2008-06-17 Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission Minutes

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DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE REPORT Mr. Yada reported that the County Council passed two resolutions authorizing the purchase for Pa`o`o and Kaiholena. Both of these properties in North Kohala were listed on the Prioritized List of the Commission's 2007 Annual Report. He also reported that the County received and executed the offer letter from the Department of Land and Natural Resources Legacy Land Fund (DLNR LLF) for 1.5 million towards the purchase of properties in Kawa`a owned by Mr. Olson. In regards to the Kawa`a parcel formerly owned by Marcia Johnson, the grant agreement has been completed and the County has submitted all information to DLNR LLF. Ms. Springer then mentioned that in the Saturday, May 17th edition of the West Hawaii Today there was an article that highlighted on the County adding lands to the "wish list" for purchase. She feels that this will send a message to the administration on what needs to be done to service the public in setting up realistic or unrealistic expectations among them. Mr. Yada commented that from a staff perspective, it's unrealistic to give the public false hope since it'll be years before the other properties on the list can be purchased. At this point Kawa`a is the only property that the County has money for. Mr. Campbell added that he doesn't feel that it's unrealistic to have a "wish list" and hopefully the open space bond proposal will be passed by the Council to address this issue. Ms. Moon then asked if there could be public education meetings about the Commission to provide additional information. Ms. Springer noted that attendance by the public at these meetings is very poor and some of the topics that are brought up are not at all related to the Commission. She added that at the time the report is submitted to the Mayor, an article can be published in the paper. Mr. Gilmartin stressed that the article should mention that the Commission is not the "decision makers" and overall the Council has the final say. Mr. Yada feels that the public perception does impact what comes to the Commission and what goes to the Council in terms of submissions and expectations. OFFICE OF THE CORPORATION COUNSEL'S REPORT Ms. Self addressed the Commission that there's other ways of prioritizing lands. As a recent example, she spoke about a property in North Kohala with a Special Management Area (SMA) permit for five years to rezone and subdivide into 50 lots. The property was then sold to Kohala, LLC with three years left on their SMA and they did nothing nor applied for an extension. Mr. Chris Yuen, Planning Director of the Planning Department then issues a bill to the Planning Commission and Council to not extend the rezoning and SMA and downzone it back to Ag -5a. Now instead of 50 lots they're down to 2. -2-