Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PC 2020/09/01 2018-2020Committee on Planning 29th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawai i September 1, 2020 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Planning was called to order at ORDER: 10:30 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Ashley Kierkiewicz, Chair. ROLL CALL Present: Ms. Ashley Kierkiewicz, Chair Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Vice Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (via videoconference from Kona) Absent & Excused: Ms. Karen Eoff, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, I'll be closing public testimony at this time and moving on to business of the day. COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. (There were none.) ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, Order RESOLUTIONS: of Resolutions. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Mr. Clerk, if you could please read in Resolution 717-20? PC -29 September 1, 2020 Res. 717-20: RESCINDS AND CANCELS RESOLUTION NO. 281-14 (DRAFT 2) AND AUTHORIZES THE EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN CODE REQUIREMENTS, PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 201H-38 AND 46-15.1 OF THE HAWAII REVISED STATUTES, FOR KUAKINI SENIOR LIVING IN NORTH KONA, HAWAIL COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY 7-5-017:005 Kuakini Highway 75-6099 Corp. seeks exemptions from certain conditions of approval in Ordinance 06-78 and County Code requirements to facilitate development of an assisted living and senior housing and care campus to accommodate approximately 250 residents. Reference: Comm. 1051 Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz (B/R) CHR KIERKIEWICZ: May I have a motion to forward Resolution 717-20 to the Council with a positive recommendation? Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend adoption of Res. 717-20. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: If I could call up the representative for the applicant, Mr. Fuke; also joining us via WebEx is Alison Davidson. She provides legal representation for the client. And just to kind of remind folks, at the last Planning Committee meeting, we heard Resolution 694-20, which was related to this project. It was withdrawn. There were a number of, just kind of errors that were spotted, and also some issues with some of the requests for exemption. And Council Member David also pointed out there was an existing resolution amending the ordinance on the books related to this property. And so the question around, you know, should we be rescinding that? And I think the version that is presented to us today in 717-20, kind of takes care of a lot of those issues. And, you know, Mr. Fuke, I do want to provide you some time to provide everyone with kind of an overview of some of the other substantive changes that are contained in the exhibit. (Note: At this time Planning Consultant Sidney Fuke came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. FUKE: Good morning, Madame Chair and members of this Committee, for the record, my name is Sidney Fuke. I'm a Planning Consultant. I've been retained to assist in the processing of this 201H application. With me vicariously is Alison Davidson. She's on Webcam, and we also have the applicant -owner, Byron Fox, and he's doing a livestreaming from San Francisco. Page 2 PC -29 September 1, 2020 Essentially, I just kind of want to make two comments. General comments, and then if there's specific questions relating to the nature of the project, then you know, I'd be more than willing to share with this body my response. My first comment is basically to express our appreciation to you, you know, Madam Chair, and especially to the Council Member from that area, Rebecca Villegas who represents the district. I think that during the course of the discussion on the initial resolution, there were substantive concerns relating to health and safety kind of welfare issues specifically relating to traffic, drainage, and floodways. And the original approved resolution then for the previous project called for relief from having any of those studies done. And those studies would have then led to some appropriate mitigative measures. So what happened was that since then the applicant was listening in. It was kind of easy, it just was a no-brainer to say that we understand the concerns. They're very legitimate, and so let us make those changes. So the changes you see today reflect the deletion of any of those requested exemptions. So they will go ahead and do the appropriate traffic studies, do the appropriate floodway and drainage studies and comply with any whatever mitigation that's required by the government after they review those studies. The appreciation also goes to Corporation Counsel, Joe Kamelamela, because after that meeting we were talking about, you know, how best to structure. You know, the resolution moving forward. And so we came forward with this possibly having this To -From type of approach. One, rescinding the existing resolution, and secondly coming up with a brand new one. But what eventually evolved is what you have before you. You know, combining both in one. And you know, that's totally appropriate. At the same time, you know, Duane Hosaka and his staff—they had to review the whole application again, and they kind of like fast -tracked it. And so, we're very appreciative of all of that. The other point I'd like to make is that the substance of the concept itself has not changed. But I would like to acknowledge that nevertheless, you know, there were some studies prepared leading up to the project submittal. Certain technical studies were done and in particular like the resolution that's before you, the attachment shows the West Hawaii Senior Living. But in fact, it is Kuakini Senior Living. The project is the same. It's just the name wasn't changed. Page 3 PC -29 September 1, 2020 So, you know, like it's basically within the understanding, I guess. And subject to any questions that the members of your committee may have. I'd be more than willing to respond to them and would like to defer to you. