HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PC 2022/02/08 2020-2022 Committee on Planning
19th Session
Hawaii County Building
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawaii
February 8, 2022
CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Planning was called to order at
ORDER: 2:24 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair
Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Vice Chair
Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member(came in later)
Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member
Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Member
Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member (came in later)
Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member
Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member
Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, 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: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when
called by the Chair:
Stephanie Donoho: Bill 112 (Comm. 595); and
Bill 115 (Comm. 601); comment.
Kanani Aton: Bill 112 (Comm. 595); and
Bill 115 (Comm. 601); comment.
Shane Nobriga: Bill 112 (Comm. 595); and
Bill 115 (Comm. 601); comment.
Ross Birch: Bill 112 (Comm. 595); and
Bill 115 (Comm. 601); comment.
Napahu "Douglas" Lilly: Bill 112 (Comm. 595); and
Bill 115 (Comm. 601); comment.
Scott Dodd: Bill 112 (Comm. 595); and
Bill 115 (Comm. 601); comment.
PC-19 February 8,2022
Ama Lilly: Bill 112 (Comm. 595); and
Bill 115 (Comm. 601); comment.
Ed Teixeira: Bill 112 (Comm. 595); and
Bill 115 (Comm. 601); comment.
Bobby Brown: Bill 112 (Comm. 595); and
Bill 115 (Comm. 601); comment.
Michael Cadaoas: Bill 112 (Comm. 595); comment.
Nathaniel Kinney: Bill 112 (Comm. 595); comment.
Chuck Flaherty: Comm. 485; comment.
Christopher Delaunay: Bill 112 (Comm. 595); and
Bill 115 (Comm. 601); comment.
Wendy J. Laros: Bill 112 (Comm. 595); comment.
Mark Van Pernis: Bill 112 (Comm. 595); and
Bill 113 (Comm. 596); and
Bill 115 (Comm. 601); comment.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Mahalo nui, Relley. And for those that were wondering
why we had two minutes of testimony time today, according to Council Rule 13,
Number 3, letter(e), it is at the discretion of the Chair to set the time that
members of the public are allowed to testify. So given that we had a number of
testifiers on today's agenda and given that we are at the 3:00 o'clock hour, I used
discretion to identify two minutes as being appropriate for members of the public
to articulate their sentiments to this body. Thank you, everyone, for
understanding.
We are at the close of public testimony. Closing it at this time and moving on to
business of the day. Mr. Clerk, if you could please start with our
Communications.
COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business,
CATIONS: Communications.
Comm. 485: REQUESTS A DISCUSSION WITH THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT
REGARDING THE STATUS AND ANTICIPATED TIMELINE OF THE
REVISED GENERAL PLAN
From Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, dated October 27, 2021.
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Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to close file on Comm. 485.
Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Planning Director Kern, if you could please come
forward. Members, because of the hour in the day, I'm just going to be asking the
Director to provide us a quick update on where we are.
Our current General Plan was adopted in 2008. My understanding is that work
was done by then Planning Director Kanuha(Duane), to update the General Plan.
It has now transcended a few Administrations. And clearly there are some rumors
in the community about the existing plan that went out to be vetted and weighed
upon by community members as basically being tossed out. Wanted to provide
you an opportunity to kind of address those concerns and share with us why and
how we are engaging certain consultants.
There have been a few change orders that have been filed with this body related to
General Plan work in the area of about$300,000. So a lot of time, a lot of
financial investment. A lot of community heart and soul went into this document.
So Planning Director, if you could just give us a quick update that would be great.
Thank you.
(Note: At this time, Planning Director Zendo Kern came forward to
address the members of the Committee.)
MR. KERN: Sure. Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the
Committee. I thank you for being here and giving me the opportunity to provide
this update. So yeah, the current General Plan was adopted in 2005. The current
draft update was started right at the end of the Kenoi Administration and carried
all the way through the last Administration, for the last four years. That plan draft
that came forward was basically a rewrite of the General Plan. It's a new version
of it.
How exactly that decision was made, I'll have to go back and talk to some staff. I
think the concept around it was to simplify it in certain ways with lesser sections
so didn't have to kind of search everywhere in there. So what I'm doing right
now is going through that draft as well as the existing plan and reviewing those
together and seeing where they cross over, and where they merge, and where we
can add things together. And probably be combining a plan of both of those
together.
Taking a look at it with the eyes of this Administration; taking with eyes of
looking at it with members of our team. We've put together basically like an
internal taskforce from all of our various divisions, so they'll be reviewing it; as
well as going out to the various departments and agencies to get their review as
well. And looking forward to making various revisions.
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It has been a process. I think going through multiple Administrations makes it
challenging. The goal is to get it complete during this time. And so with that,
anytime there's revisions and changes, there's a consultant onboard for map
changes, formatting, et cetera. And that's where we've seen some of those
changes.
We did have to shift some money around is what you've seen. We haven't been
doing much spending because there hasn't been a lot of work this last year. It's
been very focused on getting the operations stabilized; getting the backlog taken
care of, which the backlog is taken care of, and getting the EPIC (Electronic
Processing and Information Center) system up and running and functioning,
which it is also doing that for the Planning Department.
And right now, we are in full focus. So when I wake up in the morning, I think
about General Plan. We have two Lead for Hawaii fellows on it. I have two
staff members that are working on it as well as myself. And then, as I said, we're
putting together like an internal taskforce to get some help around that and get
some different perspective from folks that work in the different divisions.
So that's the current process. It's looking like it's going to be about a year of that
review, internal. Also talking with, you know, stakeholders, et cetera, going back
out to get fresh input with this set of eyes. And then from there, we'll have to
some reformatting, any map revisions, document formatting, et cetera. And once
that's ready, it will then go out and be submitted to the Planning Commissions
and start the overall process of going through Commissions, and then making its
way to County Council.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: So, your revisions, then to Commission, which puts us at
2023, potentially?
MR. KERN: Realistically, we're probably looking at Q (first quarter) of 2024, if
I'm lucky.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: For the document to be sent to Council. Okay, that's
helpful.
MR. KERN: And it depends on that the Commission does, whether they, you
know, postpone in their process.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Sure. Okay, and there will be another series of public
engagement about this kind of merged amalgamation of the various versions that
are out there?
MR. KERN: Yes.
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CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay.
MR. KERN: And, you know, right now they've collected a lot of data. We have
a lot of data, right? So we have that, and then it's, how's that data used. So we
want to really look at that data; how is the current plan? And again, kind of
merge them together.
The current draft is a little bit simpler in its format. One of the things I like about
the existing General Plan is that is has a narrative; it has a story to it. And I like
that. I think it pulls in the history. That's important for us to understand. And
you know, honestly the—if it was just the current General Plan in ramseyer
format, all changed, it would be a little easier. But because we're dealing with
these two, it's a bit more complicated. And there's elements of the existing
General Plan that I really like. There's some certain elements of the draft that are
good. So I'm trying to basically do a hybrid merger of those together to bring out
the best of both sides.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. And kind of like my review of both
documents, it seemed that the second iteration just had a lot more themes, such as
culture and climate change. There was a lot more simplicity in the existing plan.
And it just made more sense to ensure that we were looking at—say,
infrastructure with culture and climate change in mind. So I hope that sort of
cleaning up is going to be taking place.
MR. KERN: Exactly. And especially on the, you know, I think there's a lot of
cultural components in there. One of the areas that I see we can ramp up is the
climate change side of it. And I really want to make sure that's current. It's
interesting looking back at some of the general numbers as far as what the
projections were and seeing where we are now.
For example, one of them is that, you know, population and job growth tack at the
same pace. I'm not seeing that. There's also, you know, things that we know
about short-term vacation rentals now that we have regulations, so we can put
those in there was well. So yeah, we are very focused on it. And looking forward
to getting it to Council and getting it to the commissions and back out to the
public. Make sure it's fully legally vetted and, you know, every process open and
to the best that we can possibly do.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Great. Thank you, Director. Colleagues, any questions
or comments for Director Kern on the General Plan? Council Member Kimball.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. I just had a question focusing again on the
climate change aspect, how the General Plan update is going to intersect with the
Climate Action Plan.
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MR. KERN: With CAP (Climate Action Plan)?
MS. KIMBALL: Yeah.
MR. KERN: So the concept with that is, we want the GP, or the General Plan, I
say GP, points at the Climate Action Plan. And the concept around the General
Plan is it's not something you're looking to amend all the time. And as things
change, you're amending, you're amending. You're trying to set it. And where
there's amendments necessary, you'd do it.
The CAP is something that's a bit more dynamic in its nature and it can be
changing and shifting and growing and adjusting over these years, right? And as
technology has come out, information comes out,we can adjust that and change
that. And the policy of the GP points at the CAP. So they're connected with a
little bit more dynamic in latitude with the CAP than you would have with the GP.
That's the concept.
MS. KIMBALL: And what's the timeframe then on the CAP.
MR. KERN: The CAP, we're looking at around about a year-ish still, right in that
zone. Hopefully a little bit less. So far, everything takes a little bit longer than
we'd like.
MS. KIMBALL: Okay, that's all I had, Chair. Thank you.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Anyone else? Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Zendo, does the General
Plan take into account water?
MR. KERN: The General Plan takes into account resources, sure.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Because they're building out in
Kona, different areas of Kona. It was on our Water Use Development Plan. Does
it take into account providing water for all those developments that we're looking
at?
MR. KERN: It's going to have, you know, elements that talk about water. It's
not going to be exactly pointing to you have to provide water for all those
elements. It's going to be how we work with, you know, CWRM (Commission
on Water Resource Management) and DWS (Department of Water Supply)to
make sure that all of that works. So I guess maybe if you could clarify your
question in the sense of like, are you talking about the growth areas?
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MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yeah, there's a few areas that are
high-growth areas in Kona, or at least the west side of Hawaii. And those were
talked about in a discussion with the Department of Water Supply. And we have
some fairly large projects in front of us today. And that just kind of brought into
my mind, are we thinking about future water use when we talk about the General
Plan?
MR. KERN: Yeah, absolutely. And we're not only looking at it from a source
perspective, but also from a use perspective, right? And so we want to have
policies in there to have the appropriate landscaping in the appropriate areas. So
if you're in and area where we'd want landscaping that's obviously as native as
possible. But that would also require minimum irrigation. And focusing on
getting the water that we need in those core areas.
