AC Minutes 13Jan2015 DRAFT - Laserfiche WebLink

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rules in high hazard areas? Right now Jon says we are reacting to the lava, rather than planning towards the future. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Susan moved to approve the minutes of the December 9, 2014 meeting as submitted. Second by Sharon. Leila pointed out the misspelling of Wai’opae. The motion to approve the minutes as submitted with the spelling correction passed with 6 votes aye, 0 votes nay and 1 vote to abstain (René voted to abstain due to her absence at the last meeting) NEW BUSINESS: 1.Pāhoa Steering Committee: Patti reported on the activities of the Pāhoa Steering Committee Subcommittee. Later on the agenda is a draft letter regarding the acquisition of land next to Luquin’s Restaurant as submitted by the steering committee. The steering committee is meeting less often than every other week. The next meeting is scheduled for the first Monday in February. 2.Proposed Planning Director-Initiated Amendment to Map 14 of the Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide (LUPAG) Map of the County of Hawai'i General Plan: The PCDP AC discussed and considered recommendations to the proposed Director-initiated LUPAG amendment changing the land use designation for portions of Kea'au Village and immediately surrounding Kea'au Village. Communication 2015-4 outlines the proposed amendment and can be found on the PCDP website as well as the County Website under public documents. Daryn Arai from the Planning Department was on hand to answer any questions the AC might have regarding the LUPAG amendment. Public Testimony: 1.Kimo Lee, representative from WH Shipman, testified in support of the County initiated LUPAG amendment. Kimo clarified that their “prime agriculture land” is outside of this proposed amendment and wouldn’t be affected by the amendment. 2.Larry Brown, former PCDP Planner, testified against the LUPAG amendment and believes it’s contrary to the PCDP. Larry stated that this would be opening the door to the “second city” concept and a high density use area and believes this does not serve the intent of serving local communities in Puna. He is disappointed in the time given to the AC for comment and suggested the AC ask for a delay on moving forward with this director initiated amendment until the AC is able to provide comment. AC members had several questions including how this would affect the already congested traffic, how the rural character will be preserved and whether or not the land will be used by big box type retailers. Daryn reminded the AC that the General Plan just sets policies and there are other mechanisms that then implement specific uses. Discussion ensued debating the alignment of the LUPAG amendment with the PCDP. Patti acknowledged that while we cannot and do not want to stop growth in the Kea‘au Town area, we do want the community to have a voice so that the growth is consistent with what the community wants. Right now traffic is unspeakable and this needs to be kept in mind during this process. Sharon also stressed the need to encourage local businesses within the Village Center. Daryn pointed out that this amendment doesn’t control who will be able to utilize the new zoning areas, it’s simply not that powerful, what this amendment does is provide basic land use controls. June directed attention to the fact that on the first page of Communication No. 2015-4 it states that this amendment is trying to align the General Plan with the PCDP and eliminate inconsistencies. AC members questioned the amount of time the AC was given to comment on the proposed amendment.