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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0044.146 2020-2022 • Pt CAtci l comm.1411 From: pgreenwell Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2021 11:53 AM To: Council Testimony I Subject: Testimony in support of Zendo Kern as Planning Director Attachments: 2020-08-25 - Testimony - Planning code revisions - Accessory structures.pdf; Guest House Code Change 2020-08-12 - Draft 3.pdf COUNTY CLERK COUNTY OF HAWAII RECEIVED Members of the council, Time 11;55autt. By esti Date JAN 2 3 2021 I have been hesitant to submit testimony on this matter as I am fully aware that it will be tdkern wiltr d grain of sdll,given my profession. I am a civil engineer, 31 years old, born and raised in Kona, currently practicing here in a design and consulting capacity for a company which I started three years ago. I ask however that you don't let that be your only frame of reference when trying to decipher my motives here. I am also a surfer, a paddler, a hater of traffic and disrespectful people, and irritated by the fact that our beaches and open spaces are becoming more crowded with each passing year. In short, I'm a Kona boy. But I'm also a realist and know that the growth we see here is happening across the globe. We will not stop people from wanting to move to beautiful places. What we can do is plan for it in ways that preserve and promote the parts of our community we cherish; open spaces, more parks and ocean access, places for families to gather and grow. This kind of planning is ultimately done on the legislative level of government,your level, not the administrative one. I would ask you to keep that in mind when voting on whether to install Mr. Kern as planning director. It will not be his job to plan the community or allow certain development interests over others. It will be yours. You will have heard much testimony I am sure from those that oppose Mr. Kern as planning director on the grounds that he comes from private industry and is perhaps too close to development interests to be trusted with such a powerful office. While their concerns are obvious and valid, I can guarantee that the majority of those opposed know next to nothing about our county codes. They have never read the zoning code or the subdivision code or the planning code or any of the community development plans across the island which lay down the ground rules for projects big and small. They cannot therefore be blamed for failing to realize that the planning director is an administrator,tasked with enforcing the codes that fall under the jurisdiction of the planning department. There is a misconception that the planning director is some kind of development czar and that new projects are approved or denied at his or her whim. What the county needs desperately in this office is someone that has had to navigate the intricacies of these codes and documents and has seen the impacts that poor and shortsighted interpretation of the rules can have on the community, not just a specific project. I'm talking about lawsuits for inconsistent plan reviews which the county must pay to defend, affordable housing projects being scrapped because of outdated community development requirements, and families being told that they cannot add an ohana dwelling to their property because they might, one day, illegally alter or add to it, despite the fact that their building plans are consistent with the current code. These things have all happened during my short time as a licensed engineer and I would like very much to see future mistakes like these avoided, as I am sure you do as well. I can speak for anyone with talent in my industry that we don't need more work. I don't favor Mr. Kern because I think it will mean more development or more money in my pocket- I favor him because I believe he can build an administration that consistently holds us accountable to the rules as they are written and as they were intended. Nothing more. In the short time he's been given the chance he has already made moves toward that end and I have seen personally the positive impact it has made on local families. One example I can provide is his scrapping of the code amendments pushed by his predecessor restricting the building of accessory structures. If you're not exhausted by my writing already, please feel free to read my former testimony on that matter,which I have attached to this email along with the proposed amendments for reference. I don't know Mr. Kern by any measure other than reputation. And I don't know how anyone convinced him to step away from private industry to take the planning director's seat. But I do know that he will be sacrificing income,free time, peace and privacy to take on this thankless job. Make no mistake, he has much more to lose than he has to gain from serving the community in this manner and we would be foolish to take away his opportunity to do so. Comm. No. 44.1140 Ref.To: NUMMI 1 Ref. Date FEB - 3 2021 With aloha, Palani Greenwell ENGINEERING a. DESIGN, LLC - -POBbk 4538 KAIILUA laYli4A, H 96745 (BDIA47-0437., pgreerme.lipfoTesight-hizom — W :for4-sr§ ht - hi . com 2