So right now, we're working on potential TOD (Transit Oriented Development)
area in that urban core, looking at the different elements that we need. Water is
obviously a really big one. So the General Plan will be laying out, you know,
policies or guidelines towards, we need this to happen. That being said, we can't
go tell, you know, CWRM or the Commission on Water Resource Management
what to do. They control that element of it, but we can certainly have the policies
in place to preserve or use, you know what I mean? Keep it so it says, "Efficient
as possible." And I think that's really critical.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: It is. I mean I'm thinking drinking water,
yeah? So our kids have water when they want to drink water later on.
MR. KERN: Correct. And so, you know, the concept of really focusing on gray
water; you know, focusing on green infrastructure, we can get it. Focusing on
R-I re-use, etcetera, right? And again, for landscaping minimizing any irrigation
that would be needed there. So, for example, the landscaping that you might use
in Hilo would be different than you'd use in west side.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Totally. Because we have
MR. KERN: Different rainfall patterns.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yes. Okay, thank you for the answer.
Thank you, Chair.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Anyone else? Ms. Villegas, go ahead.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you for explaining. It sounds like from what you
explained, the attempt is to mitigate the concerns from people who were making
assumptions that the old General Plan got kaputsed, and that the new one is being
brought forward.
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Also good to hear that—so, the EPIC system were caught up on all the permits?
Is that what you said?
MR. KERN: For Planning.
MS. VILLEGAS: Okay, gotcha. Sorry, heard it and wanted to clarify.
MR. KERN: Well, as I said, with EPIC there's a certain crossover that we have
overlap. And individually, our departments really have our own tasks that we
have in that regard. And for Planning, EPIC is working quite well, actually.
MS. VILLEGAS: Great. I know we can't really divulge too far because that's a
different topic. I just wanted to clarify, or ask to clarify.
Now when it comes to the CDP (Community Development Plan) Action
Committees and those being utilized as you're looking at the General Plan, I
know that one of the conversations that's happening related to District 7 is the
inclusion of consideration for floodplain mitigation as we're looking at the
changes.
I know what I'm seeing in my district is lots of development mauka being
approved of, bulldozing, flooding, makai; and brown water on our oceans. So I
just really want to encourage that all of those things, and as our weather patterns
are changing you know, we're dry right now, but we had one of the wettest
years on the west side. And we had some of the most intensive degradation to our
coral reef ecosystems as the runoff came through. And the soil, which is so
prevalent on this side of the island, not so much on the other, and it's just getting
washed off into the ocean. So really looking for that consideration and now the
technologies that are available from mapping and how those can be seen. I really
want to make sure that those are updated.
MR. KERN: Correct. We're working on that. We're also uplifting various
components of the CDP's into the General Plan. So it's an opportunity for us to
kind of bring those policies up in there and go through the AC (Action
Committees) process. I witnessed the runoff in some of those areas. I've seen the
brown water. And as a surfer, I want to mitigate that to the maximum ability.
MS. VILLEGAS: The other thing wanting to take into consideration, I was just in
a meeting at one of our little public elementary schools last week talking about the
traffic jams around school pickup. We do not have the infrastructure necessary
for the continued growth that's slated for Kona. We don't have the roads, we
don't have the sewers. We're looking at all of our infrastructure that's already on
the coastline needing to be mitigated and moved further mauka. So as we look at
that General Plan, and I as the representative of District 7, and with a vision for
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healthy growth in the Kailua Village Business Improvement District area and on
that coastline on Alii Drive, it's also getting close to having to just put a hard
"no." Because we don't have the roads. We cannot sustain more vehicles.
We did, you know, I will totallya lot of us recognize that once the tourist
vehicles were off the roads, our roads were fine. We didn't have the traffic issues.
But taking that into consideration, when the tourism economy is up and thriving,
our roadways, our infrastructure, wasn't built to sustain the number of people.
And it puts us in a crisis in Kona because we continue to be inundated with new
development opportunities.
And I recognize the desirability of this space, and also the west side kind of being
the economic teat of the County's budget. But we have to be careful that we
don't overextend the utilization of our resources, and in doing so, then
catastrophically impact the place in which everybody really wanted to visit.
So I'm really hoping for a balanced equitable vision. I mean, we talk about
people being priced out of homes. A home on Palisades Road sold for
$1.2 million the other day. We are just I don't have the solutions. I wish I did,
but I think that our General Plan and making sure that it's authentically and
equitably focused on the long-term resilient strategy for a community of people,
residents on the island.
MR. KERN: That's my goal.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you for taking those things into consideration. And
infrastructure. We've got to get infrastructure in there.
MR. KERN: A hundred percent, and that's a big part of it. And I think ultimately
utilizing the General Plan for what it's supposed to be, as a guiding document for
our island. It takes into account consideration and prioritization, and then where
we can get the economies of scale with overlapping. Like if we're doing a road in
an area, can we put sewer in at the same time?
You know what I mean? What are those needs? We can really have that focus.
That's one of my goals. And to even understand where those focuses are in
advance, a year in advance. We should have shovel-ready projects in advance
that should be driven by these plans that are planning out for what it's going to
take to accomplish those needs. So it's a big part of it.
MS. VILLEGAS: Yeah, transitioning from the kind of piecemeal infill that we
end up just taxing the infrastructure more than contributing. So, thank you for
confirming that those things will be taken into consideration. And yeah, your
continued work with that. And we'll look forward to but sad to hear the
timeframe, but also we as a County have suffered under a lot of mitigating
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circumstances. I mean, we got the lava flow and finally getting a little head above
lava; and then, you know, global pandemic. And the short-term vacation rental
issues from your department, especially. So, looking forward to more good news
and hopefully sooner rather than later.
MR. KERN: That's my goal.
MS. VILLEGAS: Alright. Thank you.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thanks, Vice-Chair. Council Chair David.
MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair Kierkiewicz. Aloha, Director. Going back to
the explanation of the versions of the General Plan that you folks are using.
Which version are you folks implementing now to approve?
MR. KERN: The existing General Plan.
MS. DAVID: The existing one without any amendments, right?
MR. KERN: Correct. As it's been amended; as it stands amended. I didn't do
any amendments. There has been no amendments for a number of years.
MS. DAVID: Okay. Some are using the old one.
MR. KERN: Yes. I call it the current General Plan. The other one's just a draft.
MS. DAVID: Okay, awesome. That's what I wanted to confirm. Thank you for
explaining that. And that's my question.
MR. KERN: Yeah. So every, you know, application that you see, an analyzation
is done based off of the current existing adopted one by the Council.
MS. DAVID: Okay. And that's all I wanted to confirm. Thank you so much.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Anyone else? Director,just a few more
questions. How does General Plan update potentially impact or not, revisions to
Chapter 25 and 23? That's Zoning and Subdivision.
MR. KERN: It definitely, you know, impacts those because we're going to be
setting policies and objectives that will be pinpointing those. From a timing
perspective, I'm going to work on doing both of those kind of concurrently. So
we'll be able to hopefully opine on those.
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Ideally, I'd want the General Plan first, and then 25 and 23 right after. But I just
don't see any reason why we can't just focus on kind of concurrent running
through those with the policies that are there and getting that update, and having a
full draft to be reviewed.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, I'll bring you forward on 23 and 25, because we
gave you a good chunk of money during budget, and I just want to make sure that
those dollars have been invested well.
MR. KERN: We're going out for professional services on that. So give me a
little bit of time.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. Couple more months.
MR. KERN: Sure.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: I prefer the end of the fiscal year. And then, so my
understanding is, once we have the refresh of the General Plan done, that will then
kick start revision of the CDPs that we have.
MR. KERN: We will have to go back around for CDPs exactly.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. One thing that you mentioned was lifting up
elements of the CDPs into the General Plan. Just really quickly, can you explain
that? The reason why that kind of caught my attention was, for me the General
Plan is the General Plan, without being very specific to the various regions and
communities around our island. So I'm a little concerned about us getting a little
too specific.
MR. KERN: Yeah, and the concept isn't to get super specific. The concept is to
uplift those general policies where there's overlap. So for example, in certain
areas, you have land use maps that kind of conflict a little bit with each other. So
then we're going to tighten that up,probably to the CDP one in those cases. So
again, keeping it broad and general, not down to a lot of the specifics. I don't
want to have a specific plan. I want a General Plan that's dynamic and operable
that will then make sense and understand as we do the CDP revisions that those
revisions don't mean we have to now do major revisions to the General Plan,
because we're uplifting various policies. Certain things just, they're no-brainers.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Great. Thanks for the explanation. And then, I
remember you mentioning something about infrastructure. Just want to make sure
that we are also taking a look at how we can better integrate or better plan around
our CIP (Capital Improvement Projects Budget)priorities list and that budgeting,
as it relates to the General Plan.
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MR. KERN: Correct. And in an ideal world, the General Plan would point to
those priorities borrowing some type of emergency or something that we didn't
see. And that's the goal and the hope which is why I'm working to getting the
other departments to come in on it and weigh in. So there's more buy-in, you
know what I mean, from those departments. And ideally that would set forward,
"Here's our priorities,"which would then come back to the CIP.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Great. Thanks for your time and the update on this.
Council Member Lee Loy, I didn't see your light. Go ahead.
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, I'll make it quick. Because Ms. Kierkiewicz triggered
something. You know, kind of a retooling of Chapter 25 and 23. However,just
food for thought, Director. Chapter 16, which is the hierarchy of all of our plans,
really needs some refining also. Because we have the General Plan, and then the
Community Development Plans, along with our regional plans.
And we don't kind of see that structure in the current chapter. So I just wanted to
put it out there just as thought as we begin to develop a lot of these refinements.
It's just that, there's a lot of sections of our County Code that have not been
touched for a long time. And if we really want to start addressing the needs of our
community, we have to refresh some of these old and archaic codes at the same
time. You don't have to respond.
MR. KERN: I agree and I appreciate it, and I'll get into it.
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, great. Thank you, Chair.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thanks for elevating that. I know some of these Codes
are older than me. Anyway, there is a motion on the floor to close file on
Communication 485. All in favor please say "aye."
Vote on Comm. 485: The motion to close file on Comm. 485 was carried by
Filed the following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kierkiewicz—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Committee Members Chung— 1.
Excused: None.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Mr. Clerk, we are going to move on to Bills for
Ordinances, and we're going to take things out of order. Let's start with Bill 113,
please.
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Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, the
of Business: following item was taken out of order:
BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business,
ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances.