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Mr. Fuke. And I just also want to point out to my colleagues in Kona, we do have OHCD (Office of Housing and Community Development) Duane Hosaka and his Deputy Alisa Hanselman also here in Hilo if you have questions directly for the agency. You know, at this time I do want to open it up to questions and comments from my colleagues. Anyone? MS. VILLEGAS: I have a question. Ashley? CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Ms. Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Aloha, Mr. Fuke, thank you so much for your hard work and taking into consideration the concerns of many of the constituents of District 7. I also want to thank the property owner and the project developer for taking into consideration the concerns around this area and being okay to pull those exemptions and transition the way that it's worded in order to follow the needs and the advisable studies for drainage and flooding and whatnot; as well as traffic. So I just wanted to thank you for that. And so far what I'm looking through now seems to follow along with all the guidelines for 201H and any of the other exemptions listed in here seem to reflect a very common and normal protocol for those kinds of exemptions. So thank you for that, I yield. MR. FUKE: Thank you for bringing up those concerns, Council Member Villegas. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Villegas. I believe Ms. Lee Loy had a question. Go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Thanks Chair. Hi, Sidney. Thanks for being here. You know, I really do appreciate how much clearer this resolution is, especially with the exhibit attachment. So I just had two questions on Exhibit A. Number One was the application fees. And forgive me again, because we just modified Chapter 5, and I just want to be sure that we're identifying the right permit fee section. MR. FUKE: I think the understanding is like, getting the relief from, you know, all of those grading and building permit fees and whatever the prevailing regulations may be. Page 4 PC -29 September 1, 2020 MS. LEE LOY: Perfect. And then, just to get it on the record, that it's really clear we're going to be exempt from those permit fees. MR. FUKE: Correct. MS. LEE LOY: Okay. And then the other one was the variance related to the height. MR. FUKE: Oh yes. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah. So again, no need apply for the variance, but this actually sets a ceiling at the 48 feet. MR. FUKE: Correct. MS. LEE LOY: Correct. So even though we are exempting ourselves from that Section of the Code, the applicant or any future developer could not exceed the 48 -feet height limit requirement? MR. FUKE: Correct. MS. LEE LOY: Great. Thank you for all of your hard work, Sidney. It's really much clearer. I think this 201H is an amazing tool that can start to really use. Chair, with that I yield. MR. FUKE: Thank you. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else in Kona or here in Hilo have questions or comments for this resolution? Okay, seeing none, thank you, Mr. Fuke. Thank you, Duane, Alisa, Corporation Counsel, for working very quickly with my office and also keeping in Ms. Villegas' office in the loop on changes and really listening to what Council Members are bringing to the table; and being flexible and working on a lot of our concerns. It's great to have that collaborative partnership with everyone. So just, you know, to remind everyone how this works because it is our first 201H, and I believe we're going to be having another come to this committee next time around. You know, once this is filed with the Clerk's Office, the 45 -day clock starts ticking. And so because we are the legislative body, within 45 days, we have to either approve, approve with modifications, or deny the application. If we're not able to do it in that window of time, whatever is filed to the Council automatically becomes law. So it's really important that the timing is right and that OHCD and any of the applicants that are coming forward to leverage this tool keep that in mind, and engage the Council Members early on. Especially those representing districts the project is located in to iron out all those details, you Page 5 PC-29 September 1,2020 know, in advance. So thank you very much for collaborating. Mr. Clerk, with that we have a motion on the floor, all in favor please say"aye." Vote on Res. 717-20: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 717-20 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kierkiewicz— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Eoff— 1. Excused: None. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. (There were none.) CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: That brings us to the end of the agenda. May I have a motion to adjourn? ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 10:42 a.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Lee Loy, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kierkiewicz— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Eoff— 1. Excused: None. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Planning Committee is adjourned. Approved: Ms. Ashley Kierkiewicz, Chair ( ate) Planning Committee AK/dt Page 6