2013-11-21 Leeward Planning Commission Minutes

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the applicant believed that their proposal was representative of the community’s desire, which had been communicated to them by way of comment letters and public meetings. In response to the Chair’s question regarding the Department of Public Works’ recommendation for roadway frontage improvements, Ms. Cottle said that the recommendation for improvements, such as curb, gutter and sidewalk, was not included in the Planning Director’s proposed conditions because the applicant had stated that no roadside parking was intended, which would have been the trigger for this condition, and also because there were no other streets with such improvements within this subdivision. An adjoining property owner, Roy Swaven, provided the following statement: “My name is Roy Swaven, and we have property adjoining the park. We’ve been looking forward to this for years and years and years, long time. The man that I guess set up the park, named Ralph, that sold us the lot to build on kind of indicated to us that we could push down a little bit into the park area, which we knew, didn’t know exactly where it was, but it was somewhere right below us. We have the house that, if she could bring that back up, with the blue roof on. So everybody could see kind of what I’m talking about. So we put quite a few trees in there, and they are nice trees, good-looking trees with flowers on them. But our – that’s a pretty good shot there, the blue house, and our daughter has the green house – so we’ve got a bunch of trees along, and we hope nobody messes with them, you know, or just hope they stay. And then I have a little parking area that intrudes part of the way into the park, and that was kind of a problematic thing. I just wondered if we should do something about that, and I’ve never heard back. Just verbally asking.” In response, Mr. Komata said that the applicant had been made aware of the issue a couple of days ago. He said that the proposed plan included a six-foot high chain-link fence along the entire perimeter of the park to establish the park boundary, which was the applicant’s standard practice with neighborhood parks, and that in this case the applicant was considering physically closing the park during the night out of respect for the long-established neighborhood. He said that the proposed fence was overlapping Mr. Swaven’s parking area, and that the applicant would work with Mr. Swaven to resolve the issue separately from this hearing. He also said that there were other trees, besides Mr. Swaven’s, that had been planted within the park property, and that the applicant would not take extreme measures without first giving those property owners an opportunity to relocate them or else work towards a solution. It was moved by Commissioner Hickcox and seconded by Commissioner Whittemore that the Commission approve the request, with conditions as recommended by the Planning Director. A roll call vote was taken and motion carried unanimously. INITIATOR: PLANNING DIRECTOR Revocation of Special Management Area (SMA) Use Permit No. 321 originally issued to Azabu U.S.A. (Kona) Co., Ltd by the Planning Commission on October 10, 1991, to allow the upgrade of facilities and construction of related improvements at the former Keauhou Beach and Kona Lagoon Hotels and the former botanical garden site located across and along the mauka side of Ali‘i Drive in Keauhou, North Kona, Hawai‘i, TMK: 7-8-013:002, 013, 043 & 7-8-010: portion of 35. The Commission took up this item at 9:55 a.m. with four people from the public in attendance. 2