Bill 113: AMENDS SECTION 25-8-26 (PAHOA ZONE MAP), ARTICLE 8, CHAPTER
25 (ZONING) OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS
AMENDED), BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT CLASSIFICATION FROM
SINGLE—FAMILY RESIDENTIAL— 10,000 SQUARE FEET (RS-10) TO
VILLAGE COMMERCIAL—20,000 SQUARE FEET (CV-20) AT
WAIAKAHIULA, PUNA, HAWAII, COVERED BY TAX MAP
KEY: 1-5-003:037
(Applicant: Aguinaldo 4, LLC) (Area: 1.545 acres)
The Windward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for
this change of zone, which would allow the applicant to temporarily use three
existing structures for commercial purposes, and then remove the three existing
structures and construct a 13,520 square foot mixed-use medical, retail, and office
complex with associated infrastructure. The property is located at 15-3070 Pahoa-
Kapoho Road, on the southeast corner intersecting with Pahoa-Kalapana Road
across Pahoa High School at Kahiahiku Homesteads in Puna.
Reference: Comm. 596
Intr. by: Ms. Villegas (B/R)
and
Comm. 596.1: From Planning Director Zendo Kern, dated February 1, 2022, transmitting the draft
transcripts from the Windward Planning Commission's January 6, 2022, meeting.
Motion to Approve: Ms. Villegas moved to recommend passage of Bill 113 on
first reading. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: I'm going to disclose that I am a distant relative of the
applicant, so will be recusing myself from the discussion and subsequent vote.
Let the record reflect that I am now transferring the Chair of Planning Committee
for Bill 113 to my Vice Chair, Rebecca Villegas.
Relinquish Chair: At this time the Chair relinquished the chair to Vice Chair Villegas.
ACTING CHR. VILLEGAS: With that, I would like to invite Mr. Fuke
and his associate.
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(Note: At this time, Planning Consultants Sidney Fuke and Daryn Arai
came forward to address the members of the Committee.)
MR. FUKE: Good afternoon, Madam Chair. My name is Sidney Fuke. I'm the
Planning Consultant. You all know Daryn Arai. And actually, the reason why
we're here as opposed to the applicant. The applicant is Gilbert Aguinaldo, and
as you know, he sits on the Planning Commission. So out of an abundance of
ethical caution, he decided to say, "I'll stay away, you guys handle it." And
that's the reason why he's not here.
But anyway, as your Deputy Clerk pointed out, the property is an acre and a half.
It sits on the corner of the Kapoho-Pahoa Road and Kalapana Road,just directly
across of the Pahoa High School. It's, you know, he had a use permit for a
medical facility back in 2013. Then we all know the history of the lower Puna
area, 2014 and 2018 lava flows. So that basically affected his whole timetable.
Then 2019 came about, and he said like, "Well, I got this property; I got this use
permit." So he wanted to do something for the community. So he constructed
several of these structures. Calls it the so-called "community hub." And during
the recuperation period from the lava flow, then you know, those facilities were
used.
However, in this point in time, the use permit limits it only to medical related.
And so for him to be able to have greater use of the property for the community,
and perhaps implement some of the things that the Kilauea Recovery and
Resiliency Plan called for, the thought was to have the property rezoned to
Village Commercial-20, and in so being able to all of the things he wants to do
for the community. And all of the basic infrastructure is in there, like in terms of
water, the wastewater system. It's not in the flood zone, no archaeological
lesions or whatever have you. So essentially the property is very clean in terms
for being able to develop.
The Planning Commission reviewed and recommended favorably in the
application, and we're fortunate to also note that there were no objections from
the neighbors or the community. So with that, Madam Chair, Mr. Arai and I are
more than happy to answer questions.
ACTING CHR. VILLEGAS: Thank you so much. Just for my own
clarification, is this also the same piece of property that was potentially going to
be purchased by the County for the bus hub?
MR. FUKE: Yes, correct.
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ACTING CHR. VILLEGAS: Okay, great. Thank you for clarifying that and for
sharing. And with that, I'll open up to any questions from my colleagues.
Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Just a couple of questions, real quick. We usually
start with terms of conditions of approval, and just kind of acknowledging that
the applicant has read the terms and conditions of approval, and accepts and
acknowledges as outlined in Bill 113.
MR. FUKE: Yes, he reviewed it. Well, both Mr. Arai and myself, reviewed the
conditions, and he found them acceptable.
MS. LEE LOY: Okay. Thank you for that. I kind of want to dig into
Condition F. And I just want to be able to set any applicant up for success. And
in part, because these structures were developed under a different permit. And
now with that, we're moving this into a Commercial zoning, kind of ensuring
that the structures can actually go ahead and secure an after-the-fact permit with
the structures, and/or has the ability to rehabilitate them to meet the structural
requirements as required under the Commercial zoning.
MR. FUKE: I will let Mr. Arai answer that. Otherwise, Mr. Aguinaldo will
probably scold him for not doing his part. So go ahead, Daryn.
MR. ARAI: Good afternoon, Chair Villegas and members of the Committee.
Council Member Lee Loy, my recollection is that we provided the Planning
Department with records that demonstrated that all three structures obtained
building permits and were able to secure a certificate of occupancy as a cultural
center.
I think that was the original term that it was approved under. That's
Commercial. So you're correct in that transitioning to Commercial shouldn't
hopefully be a problem. But ultimately, it comes down to the specific type of
uses being contemplated. And there may have to be some improvements or
renovations or something that is needed. But that is on the applicant to then
demonstrate that what type of additional approvals or reviews that would be
necessary. And he's willing to abide by that.
MS. LEE LOY: Great. Which leads me into the parking requirements through
plan approval. And so, the applicant—like I said, I'm trying to set him up for
success. And we kind of go down this path. And I see the struggles when we
have existing facilities, and then we have to augment a little bit to meet
commercial requirements, ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance,
parking, loading. And I want to be clear that he understands that element kind of
moving forward.
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MR. ARAI: Yes. He is aware of it. You may also see in your records that he
has plans up for just simply the use of the three existing, but also hopefully, the
future. And it does include paving of the entire area. Now, one thing that may
need to be looked at is that because some of the uses were established during
when the emergency proclamation was in place, there may have been certain
exceptions, including things like paved access driveway and paved parking area.
If he wishes to now use facilities in the absence of that proclamation, he would
have to bring at least—for example, the parking up to code. But our
understanding is, he did have plans prepared. And he actually went ahead and
actually installed drywells in anticipation of those improvements. And those
drywells were approved.
MS. LEE LOY: And building off of that, because some of the structures have
already secured certificate of occupancy, there's other elements in the conditions
of approval that require securing access through the Department of
Transportation prior to certificate of occupancy. So I'm just kind of—am I
misreading that? That's Condition L.
MR. FUKE: No. The way that his access will come off of a County road,
fortunately, yeah. That's outlined, I think, in Condition L Condition 8 expressly
prohibits access off of the State highway.
MS. LEE LOY: Thanks for clarifying that, Sidney. And then N, which is, "The
drainage study shall be prepared by a licensed civil engineer prior to final plan
approval." And again, there's existing structures, so is this final plan approval
when we add new structures or in compliance with zoning?
MR. FUKE: He would have to submit plan approval for any use on the property.
And then in conjunction with the application process, a site drainage plan
approved by DPW, as you well aware, it has to be submitted as part of that
application. He's totally aware of that, yes.
MS. LEE LOY: Great. Thank you for helping me walk through that. Like I said
on the face it seems like it's real plug and play, but there's actually a lot more
work to be done to satisfy the conditions of approval for the project. Thank you
for your answers. Chair, I yield.
ACTING CHR. VILLEGAS: Great. Thank you, Council Woman Lee Loy.
Any questions from anyone else? No? And with that, we will call for the vote.
All those in favor?
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Vote on Bill 113: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 113 on first
(Approved) reading was carried by the following voice vote.
Ayes: Committee Members David,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy,
Richards, and Acting Chair Villegas —6.
Noes: None.
Absent: Council Members Chung and Inaba—2.
Excused: Council Member Kierkiewicz— 1.
Relinquish Chair: At this time the Vice Chair relinquished the chair to Chair Kierkiewicz.
MR. FUKE: Thank you very much, interim Chair.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Mahalo nui, Vice Chair. Let the record reflect that I am
assuming Chair of the Planning Committee at 3:30 p.m. Mr. Clerk, we are ready
to rock-n-roll with the last remaining items on our agenda. If you could please
begin with Bill 112.
Bill 112: AMENDS SECTION 25-8-13 (PUAKO-`ANAEHO`OMALU ZONE MAP),
ARTICLE 8, CHAPTER 25 (ZONING) OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983
(2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT
CLASSIFICATION FROM OPEN(0) AND MULTIPLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL
8,000 SQUARE FEET (RM-8) TO MULTIPLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL—6,000
SQUARE FEET (RM-6) AND SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL— 10,000
SQUARE FEET (RS-10) AT WAIKOLOA, SOUTH KOHALA, HAWAII,
COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 6-9-008:021, POR. 027, POR. 028, AND
POR. 031
(Applicant: Waikoloa Land Company) (Area: 45.932 acres)
The Leeward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for this
change of zone, which would allow the applicant to develop "Area A" of the proposed
Kumu Hou project, to consist of up to 264 multi-family residential units, up to 25 sing
family residential lots, and associated infrastructure. The properties are located
between the 75- and 76-mile markers on Queen Ka`ahumanu Highway and west
(makai) of the highway to the King's Highway Foot Trail, `Anaeho`omalu and
Waikoloa.
Reference: Comm. 595
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz (B/R)
and
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Comm. 595.1: From Planning Director Zendo Kern, dated January 20, 2022, transmitting the
testimony and hearing transcripts from the Leeward Planning Commission's
November 18, 2021, meeting and the draft testimony and draft hearing transcripts
from the December 16, 2021, meeting.
; and
Comm. 595.2: From Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, dated January 28, 2022,
transmitting supplemental materials for Bills 112 and 115.
(Note: Comm. 595.3, from Planning Consultant Sidney Fuke dated February 3,
2022, transmitting maps and renditions of the Kumu Hou at Waikoloa Project,
was circulated.)
Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of Bill 112 on
first reading. Seconded by Mr. Richards.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: And just to kind of set the tone for today's discussion,
there are two bills related to this project. So, I'm going to allow for Council
Members to kind of speak on the project globally rather than separating out the
issues based on what's written in the ordinances. So with that, I'd like to call the
lead representative for the projects forward, Mr. Fuke. And if you could do me
the honor or introducing all members of the team that are participating here in
chambers. And do let us know if anybody is Zooming in.
MR. BROWN: Excuse me, Chair, do you mind if we have one minute just to get
the presentation material up on the screen.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Would you like me to call a recess?
