2018-05-08 KCDP Minutes Draft - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chair Young described the hard work the Action Committee has done in past years. He explained that they are interested to hear from the community in South Kona because they tend to focus more on the urban North Kona area. Three people from the community chose to testify at this time in the meeting. 1. James Sogi, representing himself, testified on agenda item 3: South Kona Community Listening Session. Mr. Sogi urged the Action Committee to retain the word “shall” in their recommendation for the amendment of Policy TRAN-3.4 Retrofit Existing Streets. He explained that there was a strong feeling by the community to have sidewalks and bikeways along roadways during the charrette process for drafting of the CDP. He stated that Māmalahoa Highway is a good example of an area in desperate need of pedestrian and bike-way improvements. James Sogi’s written testimony [Communication No. 2018-17] may be viewed and downloaded from the following website: http://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/weblink/1/doc/93141/Page1.aspx Committee Member Rivera explained the difficulty of having to retrofit current Hawai‘i County roadway standards onto a street that is only 40’ wide. He explained that concurrency issues in the CDP further compound the issue by forcing developers to improve the entire roadway instead of just a portion at a time, a situation which is not economically feasible for most developers. Committee Member Palacat-Nelsen mirrored Mr. Sogi’s concern with areas in Keālia. He expressed feeling that faster vehicle speed is a major contributor to the issue of pedestrian safety. Committee Member Payne cited budget issues as a major limiting factor in solving this problem. He agreed with Committee Member Rivera’s view that asking one developer to improve an entire roadway may not be feasible and that better funding sources/mechanisms are required. He explained that while the CDP mentions a Financing Plan, there is no existing mechanism within the County’s financial structure to actually make that happen. Committee Member DeFranco agreed with Mr. Sogi’s sentiment and agreed that more could be done to resolve the issue. She also shared experiencing this issue on Painted Church Road. Committee Member David explained that when the CDP Amendment Subcommittee looked into the language of this policy, it created legal confusion about the policy dictating improvements to State roadways. Community member Lele Kimball expressed that the solution to creating new bike/pedestrian ways does not always require them to be along roadways. Committee Member DeFranco mentioned the nonprofit organization Peoples Advocacy for Trails Hawai‘i [PATH] which aims to achieve this. Chair Young explained that the Kona CDP Amendment subcommittee struggled to understand the implications of each “shall” in the CDP and that sometimes a “shall” in a policy actually resulted in the opposite outcome than was intended. Subcommittee Chair Palacat-Nelsen explained that the CDP amendments have been passed to the Planning Department for review and comment and that it is out of the subcommittee’s hands unless the Planning Department wishes to go back to them for further comment. He expressed feeling that www.hiplanningdept.com kona@hawaiicounty.gov Page 4