2017-08-15 Kailua Village Design Commission Minutes

Home

Upon inquiry by Commissioner Van Pernis, Mr. Dunlap said that the current elevation of the property was about 25 feet lower than Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway in the mauka portion and about 20 feet higher than Henry Street in the makai portion. Commissioner Van Pernis said that the top of the building from the Henry Street perspective would then be 65 feet high. The applicant, Fritz Harris-Glade, presented additional information. He displayed a revised site plan and stated that the flood zone within the property and the close proximity to the Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway-Henry Street intersection dictated the placement of the entryway and the hotel structure; however, by eliminating the originally proposed bridge and condensing the building, he had been able to push the building more towards Henry Street. He also stated that in order to further mitigate the impact on the residential neighborhood to the south, a landscaping buffer, such as a podocarpus hedge, would be planted in the grading phase so that by the time the building was constructed, the buffer would already be in place. He added that having the buffer was also important to the hotel for the rooms along that border. In addressing Commissioner Van Pernis’ earlier question as to the height of the proposed building, Mr. Harris-Glade stated that from Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway the building would appear to be in a hole because of the 25-foot drop, and that the height appearance from Henry Street would vary depending on the viewpoint due to its slope and curve. He added that it would be no different from the existing buildings along the street. With respect to colors, Mr. Harris-Glade said that the owner was open to the Commission’s preference, and that any color from the recommended Benjamin Moore Historical Colors would be acceptable. He said that the roof color had also been changed since the original submittal, and displayed revised renderings on his computer. He stated that he had chosen green for the roof as opposed to the originally proposed brown because green was the predominant color of the roof across the street. He also explained that the color concept for the building was to use white on the upper floor to diminish the height and a dark color on the bottom to hold down the building. Mr. Harris-Glade also displayed a rotating three-dimensional image of the building on his computer. Commissioner Roth pointed out that everything presented was making the property and the surroundings appear to be flat, and asked if the applicant had an image or drawing of section through the site available. Mr. Harris-Glade confirmed that the property was not flat, and that he had not been able to prepare any sections in time for this meeting. In response to Commissioner Van Pernis’ comment that the applicant’s submittal did not seem final, Mr. Harris-Glade said that the owner did not want to proceed and spend their funds without knowing the concerns of the Commission, and that they were willing to come back with more details based on the outcome of this meeting. Upon inquiry by Commissioner Van Pernis, Mr. Ramzanalli who was from the owner company, stated that the owner-developer of the subject property and the Holiday Inn Express in downtown had the same parent company. He said that unlike the Holiday Inn Express project however, which had hired an architect from Oregon, they wanted to make sure that they had someone with experience locally. He said that in order to address one of the concerns expressed to them earlier, they had directed Mr. Harris-Glade to move the building further in from the required 15-foot setback along the southern boundary. Mr. Harris-Glade added that in the revised plan the building was set back 38.5 feet, which was as far away from the residential neighbors as possible without being in the flood zone on the other side. 4