MR. BROWN: Yes,just for a minute, please. Thank you.
Recess: At 5:22 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 5:31 p.m.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, calling this meeting back in session.
Mr. Fuke.
(Note: At this time, Planning Consultant Sidney Fuke came forward to
address the members of the Committee.)
MR. FUKE: Okay, Hi again, Sidney Fuke,just for the record. At any rate, I'd
like to just, you know, based on the public testimony you've heard today as well
as all of the written testimonies that we've also kind of reviewed, it's kind of
clear this sizable project, it touches the lives of not only people who live in
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Waikoloa or even the districts of South and North Kohala or South and North
Kona, but really like the entire island. It directly touches people who go there to
recreate; whether it's to golf, go to the beach, walk the trails or doing their, I
think, affordable "staycation." It touches people who provide goods and services
to support the resort. And it touches people, especially as you heard today, for
those who commute regularly from all parts of the island to work there.
It also indirectly touches people in the form of the amount of tax revenue
generated, be it real property or TAT (Transient Accommodation Tax), that goes
into the County's coffers and help support the fiscal needs of the entire County.
Thus, because of the breadth of this project, rather than doing a solo presentation,
as I did like the last one, with Mr. Arai's help of course, I'd thought it be best to
have it shared with others.
And so, what we have is we have first of all, Mr. John Plunkett, who's sitting to
my left. He's Vice President of Waikoloa Land and the master developer of the
resort, who will briefly cover the reasons why they're doing this repurposing of
this area. He will then be followed by Ms. Ann Bouslag, who works with PBR
Hawaii, the principal planning firm that did basically the revised master plan,
who will talk about the project, its impact, and the regulatory compliance. She
will then be followed by Stanford Carr, sitting over here, the plan developer of
the island's first workforce housing project within a resort. And finally,
Ms. Cary Boeddeker, she's also over here. She's the daughter and the founder of
the original developer of the resort, Ron Boeddeker. And she'll talk about the
Waikoloa Foundation.
So I'm sure that along the way, you'll have a lot of questions, so feel free to ask
them as they do their own presentation. And with that, I'm stepping back and
turning it over to Mr. Plunkett.
(Note: At this time, Mr. John Plunkett, Vice President of Waikoloa Land
Company, came forward to address the members of the Committee.)
MR. PLUNKETT: Good afternoon, my name is John Plunkett, and I am here as
the owner's representative for Waikoloa Land Company. And we do appreciate
you having us here today. I'm going to keep my remarks very brief.
Waikoloa Land Company has been in business for over 40 years on the Hawaii
Island with essentially the same ownerships since we started. Waikoloa supports
over 5,000 local jobs as well as very important public infrastructure, such as the
roads, water, trails, beaches, beach access, public access, at no expense to
residents.
Much of Waikoloa's long-term success, I believe is attributed to the fact that we
prioritize being an all-inclusive community. Kama`aina and visitors alike enjoy
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our activities and offerings. And the visitors that we host while high-spending
aren't the ultra-high net-worth individuals that you find in many of the other
resorts, they're working families just like us.
Through Kumu Hou, Waikoloa Land is fulfilling the legacy vision for our
residents for the land and culture that makes this place special, for the resorts and
businesses providing benefits for our community's future. Please be assured that
prior to lifting a pencil to plan this project in earnest, we started considering how
we could give back to this community in a number of ways, the community
that's embraced us in so many ways over the years. And this will include the
additional workforce housing and a significant endowment to the Waikoloa
Foundation which will be discussed more in detail by others.
Our planning efforts began in earnest after first seeking and incorporating
community input. On the front end we instructed our planners to design a
project that would stay well under existing plan densities, to be sustainable, and
to respect both culture and environment.
Reduction of our golf experience from 36 to 27 holes better adapts our golf
course experience for market demand while allowing to repurpose nine holes for
a development that will support Hawaii Island's sustainable tourism future. We
recognize the critical need to keep more visitors within the resort quarters to
reduce impact on the community as a whole.
Our principal planner, Ann Bouslag of PBR Hawaii, will share more about our
efforts to achieve this more desirable balance. Furthermore, as you know, we've
committed to develop workforce housing within the boundaries of our resort
over and above the affordable housing requirement that has been previously
fulfilled by Waikoloa. This is a commitment inspired by our founders as well as
the late Mayor Billy Kenoi, whom we engaged with early on in this project. We
believe in an inherent responsibility to support those that are employed in our
area, and we want our efforts to improve conditions for working families in
generations to come. Mayor Billy's support during the early conception of
Kumu Hou led us to re-engage with Stanford Carr, who is a developer and doner
in our project. You'll hear more from him today on the development of the
affordable housing within Waikoloa Resort and for island residents.
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The last thing I wanted to touch on before concluding is our endowment to the
Waikoloa Foundation, Cary Boeddeker is the president of this foundation, and is
the daughter of our founder, Ron Boeddeker. And she will be discussing this.
Through the development of Kumu Hou, Waikoloa Land Company is investing a
portion of each timeshare sale from Kumu Hou to a funded endowment for the
Waikoloa Foundation that will generate up to $50 million to go into the
community. As has been the case since Waikoloa's inception, we remain deeply
devoted to contributing to our community and a better future for our residents in
the region.
Mahalo again for your time. It's been a pleasure to share about this project. I
look forward to answering any of your questions following some remarks by my
colleagues. I truly hope that you'll find that this project is a model for future
projects in the Hawaiian Islands as the way it should be done. At this point, I'll
be turning this over to Ann Bouslag, our primary consultant, to discuss many
more of the details for Kumu Hou, unless you have any specific questions for me
at this point.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you for your presentation. We'll do questions at
the end.
MR. PLUNKETT: Okay. Thank you.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you.
(Note: At this time, PBR Hawaii Project Director Ann Bouslag came
forward to address the members of the Committee.)
MS. BOUSLAG: My name is Ann Bouslag, I'm a project director at PBR
Hawaii in Honolulu. Good afternoon, Planning Committee Chair Kierkiewicz
and other members of the Committee. As Mr. Plunkett noted, Waikoloa Land
Company envisioned Kumu Hou as a refreshed and more sustainable place.
Together, we also saw opportunities to enhance the setback from Queen
Ka`ahumanu Highway to improve public access to the resort, to update some of
the aging common area infrastructure; to attract new investment and jobs to the
island as well as to the State. And yet, still maintain a first-class 27-hole golf
experience at the resort for the foreseeable future.
As planners, PBR was really excited to join the team to help implement these
visions. And we do feel that the outcomes have met these terrific goals. I'd like
to walk you through some of the highlights of that right now.
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First of all, you've been looking at a map of the existing conditions of Kumu
Hou. As you know, it's located in the South Kohala district. This entire area has
long been designated for over 50 years as a center of employment for this part of
the island and for resort development. The first land use approval it received
was in 1968 when it got a State Land Use Commission redesignation. So it's
been a long-term plan and idea that this area should be a resort and a center of
employment.
Waikoloa Beach Resort has organized around two very important environmental
and cultural features, and that is the King's Trail,which is here (referring to map
being displayed on the projector screen, see Comm. 595.3). It cuts the resort into
two parts, about 500 acres in the makai area and 850 acres in the mauka area.
The other organizing factor is a very large setback from Queen Ka`ahumanu
Highway. The agreement is this would average 800 feet and altogether it's over
126 acres that will be preserved in perpetuity to honor and preserve the beauty of
the natural lava in that area and the long vistas that allows.
Kumu Hou will be developed entirely mauka of the King's Trail, and it entails no
change whatsoever to the boundaries of the 800-foot setback from Queen
Ka`ahumanu Highway. Most of the areas you can see here looking at this map, is
already developed for golf course, in both these areas. And the areas that aren't
have been already planned and entitled for residential use and/or are set aside as
dense pahoehoe or `a`a lava areas. Also shown on this map by the way is the
location of the affordable housing project that Mr. Carr will be talking about in a
little while.
Let me go to the next map. Let me show you what adaptations we made to the
current plan. First of all, let me explain here that the existing entitled areas would
have allowed or do allow residential development in these areas, which hug the
setback area and 87 units in this area, as well as in these areas back here, what we
call JI, J2 and L2.
The new plan for this, we took the 120 units that were planned alongside the
setback area and relocated them instead, to be alongside units that were already
planned in what we call Area A. This allows a greater setback from the Queen
Ka`ahumanu Highway, because with a deeper sight here we can set the buildings
further back so visually it will look like a much more open area rather than having
buildings hugging the boundary there.
We also added some single-family lots up in Area A, which will be accessed from
the `Ainamalu community. This area, Area A, is addressed by Bill 112 with RM
(Multi-Family Residential), RS (Single-Family Residential), and Open zoning
requests. In Area B, which is this area our Kumu Hou, we added new timeshare
units, a new and relocated clubhouse in this area, and a new driving range in this
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area. We also eliminated development on the 12-acre parcel, which is now
entitled for 87 units in this area. The plan offers better connectivity within the
resort by bringing some traffic along Ala Ihi Way and creating walking paths
along here by allowing traffic to be distributed from the two ends of Waikoloa
Beach Drive. It also, we think, will encourage the distribution of traffic between
the two intersections to Waikoloa Beach Resort along Queen Ka`ahumanu
Highway, here and here.
Also in Area B, we found a site down here for a three-acre new public park and
paths. These paths will link Area B to Waikoloa Beach Drive, coming back up
here, and to the west, to the Queen's Marketplace, and along to existing paths and
routes that lead down to the shoreline. Waikoloa Land Company sees these areas
as public parks and expects them to be used by kama`aina as well as by visitors to
the area and hopes that they will become well used public spaces. To support the
public uses we created public parking spaces, we created a children's play area,
and are proposing a comfort station. So this is a preliminary plan for these two
park areas leading down with a trail here, crossing the street, and going into this
area here that would lead on down towards the west.
We also left quite a few areas un-programmed, as you can see here. Our hope is
that these areas become areas that families will enjoy playing in, where a mother
and her son can play Frisbee, where a local hula halau one day may practice;
where visitors can sit and read, where there could be yoga classes, tai-chi classes;
a place to have a quiet conversation or just to rest. Just about anything you could
imagine. We do hope that it will be used and enjoyed by the public as well as
visitors. The parks and paths here, like other infrastructure within the resort, will
be entirely maintained, developed, and paid for by the resort with no cost
whatsoever to public funding. In our time with the late Mayor Billy Kenoi, we
learned that public parks were another passion of his. And so I can tell you that
this entire team is really excited to provide this contribution to the community.
