Chapter II Planners Guide for Agency Review

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5.4 Scenic Areas, Viewsheds, & Open Space Policy 37: Develop and establish viewshed regulations to preserve and to protect from obstruction scenic resources, vistas, viewsheds, open space, prominent landscapes, and areas of natural beauty identified in the General Plan. • Conduct a scenic resources inventory and map for the Hamakua Planning Area; • Develop a corridor management plan to direct viewshed protections along roadways; • Consider structural setbacks from major thoroughfares and highways to protect viewshed. Policy 38: Amend the Zoning Code to create a conservation designation for lands (or portions thereof) that should be kept in a largely natural state, but that may not be in the Conservation District, such as certain important viewsheds, riparian buffer areas, gulches, and very steep slopes. (GP 14.8.3 (e)) 5.5 Ecosystems and Watersheds Policy 41: Develop and adopt policies (including setback requirements) to protect riparian (streamside) areas from incompatible development and uses. Policy 44: To further ecosystem protections, revise Planning Department Rule 17, Landscaping Requirements, to incorporate and encourage native and noninvasive alternatives for landscaping and restoration activities for Plan Review and County projects and to include the noxious weed list from Hawai'i Administrative Rules 4-68 as plants to avoid. 5.6 Sacred Places — Waipi'o Policy 53: Designate Waipi'o Valley, including the Valley rim, as a Wahi Pana and create a resource protection overlay and regulations that will protect Waipi'o Valley's natural resources, preserve its storied past and perpetuate its agricultural traditions and unique rural lifestyle. The Wahi Pana designation should address the following: ■ Create a Natural Resource Overlay Zone: o Prepare viewshed siting guidelines in the County Zoning Code for parcels along the southeast and eastern portions of Waipi'o Valley rim (GP Policy 7.3 (b)); o Extend the SMA boundary beyond Waipi'o Valley on the east and southeast Valley rim to ensure that greater setbacks and viewshed protections are incorporated into the review of structures in those areas; ■ Collaborate with Community Groups: o Collaborate with the Waipi'o Valley community to develop along range management plan for Waipi'o that addresses public access, carrying capacity, resource management, and potential funding sources for on-going maintenance of streams and roads. Hamakua CDP Land Use Planner's Guide 15