2006-08-14 Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission Minutes (Hilo Mtg)

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handle it like a resort would such as Mauna Kea Beach Hotel; when the parking lot is full, they have a gate and a person stopping people from going in. Commissioner Yung asked if turning in from the Hamakua side is dangerous and it's owned by County, what happens? Mr. Yuen stated if they say this place is a County beach access, they would need to have a safe turnaround. They need to keep in mind public safety even if they are talking about a low level facility. Mr. Yuen moved onto Mahukona. In referring to the maps that he brought, he marked Akoni Pule Highway, Lakapaki Park which is State owned, a light house on Federal property and another small property which is State owned. Mr. Yuen stated most of the area right around and north of Mahukona Harbor is owned by Surety. They have the zoning for a small resort. The area north of the bay is one acre zoning. The zoning has a number of conditions requiring public access. Mr. Yuen asked if this was another example of wanting to purchase property to prevent development or to purchase property to expand. Mr. Yuen stated there was a small County park there. Commissioner Flores stated there were couple reasons why. One was to expand the County's facility in the area because of the existing County Park which is really small and possibly expanding camping in that area. The other was the protection of sites in the area. Commissioner Flores stated it came up because perhaps there may be a time where the entitlements could be bought out from them. There are major cultural sites makai of the road. Mr. Yuen stated this was a question again as to how much do you work with the land use controls versus acquisition. There will always be a limited amount of money when working with acquisition. Mr. Yuen clarified that the Commission partially desired to not see development, partially to expand the County Park and partially to protect the historic sites. Chair Replogle stated he heard from the Kohala people that they wanted to see their coast line protected and not developed. He stated that the task force in Ka`u was finishing up making recommendations and decided to go for a mile and a half set back, which he felt was a little unreasonable but on the other side of that maybe some 500 meters or more; just no building on the coast ever, that could be accomplished with zoning. Mr. Yuen replied setbacks depended on the terrain. There are places where it's more open. There are places where you can build houses a few hundred feet away from the beach and the public would never see them and there are other places where it would stick out. If you lock into a set distance or concept, it may not fit everyplace. 7