So given the various diverse types of uses we described in Area B, this is why
Area B is proposed for Project District zoning that offers a little bit more
flexibility. And that is the area that is addressed by Bill 115.
All developments I've described to you today are consistent with existing
developments including the State Land Use Commission, the County General
Plan, the South Kohala Development Plan, and the new SMA (Special
Management Area) that was assigned and approved for this project by the
Leeward Planning Commission very recently along with its related conditions.
But notably with Kumu Hou the resorts ultimate buildout will be substantially less
than it's currently entitled.
This is an ariel view taken from near the park areas looking out towards Queen
Ka`ahumanu Highway. And I show this to you because we asked our renderer to
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prepare a view of what an area of the resort might look like. And we're excited
that we were able to achieve 69 percent of the Kumu Hou footprint as open to the
sky. This includes great areas of natural lava, re-naturalized lava, some
landscaped areas, parks, pads, sidewalks, and other spaces that would be open to
the public. While there will be a little loss of some golf course fairways, I'd like
to point out that these new public spaces will be truly public and not available
only to paying golfers.
Let me give you a little more technical information. In terms of historic
resources, Dr. Allan Hahn of Hahn & Associates prepared an archaeological
inventory study of the site in 2021. Much of the project area, as you saw earlier,
has been previously disturbed or is covered by dense pahoehoe and `a`a lava.
Dr. Hahn concluded that the project would not affect historic properties.
Nonetheless, after consultation with the State Na Ala Hele Trail and Access
Program and the National Park Service, he and Waikoloa Land Company agreed
to a network of trail systems and other features that would be preserved onsite.
The final draft AIS (Archaeological Inventory Survey) incorporating those plans
was submitted for review to SHPD (State of Hawaii Historic Preservation
Division) and approved by them in October 2021.
In terms of infrastructure, traffic. Because the project buildout is expected to
extend 20 years, Waikoloa Land Company agreed to prepare an updated traffic
study that will be submitted to the Planning Department for review and approval
prior to the issuance of the site plan approval for the 400'h unit in the Kumu Hou
Project District. The traffic study itself saw very little impact on highway traffic
due to this project with more of the future traffic coming from background noise
than from this project. The applicant will also satisfy various traffic mitigations
that have been outlined as Condition O of Bill 115.
The Leeward Planning Commission also required that a north-south connector
road can go back here be developed in this area to connect Waikoloa Beach
Resort and Mauna Lani Resort. And the intent again is to provide some internal
circulation one day between these resorts, again for the relieving traffic on the
highway.
In terms of sewer and fresh water, the water service in this area is to be provided
and is provided by the private company Hawaii Water Service Company. And
they have indicated that they are willing and able to provide water and sewer
service to all of Kumu Hou.
In terms of irrigation water, Area C here, is the location of a proposed new
brackish water irrigation system for Kumu Hou. This hasn't been addressed in
any of these bills. We did not request any change of zoning because none is
required for the uses intended here. There's no vertical development. Simply two
wells here, some transmission lines, and use of an existing resort golf lake. But
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it's important to note that no fresh water will be used for irrigation anywhere in
Kumu Hou. Instead, together with Kumu Hou's repurposing of nine fairways that
will no longer require watering, and various landscape strategies to emphasize
native and drought tolerant species as well as natural and re-naturalized lava and
increase in available recycled water that Kumu Hou will bring, this new brackish
water system will actually enable the resort to reduce its withdraws from the
`Anaeho`omalu Aquifer.
MS. VILLEGAS: Chair, may I ask a quick question?
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Absolutely, Vice Chair. Go ahead.
MS. VILLEGAS: Hi. Just a quick request for the definition of re-naturalized
lava.
MS. BOUSLAG: Sure. Natural lava is
MS. VILLEGAS: As it was from the source, yeah.
MS. BOUSLAG: You can see more on the west side, of course, the wild lava as it
was issued by Mauna Loa and our other beautiful mountains here. Re-naturalized
lava is when a landscape architect, as there are many in my firm, uses some of the
natural lava to create an area that may look like the natural lava but it's actually
been touched. In some cases they may save a really outstanding piece of natural
lava and do some limited plantings around it. But it's called re-naturalized.
MS. VILLEGAS: Great. Thank you. I appreciate that.
MS. BOUSLAG: Sure. Of course. Anything else? So we were just getting into
economic and fiscal impacts, and I'm getting close to wrapping up here. Kumu
Hou is a long-term project. We expect it to take until 2042 or so to buildout. It
will generate significant employment and many benefits in those areas to the local
community. And it will do so over time and gradually. In the first six years or so
we expect development to be in the employment benefits to be concentrated in
the development and planning areas with operational years'jobs generated over
time once units start being occupiable. At completion and stabilization,
employment will have transitioned to be all operational workers.
And while we'd like to think of resort workers as the people you might see when
you go into a hotel, the person who parks your car, the person who checks you in,
the person who cleans the room, those are the direct jobs. The indirect and
induced jobs are even more than the direct jobs. And that includes every single
type of employment you can imagine in the state for an industry like tourism,
which is quite diverse in its economic impacts. So that includes fisherman,
farmers, small business owners, teachers, firemen, waiters and waitresses,just
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about every occupation you can think of will be enhanced and supported by the
new monies that Kumu Hou would bring into the community.
In terms of fiscal impacts for the County, Kumu Hou is expected to generate $6 to
$10 million dollars per year in net new taxes at buildout and every year thereafter.
This is all in 2020 dollars, so of course that will increase over time. And I've
provided a lot of technical information here. Today, we do have a number of our
authors, of our technical studies who are standing by on Zoom. So I'd like to
pause right now in case anybody has some questions. You can ask them later as
well, but if you have any now we are happy to take them.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: We'll take questions at the end. Thank you.
MS. BOUSLAG: Okay. Great. Then let me just say that although as you've
heard before, Waikoloa Land Company has already fulfilled its affordable housing
commitment through the donation of 300 acres of land for the Kamakoa Nui
Project up in Waikoloa Village. Along with Kumu Hou, Waikoloa Land Company
has elected to forego visitor-related development of a 25-acre zoned site within the
resort, and to instead propose to set that aside for workforce housing to support
Kumu Hou as well as the whole reagents hardworking employees. And to talk
more about that I'm really happy to introduce Mr. Stanford Carr of Stanford Carr
Development.
(Note: At this time, Developer Stanford Carr came forward to address the
members of the Committee.)
MR. CARR: I'm honored to be here this afternoon and to collaborate with
Waikoloa Land Company. We first collaborated with Waikoloa Land on a
community neighborhood in Waikoloa Resort called the Colony at Waikoloa
Villas back in 20011 believe. But I first invested in building neighborhoods and
communities on this island first started in the Steve Yamashiro Administration
back in 1998. We've been here now for 24 years and we look forward to the next
24 years. I really must commend the Waikoloa Development Land Company for
embarking on creating workforce rentals within a resort community. This will
actually mitigate commuting traffic for the workers of the resort and surrounding
resorts.
As you heard earlier testimony, some of the workers in the resort have been
commuting for over 20-somewhat years, spending two to four hours a day each
way, which is very taxing on their body as well as their quality of lifestyle with
their family. So I really commend the resort for taking and setting a precedent
here to build workforce housing to have a much more inclusive community.
We are planning and have worked with Waikoloa Land Company and the resort to
data-mine demographics of the workforce household income distribution so that
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we can tailor a community that of mixed-income households that match up and
correlate with the fabric of the workforce there at Waikoloa Resort and
surrounding neighborhoods. So we are working towards that.
We utilize a program called Internal Revenue Code Section 42, which is rental
housing; low income housing tax credit program. And we augment that with a
HUD (Housing and Urban Development) financing FHA (Federal Housing
Administration) Program that allows us to utilize federal and state tax credits, tax
exempt bond financing and obtain a 40-year bond loan, which is a fixed rate. We
call it a HUD 221(d)(4) Ginnie Mae bond finance. And that allows us to reach
deep affordability, and that translates to a single person, you know, making
$18,000 a year, renting a one-bedroom apartment for $450 a month, including
utilities. Up to 60 percent of the area median income, which translates to a family
of four earning $51,360 a year, and paying $1,284 a month towards their
household rent and utilities.
So we're working on this program to provide a mixed-income community to serve
the workforce to address the housing ladder from the very low income to
low-moderate, to moderate, servicing also households that do not qualify for a tax
credit rental but earn an excess of 60 percent of the area median income up to
120 percent. Again, we're catering it to the community based on the demographic
data that we have gathered from surveys collaborating with the resort.
You know, our company just to give you a little background, we've been in this
business now for 32 years. Technically I've been in it for 34 years. We have over
the years developed over 6,000 units on three counties, Oahu, Maui, and the Big
Island. We have a wide range of disciplines of workforce rentals to entry-level for
sale, both multi-family, single-family. We are also the master developer for Ka
Makana. So we take our endeavors even further. It's not just to build
neighborhoods in communities, but we also have a nonprofit that provides
resources to enrich the residents that live in our rental communities who aspire to
become homeowners and we offer them resources of financial literacy,
homeownership counseling to assist them for those who aspire to become
first-time home buyers.
Up on the boards here is an illustrative of our interpretation of a contemporary
plantation architecture that we envision creating a more resort-like setting in this
rental community. We foresee amenities as a lot of open space, parks, swimming
pool, recreation center for the community, as well as we're planning for a childcare
facility to assist those that are busy working during the day. With that, I'll turn it
over to you.
(Note: At this time, Waikoloa Foundation President Cary Boeddeckker ,
President of Waikoloa Foundation, came forward to address the members
of the Committee.)
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MS. BODECKER: Okay. Thanks, Stanford. And good afternoon, Madam Chair.
and members of the Council. As was previously stated, my name is Cary
Boeddeckker, and I'm the President of the Waikoloa Foundation and the youngest
daughter to the late Ron Boeddeckker, developer of Waikoloa Beach Resort. I am
here today in support of the Kumu Hou timeshare development project.
But before I share with you my thoughts on why this project is good for Hawaii
Island I would like to tell you a little bit about myself. I'm the youngest daughter
to Ronald and Kitty Boeddeckker and I began coming to Hawaii, and specifically
Waikoloa, when I was 10 years old. As I watched my father develop what is today
called the gathering place of the Kohala Coast, Waikoloa Beach Resort, as a young
girl I would observe my father as he worked so hard to bring his vision for
Waikoloa to life.
