2018-07-25 BDHRA Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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DELIMA: Okay. So at this time I'll introduce Senator Kahele. Thank you for coming. KAHELE: Good afternoon. BUSINESS OF AGENCY The Agency took this item up at 2:20 p.m. with approximately 16 members of the public in attendance. 1. Open discussion between the Banyan Drive Hawai`i Redevelopment Agency (BDHRA) and representatives of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawai`i Island Senate and House of Representatives, Hawai`i County Mayor's Office, and the Hawai`i County Planning Department regarding roles, recent government actions, near and long-range plans, and legislative initiatives relating to the BDHRA's fulfillment of its obligations within that portion of the Banyan Drive Redevelopment Area. DELIMA: I want to indicate that there's a scenario on the board that was one of the proposals that the Redevelopment Agency looked at, but it is not what we finally approved because we deleted the resort proposal next to Lili`uokalani Park [sic Gardens] from the final proposal that we approved as a Board. We did not want a resort next to Lili`uokalani Park, and the other thing is that we kept open the idea of, of having condominiums or businesses from where they exist now because when we were presented testimony to make all of that park land, the thought was that no one would want to look at the harbor, and the members of the Redevelopment Agency unanimously decided that that's not the case, that a lot of times views of harbors have one of the highest attractive values of people wanting to live with such ocean views. So I don't believe that what is on the board is accurate. Now, this is a revision deleting the resort expansion, I appreciate that—I think we had a more open, we weren't wed to a cultural center right in the middle of the golf course, but that's something that was open for further discussion. I do want to indicate that we thought having a meeting of the Redevelopment Agency after the Legislature completed their discussions about the various economic proposals for Hilo, that it would be wise for the Redevelopment Agency to have a meeting and I really appreciate the Mayor, the Planning Director, Senator Kahele, Gordon from DLNR, as well as the Council being in attendance with members of the public for us to fully understand the role that the Agency has in light of the enactment of the economic zone for the Hilo area. Because as you know, it's in earlier discussions about the relevancy of the Banyan Drive Redevelopment Agency and we were advised that the Redevelopment Agency has no authority, and I think it's important for the public to understand we have no authority until such time that the underlying plans and studies are completed in order for us to have the authority to be able to take action on the various proposals for the area. And then ultimately, it's State land, and the role of the Board will still have impact in the final say as how to, what type of leases would be approved, etcetera. So, the whole concept of the Redevelopment Agency was started with the idea that we should have local input as to what the people in that area would want to see, at the same time we had no resources, no plan, no money to adopt the necessary plans for the Redevelopment Agency. And fortunately Senator Kahele and our legislative, other legislatures were able to enact the senate bill that the governor signed into law and we asked if everybody could come today to talk about how things are going to progress, and I think it would be best to turn it over to a member of the conference committee, a sponsor of the bill, Senator Kahele. Page 5 of 17 Banyan Drive Hawaii Redevelopment Agency July 25,2018 Minutes