2017-10-05 Hearing Transcript - Hawaii Johns SPP 09-082

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The Applicant is requesting to amend Special Permit 09-82 by deleting Condition No. 2 which placed a 5 -year time limit on the life of the Special Permit with the possibility of an administrative time extension in order for the Applicant to find more appropriate accommodations for their business. Deleting this condition would allow the Special Permit use indefinitely. The reason for the request is in 2011, the Applicant was able to acquire a commercially zoned parcel in Hilo. However, as the business serves the entire island, the Applicant feels that the Hilo location is unsuitable to allow them to service the north and west sides of the island. The Applicant has been searching for locations in Hamakua, Waimea, and South Kona for 6-1/2 years, but have been unable to find any properties that meet their criteria which is price point, proper zoning, and reasonable location. Retaining the use in perpetuity at the current location would allow them to serve the north and west sides of the island. Just a quick history and timeline. In June of 2009, the Planning Director forwarded a denial recommendation to the Windward Planning Commission citing the proposed use's lack of consistency with criteria for granting a Special Permit due mainly to the site being located on Land Study Bureau Class "B" Soils and ALISH "Prime" Agricultural Lands. The PC at the time voted to approve the Special Permit with a condition requiring that five year life of the permit in order to allow the Applicant time to find an alternative site for their operation. In 2011, the Applicant purchased a commercial property in Hilo that is used as a base yard for their East Hawaii operations. And, in 2014, the Applicant was granted a five-year administrative time extension which extended the life of the permit to July 20, 2019. The—this is a County zoning map. It's showing, again, for reference, we've got Hawaii Belt Road running east -west through the slide. Access to the property is off of Ka16pa Lower Road. Here is the subject parcel outlined in red, and in the dashed line is the roughly 1.65 -acre permit area. Zoning for the property is Agricultural – 5 acres, which is similar to much of the surrounding zoning, and some Ag -40 as indicated in blue in the upper right hand corner. The State Land Use Boundary designation for the subject parcel and the surrounding area is Agricultural. The General Plan designates the parcel and the surrounding area as Important Agricultural Lands. Here's an aerial photograph of the subject parcel, again, outlined in red. We've got Hawaii Belt Road or Highway 19 running east -west. As you can see, much of the permit area is dedicated to storage of the porta johns and trucks and equipment and, again, we've got the single-family dwelling here that also doubles as an office for the business. The rest of the parcel is used for cattle grazing and much of the surrounding properties are used for agricultural uses and some residential uses. Here is the Applicant's submitted site plan. Again, just showing what we saw in the aerial view with the permit area outlined here in black. And, here are some photographs of the subject parcel. Here is Lower Ka16pa Road looking toward the ocean; Lower Ka16pa Road looking toward the mountain with the storage area here on the right. EXHIBIT A 2