In the early days I would admire how much he cared for the island and its
traditions. But it was really over time that his fondness grew and ended up being a
lasting love and connection with the culture, the land, and most especially, the
people. Some of the greatest memories we have had as a family took place here on
the Big Island. I too, have such a deep connection with Hawaii. My very first job
was with Ocean Sports Hawaii and the Sea Smoke Catamaran during my
summers break, it was a really fun job, too.
It is where I too, fell in love with every aspect of Hawaii. And as a young adult I
would make any excuse to be involved in Waikoloa, which led me to develop and
produce the Waikoloa Nights Concert Series at the Queen's Bowl, which brought
acts like Earth, Wind, and Fire, Chicago, Journey, and the Beach Boys, to name a
few, to our beautiful island. My point to all of this is that I am invested here. I
love everything about Hawaii. My `ohana is here and I'm committed to
preserving and protecting these lands for generations to come through my role as
the president of the Waikoloa Foundation.
You may ask, why would the Waikoloa Foundation be in support of this
development project, and I think it's been made abundantly clear today that as
President of the foundation and a principal, I have convinced the partners of
Waikoloa land to commit a portion of the gross sales proceeds from each timeshare
unit back to the Waikoloa Foundation. As John stated earlier, this would equate to
an astonishing $50 million over the course of this project. This unprecedented
commitment from Waikoloa Land will be a covenant that commits the future
project developer to continue upholding this lasting promise to the community.
This monumental endowment will be used for many initiatives to help our
community, not only within Waikoloa Beach Resort, but island-wide as well.
With our newly appointed local advisory board's input, here are just a few of the
early initiatives that we are very proud to announce if Kumu Hou is approved. The
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Foundation will be a prime supporter of the Destination Management Action Plan
or DMAP as you all know it, offering resources to help manage tourism in a very
responsible and regenerative manner. We will continue the work within the resort
to facilitate the preservation and the education of our precious cultural sites. We
will work on the enhancement of parks within the community to help support the
families that will come as a result of the new proposed workforce rental housing
project tied to the Kumu Hou approval.
We will work to assist and integrate the workforce community and their families in
the greater Waikoloa community. I cannot think of a more worthy cause for the
foundation than working hand-in-hand with the island's workforce and families
and building a more vibrant and sustainable community that not only meets the
needs of our visitors, but with this approval can now welcome the island workforce
as residents to enjoy the same gathering place that we have become known for.
This is the cornerstone in which my father built Waikoloa and which I will
continue.
One initiative that I am particularly excited about and have already started working
on is the plan conversion of the Parker Ranch Recreation Building. I think Scott
Dodd talked about it earlier, which is located near Lava Beach Club into the
Waikoloa Discovery and Cultural Center. We are thrilled to transform this space
back into the community hub it once was. Now with renewed purpose and service
of the foundation's mission, we will provide it into perpetuity. The Parker Ranch
Building will be the home of the Waikoloa Foundation, and will provide
programming, education, and focus its efforts on the historic preservation of the
rich cultural heritage at Waikoloa and the surrounding area.
Through the creation of this project we are very proud to be a leader in what we
believe to be a new sustainable and responsible development model that
incorporates the social development, economic, conservation, cultural, and
community into one project. It's not just building a building, but it's building a
community. We are proud of our efforts to think outside the box and bring to you
a comprehensive development package.
Since 1977 my father worked hard to be a steward of these lands through the
creation of Waikoloa Beach Resort, and I sincerely hope my legacy will be to
steward the foundation which will care for the community, its people, and the
organizations that perpetuate the foundation's vision, which is to safeguard the
precious cultural and environmental attributes that make Hawaii unique. I am
privileged to work hand-in-hand with my advisory board members who will guide
our activities through their diverse experience and perspective as it relates to the
needs of our local community.
It's a privilege for our family to continue stewarding their legacy and honoring our
responsibility here by dedicating our time, money, and resources to the Waikoloa
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Foundation. The proposed funds from the Kumu Hou timeshare project of
approximately $50 million will anchor our efforts in environmental and cultural
stewardship for generations to come. I cannot express to you how excited I am
about our future. And with your help we can ensure that our community continues
to be vibrant, diverse, sustainable, and prosperous. Mahalo for your time today
and I so appreciate your consideration for this important project for Hawaii Island.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Boeddeckker. Thank you, everyone, for
your presentations. Mr. Fuke, does that conclude the presentation from the
applicant? Great. Also noting the presence of our Planning Director here in
chambers. I'm also told that Anne has some of her team available on Zoom if we
have questions. I'm going to turn it over to my colleagues for any questions or
comments they might have for the applicant. Who'd like to start? If not we will
go to the vote. Ms. Kimball.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. Thank you all for being here today and thank
you for your patience as we went through other business of the day. First of all,
I'd actually like to give a shout out to our Leeward Planning Commission. They
had a heavy lift with this project. And as I was reading the minutes, thought that
there were some very thoughtful questions, comments, and recommendations that
came out of that. And I see that the applicant has adopted some of those
recommendations. So just wanted to mahalo the commission for their service.
You made a point, Sidney, of saying that you were not an expert in mathematics in
the commission hearings. But I do want to do a run down, if I may, of all of the
entitlement numbers one more time. If somebody wouldn't mind doing that for us
today.
MR. FUKE: And I still flunked math. So I'm going to refer to Ann Bouslag.
MS. BOUSLAG: Let me give you what I think, and hope is a clear overview of
them. As you may know, Waikoloa Beach Resort is now entitled for 6,365 units.
That's 3,000 visitor units and 3,365 residential units. They were originally granted
more than that, but they agreed many years ago, I'm not exactly sure why, but to
reduce it to this total, which is now 6,365.
MS. KIMBALL: Okay. And I'm going to interrupt you just to point of
clarification as we go through this. What is the definition in this scenario of a
visitor unit versus a residential unit?
MS. BOUSLAG: That's a very good question, because when Waikoloa Beach
Resort was originally planned I don't think people envisioned things like timeshare
units or, you know, rental units within a condominium project. So originally the
entitlements thought of hotels and residential units. There was an opinion by
Chris Yuen, I forget the date
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MR. FUKE: 2001, I think so.
MS. BOUSLAG: Yeah, we can find you that date if you're interested. But
Waikoloa Land Company requested a clarification of this some time ago and then
Planning Director Yuen responded very thoughtfully, which has become the
guiding principle for this. So now going forward, if you are a hotel you are clearly
a visitor unit. If you are a timeshare unit that was developed on resort-zoned lands,
it's considered a visitor unit. And even though some timeshare unitsa timeshare
unit developed on residential-zoned land, such as an RM designation, would be
considered a residential unit for purposes of monitoring this count. And, you
know, there had to be some kind of parsing like that, because for instance you have
hotels now that are gradually converting to timeshare units.
So basically that's the difference now. And so the units in Area A, as we
described it, are residential units. Those units were already approved and zoned on
RM lands. And we do recognize that the new units proposed in Area B should be
considered visitor units because this is new zoning. It was residentially zoned, but
some of it was also Open zoned for the golf. So those are acknowledged now by
our plan as visitor units.
MS. KIMBALL: Can 1-just again, a breakdown of numbers of the plan
development between Area A & B?
MS. BOUSLAG: So Area A has 263 timeshare units and 25 single-family homes.
Those are all residential units in Area A. And Area B has 900 timeshare units.
Altogether, Kumu Hou brings 1,063 units.
MS. KIMBALL: Could you please bring up the map of the area and just
geo-locate me into the historical entitlements. And I'm not looking for a fun math
problem here. What I'm wanting to do, and this actually came up in the
commission a little bit, is to understand if the entitlement numbers have not yet
been reached because of business decisions made by the developer not to develop
at a certain density and so now we're actually converting open space to
developable land in response to a business decision, and I'm just concerned that
that sets a bad precedence because once open space is gone, open space is gone.
So the heart of the question that I'm trying to answer is where were these
entitlements located? I realize that we're shifting them around. But are we
shifting them around in a way that's justifiable? Is it clear where I'm coming from
with that angle? So if we can go to the map and just kind of locate where these
different entitlements existed.
MR. FUKE: Okay. The original approval was approved in 1977, I think, 1978.
At that time the SMA law was already in place. And what the approval was for, it
expressly stated that the Waikoloa Resort complex would include 3,000 hotel
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rooms, 3,430 multi-family residential units, 2 golf courses, so on and so forth.
That occurred back in 1977-1978. That's the original SMA. Then in 1991, there
was an amendment to the existing SMA as well as the rezoning of that area mauka
of the King's Trail. Because the projected density of 3,000 hotel rooms and 3,400
multiple-family units were all squished down on the makai side.
Then in 1991 they said—well, Waikoloa then represented to say like, okay, we
will still keep the 3,000-hotel room cap, but nevertheless the number of multiple-
family residential units would be reduced by approximately—well, it would be
reduced to 3,365 units. So that would be maybe about like a shade under 75-85
units less. But now the multiple-family units and hotel units would be spread
across both the mauka and the makai side as opposed to all being squished on the
makai side.
So the owners were kind of like giving these guys direction essentially, to say,
"We have to stay within the limit. We don't want to exceed it." So they, through
their land planning efforts, understood like from the owner's standpoint they're
going to have to relinquish—well, they wanted to abandon that nine-hole golf
course. So how best to use that particular area and still maintain that semblance of
open space that the golf course had provided.
So I think Ann's presentation kind of showed basically the window, the open
space-style window, whatever have you. But essentially to show that there has
been really like not too significant of a loss in terms of open space. Also by
design, the existing zoning would have had those structures right up to the
600-foot setback line from the Queen Ka`ahumanu Highway. Under this revised
plan, it kind of gives an opportunity to kind of shift it further back and therefore to
kind of create a little bit more breathing room so to speak.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you for that. I'm not so sure if my time is actually up or
if the timer was running
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: No, there was a malfunction. You have three minutes left.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Chair. Appreciate it. Okay, if we could again just
take a look. If you can point out on the map, then to me where those existing
entitlements from where we're looking at the revision.
MS. BOUSLAG: So makai of the trail in this 500-acre area. There are 1,695
visitor units entitled, and 1,884 residential units entitled in this area. Mauka of the
trail, which is all this area(referring to map displayed on the projector screen),
including the `Ainamalu community going up here to the highway, there are 1,266
visitor units entitled and 1,367 residential units entitled.
