2025-02-18 Jackson M. Bauer Testimony

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(4)Shall coordinate its activities under this chapter, including its compilation of the inventories and classifications of trails and accesses,with other public agencies; (5)Shall advise and,when able,assist other public agencies in the development,construction, operation, maintenance,and regulation of trails and accesses under the other agencies'jurisdiction;...... Related Hawaii County Code Chapter 34-4(b): "The location ofpublic shoreline and mountain areas and existing shoreline,coastal and public mountain trails shall be determined by the [Planning Department] director in consultation with the State department of land and natural resources and the department of parks and recreation and shall be established by rule pursuant to chapter 91, Hawai'i Revised Statutes.The director shall solicit such information from such agencies upon adoption of the ordinance codified in this chapter and from time to time thereafter.Such rules shall include maps depicting the public-owned areas and the approximate location of the existing public trails, and may provide for supplementation of listed areas and trails upon publication of notice in lieu of rule amendment. Provided,that the rules shall be amended not less than every five years to incorporate any supplemental changes made since prior rule adoption and toallow public comments on practices and procedures established under such rules." The . Island N5 Ala Hele Advisory , s Review of the Hawail County General Plans At its February 12,2025 meeting,the Advisory.Council reviewed language related to public access,trails, recreation, and scenic resources inthe: 1) current county General Plan adopted in2OO5 (current GP), 2) draft General Plan 2040 released by the county Planning Department in 2019 (dGP2040),and 3> current draft General Plan 2045 released by the Planning Department in 2023 (dGP2045). For your easy reference and comparison,we have excerpted the relevant Objective, Policies,and Actions and provided then in this letter the specific language reviewed in each of these plans as follows: 1) Appendix 4, dGP2D4O 2\ Appendix 8, dGP2O45 3) Appendix C, current GP We have also included excerpts from the Ala Kahakai National Trail Memorandum of Understanding as the MOU directly relates tm the county of Hawaii in Appendix D. During its review,the Advisory Council noted that both the dGP2040 and dGP2045 are complete rewrites of the current GP. Because of this, one focus of our review was to determine the extent to which the dGP2040 and dGP2045 effectively include the Policies and Actions contained within the current GP. The Advisory Council found that the dGP2040 effectively includes all Policies and Actions related to public access, trails, recreation,and scenic resources in the current GP,while the dGP2045 does not. Another focus was to compare the language within dGP2040 and dGP2045 related to public access, trails, recreation, and scenic resources.