2017-02-07 Kailua Village Design Commission Minutes

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 Close Ali‘i Drive for pedestrian events  Historical celebration  Tree ordinance  Larger Kailua Village Special District  Update the 1994 Master Plan for Kailua-Kona In discussing the third topic, Challenges to those Big Ideas, Director Yee said that he could not ask for more money because of the County’s budget deficit, but that if he could get the ordinance changed so that the Department of Parks and Recreation could open up the gate to the Hale Halawai parking lot and collect fees, there would be funds available to do some study for community purposes. He said that he would like a parking and traffic study done, because his question was whether or not the County parking lot could be converted to a structure that would allow more parking. He said that in the absence of a stick, or enforcement ability, the additional parking could be the carrot that would entice KVBID to take on enforcement on signage and other things and get the community to play by the rules. He spoke of his work experience in revitalization of Seattle Chinatown International District, and said that part of his work was to show the community that even though some of them were doing okay, as a whole they were not thriving. He continued to say that what was best for a community was for the community to thrive as a whole. He also spoke about his involvement in development and preservation of Pike Place Market in Seattle, and said that its multi-story parking structure was a huge asset to the neighborhood. In making reference to one of the Big Ideas to purchase Uncle Billy’s Kona Inn, Director Yee said that although it might be difficult, it was a great idea. He said that what could be done was give the landowner a different vision and different legacy to leave behind before somebody else put their vision in front of them; the worst thing we could do would be to wait for them to sell it to a developer and wait for their application to build something along the shoreline that would keep everybody out. He said that there were grants available that would make design charrettes, competition, and that type of work possible. He added that he would suspect that the Kailua Village would be something that people would be interested in and fund for. In reference to the historical aspect of the Kailua Village, Director Yee talked about his vision of the Village becoming a historical sacred place. He said for example The Fish Hopper Seafood and Steaks restaurant on Ali‘i Drive could display plaques of historical photos and stories, and that could be done throughout the Village. He further said that there was money out there to do this type of project, if we were to work in a partnership. Director Yee expanded on his work experience with the Seattle Chinatown community during the downturn economy, and said that he had come up with the idea of a design center, which was eventually called an IDEA Space, to assist landlords by creating four labs: 1) Real Estate, which helped property owners with their building renovation process; 2) Design, which dealt with structural design and signage; 3) Public Safety, which systematically addressed and enforced homeless issues, and 4) Small Business, which helped small businesses from business plans to marketing. He said that the idea was to put forth something positive and not react to the speculative development and gentrification that was happening. He said that regardless of who the newcomers were, what was going to protect the neighborhood was to make sure that they understood the neighborhood and its values. He continued to say that that would be very important to the Kailua Village as well, and that it would be important to recognize the values of the Village that the community was trying to 4