural Resources Commission was held on March 8, 2023 where it established a Permitted Interaction Group for the purpose of conducting a site inspection of the project site, which occurred on March 23, 2023. The report from the Permitted Interaction Group was presented to the Cultural Resources Commission at its May 10, 2023 meeting, with full discussion with the Applicant occurring at its June 21, 2023 meeting that resulted in the deferral of this matter to its next meeting to review draft motions and to allow for additional discussion by commissioners. At its July 21, 2023 meeting, the Cultural Resources Commission stated that after considering the cultural and historic resources on the property including the undocumented Holualoa Trail and petroglyph and how it relates to Holualoa, as well as other possible significant cultural historic features not previously identified, it's opinion of the project's impact to historical assets is that this project will likely have a substantial impact on historic assets. The following Cultural Resources Commission's opinions and recommendations were transmitted to the Leeward Planning Commission for consideration: 1. Due to the historic and cultural significance of the property, the CRC recommends that the property be preserved in perpetuity. In the event that this is infeasible, the CRC recommends the following conditions be required to be completed prior to any development permit approvals by the County. a. In order to be integrated into the development design, the CRC recommends further documentation of lineal descendant and kama'aina knowledge of the natural and cultural resources of the project area, inclusive of trails. b. That the applicant, in consultation with the community, amend the current development plan to include larger open space areas that more sensitively integrate and protect the natural, historical, and cultural features of the landscape, including trails and other cultural sites, as well as natural features of the terrain such as drainage channels, and native plants. The Applicant has since spent the last 8 months conducting and assembling additional information in response to the recommendations of the Cultural Resources Commission, in the hopes that it could proceed forward with the March 21, 2024 meeting before the Leeward Planning Commission. With no assurance from the Planning Department that the Applicant can proceed forward with its amendment requests in a timely manner, the Applicant has made this request to transmit the entire record on this matter to the County Council for further action.