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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0052.005 2020-2022 P/councA f56111 (2 Comm.5'2 COUNTY CLERK Testimony Bill 12 and Resolution 43-21 COUNTY OF HAWAI I z R£GEIVED ' Time 0.4%. By Preface to testimony on Bill 12 Date FEB 1 5 2021 Aloha Chair David and Council members, I'm Stephanie Bath. I was surprised as I viewed the last planning committee meeting. My name was referenced by, at the time, Acting Deputy Director Jeff Darrow. My use permit application, which is currently being amended, was used as an example of issues relating to getting a use permit for a massage therapy establishment (MAE) within a residence on Ag zoned land. Inaccurate statements were made about my situation. Since then Mr. Darrow and I have spoken. I have shared some documents through email, and have communicated through phone calls, that shed further light and knowledge on the situation relating to acquiring my use permit on Ag land. His reference to DOH and a conversation they had with me didn't happen. I currently serve on the State Board of Massage Therapy and am familiar with the statute. I represent myself as an individual today. Governor Ige signed Act 64 (SB2878 HS2) on 9/15/2020. This bill gave the Board the statutory authority to promulgate sanitation rules, repeal HRS 452-19(a) in favor of existing statutes that already treat unlicensed activity as a misdemeanor, and increases the minimum fine from $100 to $250 and the max fine from $1,000 to $2000 for each violation. The Board is currently going through the administrative rules process to adopt the sanitation rules. DOH doesn't oversee massage therapy. I was never told by them that my business needed to be housed separate and apart from the residence. What my conversation did include was confirmation that the septic system we have installed is more that adequate for the proposed use. I'm only bringing this up because of the inaccuracy of Mr. Darrow's presentation of my application. These inaccuracies painted a picture a bit embarrassing for me if DOH got wind of it. Mr. Darrow was open to my correction of his testimony. I hope to meet with him in the not-to- distant future. He has indicated that he will be clarifying, on record, the inaccurate statements made. Kumbaya. That being said, here is my testimony RE: Bill 12 and Res. 43-21 The coronavirus pandemic has affected everyone in some way. The economy has plummeted. Folks have lost employment opportunities. Thanks to technology, working remotely from Ag residences has become a new norm. People meet with colleagues in their home offices. Others see clients in their home offices. The pandemic created the necessity of this new normal Comm. No. J�•J Ref. To: p Ref. Rate FES 1 7...2�1?1 In the Puna community LLworkin,g remotely has been under discussion for over a decade. The issue for Puna has been that the e've-1-- of.-internet access in many areas is so lacking that it has not been feasible to work from some Punaparcels.'That's still the case. The lack of service has been magnified with the on line education, shopping, social connections, entertainment, and work related needs. I support Res. 43-21 Moving on to residential/Ag-zoned home offices. For years folks have been seeing clients within their residences in our County. These include accountants, cosmetologists, architects, tutors, those who teach piano and other musical skills, health care providers, craftsmen, etc. The trend for some has been to stay under the radar. Regulations and codes have made it unrealistic to work above board. Additionally, quality affordable rental space is not readily available. I seek to be on the radar. When visiting Public Works PW initially to see what it would take to do a small wellness center MAE within a residence, on Ag land in Puna they paused and said, 44ohyoulre doing it legally.,' They were aware of the under-the-radar trends. I was sent to planning. There I was sent back to PW and again to planning. Finally PW told me to contact Fire and DoH as these were the obstacles. I did this. Fire informed me that I need to follow codes which included the delivery of 3000GPM of water for two hours in order to meet codes. At DoH there was not an issue. The County has pretty consistently ignored providing for the deficiencies of services in Puna. Some of these deficiencies carry with them health and safety concerns, and environmental justice issues. This led to a law suit years ago. I understand that the CDP process was introduced to address the deficiencies. In 2008 the PCDP was adopted by ordinance. Still, little implementation has occurred to address prioritized actions. Punas population continues to grow. Residents such as myself are enthusiastic about legally collaborating with the County in delivering lacking levels of services to our communities. The County has adopted such absurd codes that good, generally law abiding businesses go under-the-radar to provide services. Not only do they become criminals, revenues normally paid to government may be dealt with in a non-transparent way. I have testified to the County Council previously about the fire codes. In Hawai'i County its become normal for Ag-zoned lands to be used for residential purposes. No agricultural practices are being done other than some fruit trees and perhaps a few animals, if that. Consider this hypothetical scenario. A family consisting of an 18-month toddler, 6-year-old, single parent and 92 year old auntie reside on Ag 3 land in a residence. Auntie is a diabetic amputee who is chair bound. They all live and sleep in the house. There are no fire rated doors, sprinklers etc. Imagine what a fire at 23:30 might look like. Consider a business person living with their family on an adjacent Ag parcel. Residential space has been dedicated to a home office which is within, yet set apart from, the rest of the house. Their clients can exit the residence swiftly through an egress window or door during regular business hours. The County codes have absurd amounts of fire mitigation and preventative measures associated with this office. Think again about the single parent, in the middle of the night with the place ablaze, having to choose between getting the two keikis out of the house or auntie. Do these scenarios match up? The one with lowest risk for health and safety is bombarded with costly requirements. I am riot saying that stricter codes be implemented for all residence types. Here are unanswered questions that have come up in conversations with others about this issue: What reason is a business person who has a home office with very low risk of having health and safety issues required to have overkill costly measures in place? Is it OK for folks to conduct business out of their home offices in Puna, Kau and other Ag districts only because there is a pandemic? Are people actually doing business illegally? Does the emergency order cover their in-home businesses? More and more businesses are moving to remote work and home offices. Will these businesses be required to take costly measures in order to meet with colleagues or a client in their offices if there is no longer a pandemic? If the emergency order is lifted will they be required to close shop if they cant meet codes? Do small businesses catering to kama'aina receive the same compassion and care as our tourist industry? Is the County of Hawaii meeting with the State legislature to adopt reasonable codes for home g p offices where infrastructure has not been delivered to underserved communities? Since the County is complacent in some areas of delivering levels of services, are variances issued allowing small businesses to conduct business on Ag-zoned and residentially-zoned areas? If so what is that process like? Cost? Businesses are not asking for costly relief programs and incentives to come to underserved areas. We are asking for the basic freedom to work in our own oornrnunhieo We are inviting the County to draw upon us to assist you inthe implementation of our CDP goals and objectives. Any ordinances that will add unreasonable requirements for health care providers to conduct business is concerning. The same is true for other businesses. | support use permits to insure that rneoounae are taken to protect important Ag lands, cultural and archaeological sites, coastal areas, and ensure community input. Where levels of service are not provided by the County, a streamlined affordable variance process needs to be in place. This will a||ovv for needed and wanted access to services within our own communities. This access will take the burden and strain off of Hilo and other communities who continue to experience oornrneroia| build-out on land that can be used for parks and open spaces for their Community ohenm. There will be a decrease in the use offossil fuel. Wear and tear by commuting workers and consumers on State and County roadways can be reduced. Mass transit, which is a huge ioeue, will be less taxed on longer routes. This is all consistent with the PC[]P which you are all familiar with. Overlaying and implementation Of Our CDP`o are key. Let's make the adjustments required to create healthy and thriving oornrnunides. Take care, Stephanie Bath Kudistovvn