2013-11-19 Kailua Village Design Commission Minutes

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Commissioner Kitchens seconded the motion; he agreed about the traffic safety issue, but opined that such a recommendation should be made in general rather than just for this particular case. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion carried with five ayes (Andreae, Kitchens, Au Hoy, Burns and Stanbro) and three absent and excused (Akina, Bleck and Broderson). 3.Design review of a sign permit application for a proposed ground directory sign for Hawaii Electric Light Company. Applicant: Hawaii Electric Light Company. Land Owner: Hawaii Electric Light Company. TMK: 7-4-010:022. Located at 74-5519 Kaiwi Street, Kailua-Kona. Mr. Childs oriented the Commission of the subject property on recent photographs, and described the proposed ground directory sign. He also described how the applicant was proposing to prepare the area for the installation by relocating an existing chain-link fence and landscaping. He noted that the proposed sign complied with the design guidelines of the Sign Code and the Master Plan for Kailua-Kona. In response to Commissioner Stanbro’s inquiry, Mr. Childs gave a report on the status of the applicant’s landscaping project, which the Commission had previously reviewed and supported, with some suggestions. He displayed photographs showing the progress, which he had taken earlier in the day. The applicant’s representative, Scott Fleming, provided additional information on the proposal. He said that the groundcover to be planted in the signage area would be irrigated, and that the rock material to be used for the sign would perfectly match that of the building behind since they were from the same source. The Commissioners expressed their approval of the signage design, and also thanked the applicant for following through the landscaping project according to the suggestions made by the Commission. It was moved by Commissioner Kitchens, and seconded by Commissioner Au Hoy, to send to the Public Works Director a recommendation for approval of the sign permit application as submitted. A roll call vote was taken and the motion carried with five ayes (Kitchens, Au Hoy, Andreae, Burns and Stanbro) and three absent and excused (Akina, Bleck and Broderson). 4. Review and discussion of the Commission’s mission and priorities relating to the Kailua Village Special District, including consideration of establishing committees or sub-committees to address particular interests of the Commission. The Chair opened the discussion by referring back to the subject of variance procedure that Commissioner Burns had brought up during Agenda Item No. 2. Commissioner Burns reiterated her recommendation that variances from the signage area restriction code, which currently forced businesses with a long name to reduce the size of lettering, and therefore created traffic safety concerns, should be issued by the Public Works Director as administrative permits, rather than legislatively by the County Council. She further said that while there had been an ongoing effort to amend the Sign Code for the past few years, this section of the Code should be addressed separately and immediately since it involved the safety of the public. She added that she as an engineer often found herself in conflict with her expert knowledge of safety requirements for signage, when she had 3