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Where I was headed originally though when started talking, before we started
talking about where they go, what I did want to say is that the total entitlements as
of now, and I'm not breaking out by mauka-makai, but it's 6,365 units. To date,
there are 3,414 developed. So there are remaining entitlements for 2,951 units.
The 1,188 units that are being proposed in this plan are a portion of that nearly
3,000 units.
And it is the resort developer's job to live within those entitlements. And they will
do that. They will manage that one way or another. And I think your question of
why slowly, the units get built to the market. I think someone mentioned earlier,
there have been a number of disruptions to the economy, so development of all
kinds has been slowed. Units will get built when projects can be financed and
there's sufficient demand.
MS. KIMBALL: Great, thank you. So the million-dollar question there, and
maybe this is a question for our Planning Director and Corp. Counsel, so we're
back at conversing, so make you hear my questions.
So you have these extra entitlements, then that are not going to be absorbs through
this project, and I would like clarity today on what happens. Do those just go
away forever? Or is there a chance that the company comes back to us and says,
"Oh, we've still got more entitlements and we want to expand further." So once
these two rezoning ordinances, should they go through and they the SMA is
associated, are those extra entitlements above what is being proposed, are those
gone, or are those still usable at some point?
MR. FUKE: They're actually capped. And again if you would trust my
numbers—and I don't really trust my numbers but based on the calculations
and I was kind of looking at all of the different spreadsheets. But it amounts to at
the end of the day you would have like 405 less visitor units than was originally
planned, which was the total allocation of 3,000. And in terms of what was
approved by the SMA of 3,365 units, it would be like, with this Kumu Hou project,
you'd amount to like less density of 114 residential units. So a total net, if you're
looking at overall density, between multiple-family and the visitor units, you're
talking about an overall less density of 519 units. This is all kind of like related
not so much on the zoning, but it's reflected in the SMA permit.
MS. BOUSLAG: And that does account for the planned development of some
areas that are now vacant. You know, we've been talking about 140 units here at
this site. `Ainamalu as you know is entitled and will build out. So these are
projects that don't require rezoning. They're planned, they're entitled; they're in
process.
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MS. KIMBALL: Thank you for that. I still don't fully—like my question was
answered is answered. So we have 500 and some that are not going to be
utilized yes?
MR. FUKE: In terms of the overall total density of the resort as well as
multiple-family residential, my count has it at 519.
MS. KIMBALL: Okay. That's what my count says, too. Our math might not be
that bad after all. But my question remains, and Mr. Dodd is it?
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Mr. Plunkett.
MS. KIMBALL: Sorry. Mr. Plunkett, apologies. Maybe you understand my
question here?
MR. PLUNKETT: Maybe this math can get confusing. What Mr. Fuke was
alluding to is that after you account for projects that have not been developed yet
based upon entitlements that they have currently, we haven't reduced that. But if
you as developed to their full entitlement on those specific vacant sites, we would
still be under by 519 units. So I could point out a couple of examples if that would
help.
MS. KIMBALL: No, I think the question is being interpreted more complexly
than I'm intending it—
MS.
tMS. BOUSLAG: (Inaudible) . . . if Kumu Hou is approved, would we come back
to seek the additional entitlements that we are entitled to for the rest of the project;
and the answer is, maybe.
MR. PLUNKETT: Well maybe, but we don't really have any additional land.
MS. BOUSLAG: We don't know.
MR. PLUNKETT: So all of the projects that have been planned and sold have an
entitlement that we've agreed to as a master declarant, and we've come up 519 as a
deficit. So I can't say that we wouldn't come in to try to take it up to the
entitlement at some point, but I don't see it. And again, I could point you to some
specific examples as to why.
MS. KIMBALL: Okay. The reason I'm asking is, this is probably the pivot point
for me. And why I'm drilling down on this so deeply is that I don't want to see
this migration of, "Okay, here we want to take out another nine holes of the golf
course, and now we have these entitlements for 400 and some units. I'm trying to
really clearly understand with these two ordinances and the associated SMAS
going back to the very original entitlements, do we now step back and say that
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we've met the limit of the entitlements or are they still out there. That's the
questions. And I feel like I'm getting an answer that they are, and you may come
back, we're not certain.
MR. PLUNKETT: On the remaining nine holes of the King's Course, we're
repurposing nine holes of 18. On the remaining nine holes of the King's Course
our agreement with Hilton Grand Vacations because—we're not bogging you
down with all that—but we've agreed to operate a 27-hole golf course for at least
15 years. So there's no plan to take that nine holes out. And frankly, that was all
involved in a land swap with Hilton Grand Vacations to protect their views for
their existing timeshare customers. So that won't be happening.
The beach course is under a long-term golf play agreement with the Hilton
Waikoloa Village. It will continue forever. We don't really have any additional
land. This is really our last significant project that we will be doing.
MR. FUKE: You know, I think there are some properties that were
underdeveloped in terms of relative to zoning. So hypothetically if you had a
property that could conceivably yield mathematically 150 multiple-family units
and the developer chose to do only 100, well that's that. But if there are properties
that are within that zoned area and they want to do like a tear down every build,
then conceivably it could go up to like 150.
I hear what you're saying, and I think that the numbers right now are not really
you know, we have internal numbers, and the numbers I just shared with you are
kind of like internal numbers. There is some question as far as like whether the
Planning Department has those numbers to be able to monitor. Because the SMA
makes clear what your density cap is, but I think the only way that the department
would be in a position to address that is that if they have a numbering system such
that if and when a project comes in for plan approval, they can measure the
additional density relative to what was allowed.
So as a possibility, you know, something that—and I might get scolding after
this but something that the Council may want to consider is maybe like a
condition calling for such a monitoring system and such ain the ordinance so
that it become clear whether the initial numbers are developed by the applicant or
whomever. And it'll help the Planning Department and kind of like make us feel
like we're being honorable in terms of what we're representing in terms of what
the numbers are.
MS. KIMBALL: Thank you, Mr. Fuke, for that suggestion. I think that's an
excellent suggestion. And you know, I'm just trying to make it easier for the
people that are in these 20 years from now, looking and going, "What entitlements
were there?" and "Who did what?" and make sure that we have some real clarity
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around that. I'm going to yield for now, Chair. I have a couple more questions,
but I want to open questioning for other folks.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Council Member Kimball, do you feel your question was
answered satisfactorily?
MS. KIMBALL: Yes, I do. Thank you, Chai.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I see your light on, Ms. Lee Loy. Go ahead,
you have the floor.
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, and thank you, Ms. Kimball for that questioning. Because
that's actually where I was at. We have a State Land Use boundary amendment,
we have old SMAS, and now new SMAS; and Sid,you know me, right? I just want
to get to that number and provide assurances to the community that this entitlement
process is set and then capped by the SMA. And later on what will not happen is
moving these units around to be above or below to SMA line.
So I really do think, Sid, if we could work towards something like that, where we
could identify the units and ensure back to community 10, 15, 20 years from now,
because one thing I noticed in the conditions of approval is we don't have a
timeline. And I understand why. This is a long-term project. And the only thing
that's afforded back to community is an annual progress report. So I, too, am
challenged that as we make the decision here, how do we hold the Boeddekkers
and this entire community accountable. So if you don't mind, I would love to
work on crafting some of that.
The other question I had was around the 25 residential units and then our
affordable housing units. And maybe this is for you, Sid, or for you, Stan.
Because I don't see any language about keeping these in affordables in perpetuity.
But Stanford, I'm guessing because of the way we stack the money, it actually
becomes inherent that these rental units and/or residential units stay at this 40 or 60
percent AMI (Average Median Income).
MR. PLUNKETT: I'm going to let Stanford answer that. He's the expert in that.
MR. CARR: So tax credits and bond allocation as well as rental housing revolving
funds, which is the necessary gap financing for these types of projects, are
allocated by a competitive basis, by a point system through the Hawaii Housing
Finance Development Corporation (HHFDC). We typically commit to keep these
affordable for 65 years. You'll never see an in perpetuity. It's just not condoned
from a federal level as well. We're dealing with tax credits, bond investors and so
forth. But I will say that we have in the past and continue and will do the same
here, is commit to a 65-year term of affordability.
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We enter into a regulatory agreement that's recorded against the land. And so it
runs with the land.
MS. LEE LOY: So that was my other part. Could we do it by deed restrictions.
But what I hear you saying is because it's going to be recorded, that actually is the
safeguard that this stays affordable at that AMI price point for the 65 years.
MR. CARR: Correct. In fact there's annual audits by a third part that's contracted
by HHFDC for compliance. These programs are very strict. I will say that I'm
personally liable for the tax recapture if there is any unit that is not compliant. So
that's why the gene pool is pretty small as to the amount of companies that will
take on these types of endeavors, because they're pretty sophisticated financing
structure that have a considerable amount of exposure if you don't do things
properly.
MS. LEE LOY: Great. Then I had a question, and I'm not sure if this is for Ann
or for Sidney. The conditions of approval mention a traffic update prior to the
400-unit.
MR. PLUNKETT: It was a Planning Commission requirement that we provide
that. Is that the simple answer for that?
MS. BOUSLAG: Very good.
MS. LEE LOY: Yeah. And these are the timeshare units, or ?
MS. BOUSLAG: Four hundred unit in Area B, so in what's called the Kumu Hou
Project District if it receives Project District Zoning.
MS. LEE LOY: Then I had some questions just around some sustainability
models. Right? We heard earlier today about, you know,just our entire energy
grid, and I was just wondering if there was some element, lead certified element,
solar,just some of the things that would keep the cost of electric bills down, being
planned, or at least thought of in this project. And I'm sorry, I think I missed a
little bit of the front end, but I just I didn't hear that in the presentation.
MS. BOUSLAG: Well, in the SMA and change of zone application, there was a
report on sustainability with suggested metrics for that. So yes, they've been
thought about; and yes, there's an intent to embrace many sustainability measures
that seek to protect the land, the water, culture, the air, and so on.
MS. LEE LOY: And this is my final question. And this is actually for
Ms. Boeddekker. You mentioned the endowment of$50 million, but I kept
hearing you repeat"up to" $50 million. I was just wondering if that's a cap or is it
kind of you'll spend up to $50 million and then it goes down?
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MS. BOEDDEKKER: No, it's actually a calculation based on two percent of the
gross sales price. So today, they don't know exactly what the sales price is. So we
can't necessarily commit to a specific number, but it's two percent.
MR. PLUNKETT: What we did was we had the economic impact study which
estimated timeshare valuations throughout the course of the project in today's
dollars. So that two percent was calculated based on a sellout of the project in
today's dollars. And that's what 1-1 hope it will be substantially more.
