PL-SLU-2022-008-PL-REZ-2022-039 06.14.23 E. Flores Opposition Testimony within 48 hrs

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Chapter 4: Waimea Town Plan rezonings of 4 lots or less that may assist families in allowing their children to obtain individual properties. Strategy 2.2 Work with Parker Ranch to phase the "Parker 2020" Development -- The original Parker 2020 Master Plan envisioned a total of about 750 homes and 250,000 square feet of retail and office commercial development on Parker Ranch lands located at the center of Waimea Town. To date, about 240 lots have been subdivided and 80 homes have been built and sold. Pursuant to a major re-organization, there is an understanding that the newly appointed Parker Ranch Trustees will be taking a fresh look at the goals and objectives of this major development. If the additional 670 homes per the original Master Plan were to be built by 2020, this one project alone would add some 1800 people to Waimea's population over the next 12 years — a population increase comparable to the increase of 1,056 people in Waimea's population during the decade 1990-2000. Development projects of this size typically have a fairly aggressive "build-out" schedule. However, this may be a good time to reassess the size and development pace of this project. In the event that Parker Ranch does proceed to develop any of the remaining portions of this Parker 2020 development, community input should be encouraged and carefully considered during the development approval process. Strategy 2.3 Revise the County Subdivision Regulations and Planning Department policies and enforcement procedures to ensure that agricultural subdivisions are created for agricultural purposes and are not used for rural residential purposes without rezoning -- State Land Use statutes restrict residential structures on lots created after June 3, 1976 in the State "Agriculture" District to "farm dwellings." In practice however, the Hawai'i County Planning Department has approved many "agricultural subdivisions"that are actually rural residential developments. There is certainly a demand and a place for rural residential projects. However, rural residential projects should be required to apply for and receive State Land Use "Rural" classification, and County "Rural Residential" Zoning designation. As a corollary, any and all agricultural subdivisions should be required to submit a farming plan for either commercial farming, including grazing of animals, or subsistence farming together with their preliminary subdivision documents, and the Planning Department should design and implement a monitoring program that will ensure implementation of these farming plans. In the interim, until such farm plan requirements are put in place, the Planning Department should encourage land owners of Ag-zoned parcels who are proposing "Ag Subdivisions" to cluster smaller lots in areas of the site where structures would have low visual impact, and then delineate most of the remaining acreage as permanent open space areas. Strategy 2.4 Amend the County of Hawai'i General Plan "LUPAG" map by reducing the acreage of"Low Density Urban" land in Waimea Town --The current County General Plan LUPAG map for the Waimea area includes over 1,000 acres of"Low Density Urban" land in the Waimea area. This designation is defined in the General Plan (page 14-7) as: "Residential, with ancillary community and public uses, and neighborhood and convenience-type commercial uses; overall residential density may he up to six units per acre." Note that "six units per acre"translates to 5,000 square foot minimum lot size. The "Low Density Urban" areas on the LUPAG map include some existing development, but also include important cultural, historic, agricultural, and open space lands both mauka and makai of Mamalahoa Highway. Also of concern are the several hundred acres of "Urban Expansion" land shown on the south side of Kawaihae Road just west of Waimea Center, and the several hundred acres of "Rural" land shown along the south side of Kawaihae Road, roughly between Waimea and Kawaihae. Further development of these areas would continue the "suburban sprawl" development pattern that is not compatible with the goal of preserving Waimea's "sense of place." South Kohala CDP November, 2008 FINAL Page 71