2013-06-20 Leeward Exh A - Vipassana

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down to Kapanaia Bay, which is located here off to your right. The project site and its access is located directly off the extension of Pratt Road. This is a depiction of the General Plan Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide Map. As you can see, the project site is situated within an area designated for intensive agricultural uses. This is an aerial photo of the property. Again, as you can see, it’s outlined in black. The property itself is about 82 acres in size. The project site will accommodate, or occupy 15 acres, no more than 15 acres of land. Therefore, the Planning Commission has jurisdiction over the special permit; it will not go on further to the state Land Use Commission for disposition. The applicant today is requesting a five-year extension of time to comply with Condition No. 2 of the special permit, which allowed for the establishment of the Hawai‘i Insight Meditation Center on 15 acres of land. Condition No. 2, and I’m going to summarize, requires that the center itself be established within five years from the effective date of the permit. The permit itself was originally approved back in December of 2000. And as you can see, the proposed project would include a meditation hall complex, administration building, kitchen and dining room facility, maintenance facility, forty guest cottages with four bathrooms, residence halls, family housing and general purpose building, tent platforms, and teacher housing. However, when this permit was originally approved in 2000, there was litigation regarding the special permit application, and the litigation went on for a number of years. And since that time, in addition to the litigation, there has been a downturn in the global economy, which has also affected this particular project and their ability to establish the center in the time frame as originally required by the Planning Commission. But due to the litigation, the Planning Director at the very bottom did agree to toll the performance time period with a new completion deadline of July 1, 2013. And again, quickly, reasons for the request is due to the delays incurred by the court process, as well as the consolidation of the surrounding land area that encompass about 690 acres of land that ultimately resulted in the creation of this 82-acre project site, or property I should say; the global recession also having effect on the applicant’s ability to perform as required by the special permit, and decrease in capital pledges by its donors. As part of our recent plan approval that was issued in the year 2000, the applicant has downscaled the overall scope of the project, and I can generally represent, it’s about a third of the original size. The original project envisioned accommodating up to a maximum of 100 guests; the number has now been reduced to accommodate approximately 40 guests. The applicant is currently working to secure a conservation easement to preserve prime agricultural land, which is awaiting the Governor’s approval. And as I mentioned, this 15-acre project site is within a much larger 82-acre parcel. This is a site plan of the project site. When the applicant and its representatives are brought forth before the Commission, any questions regarding the location of specific structures throughout the project site may be directed at them. But, basically, the top of the map represents the makai side of the project site. Akoni Pule Highway is off on the bottom of the site plan. Access shown here on the bottom right is where it connects to Pratt Road, which then leads to the highway. And this is a general floor plan for the meditation hall. The Planning Director is recommending approval of the applicant’s request for an additional five years in which to complete construction of this proposed meditation center. So with that, I’m sorry, we have received a number of correspondences from the community, and those copies of which have provided to you. We just received communication today, and which the Commission had the 2 EXHIBIT A