So I'm careful with that number. It was a calculation, but it was based upon a
calculation from numbers that we got from a third parry, not something that we as
the developer came up with.
MS. LEE LOY: Great. Thank you for answering my questions, and Stanford
knows this as does Sidney. I used to work for Mr. Yamashiro, and so to have the
honor and privilege to sit in this chair after watching him go through the process of
a lot of entitlements for this particular side of our island, I actually not only find it
an honor, but I actually am pushing harder because of what Mr. Yamashiro, along
with Mr. Schutte and Taka Domingo taught me about what it takes to sit in this
chair.
So thank you for being very forthright with your answers. I'm not sure if Ann
knows this, but I actually worked for PBR Hawaii. So reading through this was
very exciting for me but integrating conditions of approval to hold this project
accountable to the goals and missions that they promised is where I'm coming
from. So thank you everyone so much for being here. Chair, I yield.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Anyone else? Mr. Inaba.
MR. INABA: Thank you. Good afternoon, almost evening at this point. Being
that the proposed project is in my district, I wanted to see what kind of data we
have indicating the need for these additional timeshare units in this resort area, or
in West Hawaii in general.
MR. PLUNKET: Scott, do you want to work on that one? This is Scott Head.
He's our Vice President of Operations. Our primary manager on the ground.
(Note: At this time, Scott Head, Vice President of Operations at Waikoloa
Land Company, came forward to address the members of the Committee.)
MR. HEAD: Great question. I don't have the spreadsheet in front of me, but I
believe we did provide—I believe Sid Fuke distributed a spreadsheet summary of
kind of a comparison of the number of existing timeshare units by island. For our
island, relative to Maui and Kaua`i. That was some of the data that we looked at.
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We tend to believe that timeshare on this island, certainly the numbers reveal that
it's undersaturated as a percentage of the overall visitor plant when you compare it
to both Maui and to Kauai. Essentially, we have about a half of the number of
timeshare units that are on Maui, and a third fewer units that we have on Kauai.
The other thing is Waikoloa, of the four resorts along the Kohala Coast, is the only
resort that has permitted or allowed timesharing in it. So we note that there's
limited capacity by virtue of that. And we have a great example with our Hilton
Grand Vacations, who have been operating timeshares since the early 2000's in
our resort, in a very, very successful King's Land project. And the conversion of
Ocean Tower just shows how much demand there is for this type of inventory in
visitor product.
So those are the factors that we put into it, to evaluate it, and essentially concluded
that this was a good direction for us to go. As we all know, the timeshare industry
in Hawaii, and having been her for 15 years and gone through the great recession,
has been very resilient, and has maintained relatively stable occupancies. With
stable occupancies, as you know, comes stable employment for the workforce
associated with those types of visitor units.
MR. INABA: Thank you. I don't think I'm getting the answer, a clear as to the
need. We're making comparisons to other islands. So I just need to understand
the data as to the need here in West Hawaii specifically. Not in comparison to
other markets.
MR. HEAD: We do think the comparisons are important, but part of the need is
actually driven by the demand and our interaction with the major timeshare
companies. For example, Marriot Vacations which converted the north tower of
the Marriot Hotel essentially sold out when they opened, by virtue of how they sell
memberships. Now Kumu Hou won't work exactly like that because it's more of a
project that looks more like Hilton King's Lands, and it will be absorbed over a
long period of time. I'm not here to tell you that there is demand for timeshare for
900 units on this day. It will occur over 40, 50, 60 units a year, over a long period
of time. So it's very incremental.
So, and Waikoloa is really the only ideal place to develop timeshare on the South
Kohala Coast, in this resort corridor. So, you know, we based upon direct
discussions with the timeshare companies, we know that the demand is there for it.
MR. INABA: Okay, then beyond that data regarding the comparisons with other
counties, was there a specific communication that included any kind of numbers
from the timeshare companies or any kind of data indicating the need for it?
Because I've asked for it in our private meeting,prior to today's committee
meeting, so I still haven't received that. That's what II'm still trying to grasp or
at least show the need, but I haven't seen that yet.
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MR. PLUNKETT: We had—and maybe Sid you can help but part of this
application we did the economic analysis of it.
MR. FUKE: Are you asking whether there's like a statement from Hilton Grand
Vacation or Marriot Timeshare or any of those timeshare companies to attest that
there is you know, like sort of like, "If you build, I will come,"kind of
statement?
MR. INABA: I'm asking for anything that would show the need beyond the
comparison of the other counties' current number of units.
MR. FUKE: So if you have a letter from bonafide timeshare developers like
Hilton Grand attesting to the demand and the need for additional timeshare, is that
what you're looking for, or are you looking for something other than that? And if
you can kind of help us focus in terms of what you're looking for.
MR. INABA: I'm looking for anything that's going to help this body make an
educated decision showing that there's a need. So I'm not sure because I'm not at
work in planning, but this was a request previously put in to your office and to this
project which has yet to be made available. So I'm not sure what that looks like.
If you folks think that it's a letter from Hilton Grand Vacations or Marriot
Vacation Club, that's good. I mean obviously they stand to make a profit from
selling additional timeshare units and having them built. Beyond that,perhaps
think of some other proof that we need 900 additional timeshare units, whether it's
today or over the course. What does that look like? We haven't been able to see
that.
MR. PLUNKETT: I'm not sure I'm adequately answering your question, but as
part of this application, we had an economic analysis done for the Kumu Hou
project, and part of that analysis was to do an absorption analysis of timeshare and
what they might sell for and what the absorption that we might look. And that led
to calculations such as what we could afford to put into the Waikoloa Foundation
and so forth. So we did have economic analysis on these types of things. Then we
had data, Scott was talking about as to the saturation and the availability within
you know, in comparison to the other islands.
If you're asking did we go engage a specific market study to answer your specific
question, the answer is no because we're in the business. We engage with these
developers continually, so we know what timeshares sell for, we know what the
absorption is in Waikoloa, and we know what it is on this island. So at you can get
all the studies that we want, but we wanted to rely on our own experience. So this
is something that we're comfortable over a long period of time, that this project
will absorb and be successful. It's the right place on this coast to do this type of
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project. It's in the resort corridor and there is demand for it, and it's the right
product. And I think it's the right type of visitor.
MR. INABA: Okay, well I don't think I'm going to get any further answers
beyond what we're talking about right now. So let's move on then to the traffic
study that was done. So I know prior to the 400 unit in Area B, we're going to
require an updated report. Is Area A planned to build out first or in conjunction
with Area B? Because Area A is what, 3
MS. BOUSLAG: Two hundred and sixty-three units.
MR. PLUNKETT: Two hundred and sixty-four units.
MR. INABA: Plus the 25.
MR. PLUNKETT: Plus the 25, correct. The 264 units that encompass Area A,
and Ann may give you some more specific details, were units that were previously
approved for the King's Land on Hilton Grand Vacations. And we're doing a land
swap with them to create the continued views for all of their units on the golf
course. So that's why our agreement with Hilton was that in effect when we came
to the County Council new conditions and new things like that would have to
apply to what we're asking for, not what they already had, if you follow me.
MR. INABA: Okay. I think we're going to need to follow with a question. And
the question is 400 units in Area B is what will trigger an updated traffic report.
MR. PLUNKETT: Correct.
MR. INABA: Will Area A be built in conjunction or prior to those 400 units?
Because at that point, we'd be closer to—what is that? Two hundred sixty-three
plus 400. So I'm trying to understand how this traffic report, this updated report,
is fitting into the overall picture.
MR. PLUNKETT: The specific condition applies only to Area B. So Area A can
be built in conjunction with it, in answer to your question.
MR. INABA: Or prior to.
MR. PLUNKETT: Or prior to.
MR. INABA: Okay, very well. On page 871 of Communication 595, we've got a
letter from the Department of Transportation stating that the traffic analysis should
be revised to exclude the widening of Queen Ka`ahumanu from the airport all the
way to Waikoloa. So is that what's triggering the 400-unit update?
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MS. BOUSLAG: No. I think the 400-unit update was just a recognition that
future conditions are going to be very different from todays, and it's hard to tell.
And in fact, when the traffic study was done, we were in the middle of COVID, so
there wasn't good baseline information either. But the DOT did ask that question,
and the study was done by Wilson, Okamoto & Associates. So we went back to
them. I was a little concerned about that as well, that perhaps they had overlooked
that. What we learned is they did not assume the widening of Queen Ka`ahumanu
Highway until 2045, which was basically after the buildout of the project. So the
entire project was assessed for traffic purposes with no buildout of Queen
Ka`ahumanu Highway. That's pretty typical in their king of analyses if a project
isn't funded, even though it may be proposed. They aren't going to assume that
it's going to be implemented. So we did respond to DOT to provide them that
information.
MR. INABA: Okay, and that assumes that in 2045, with funding that the units be
built, and the assumption that Queen Ka`ahumanu will have four lanes at that time,
is that right?
MS. BOUSLAG: Well the study went to 2045, so the widening had very little
impact, and even up until the point of the widening, let's say in 2040 or so, what
the Wilson/Okamoto study found was that there was greater traffic on Queen
Ka`ahumanu Highway, but the vast majority of that was due to the growth in
traffic coming from other areas. That these timeshare units and the 25
single-family homes were going to generate negligible amounts of additional
traffic. And you know, in addition being visitor units, they don't come out
between six and eight in the morning, or you know, need to go out at time to pick
up your kids and so on. So it gets distributed through the day, and there was very
negligible impact of Kumu Hou on the degradation and level of service at the
intersections they evaluated on Queen Ka`ahumanu Highway.
MR. INABA: Now do we have a version of the story where we have full buildout
of the units, no widening of the highway? What does that look like?
MS. BOUSLAG: This is somewhere I might want to refer to Jason, our civil
engineer. I can't recall exactly what the last scenario was, but I know their study
projected buildout in 2045, and I believe that's when Queen Ka`ahumanu Highway
was assumed to be widened. Why don't we get someone on Zoom here?
MR. INABA: The Zoom room is open, if he is in the Zoom, he should be able to
hear us and jump in.
MS. BOUSLAG: Mr. Takeshi, are you there?
MR. INABA: Okay, well you know what? In the meantime I'm going to proceed
with some other questions. And if we can get him on. In terms of the water, it
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states here that Waikoloa water system is going to be providing the water. But it
was stated earlier that there's an anticipated reduction as a result of these bills
being approved. Is that right?
MS. BOUSLAG: That was a reduction in the withdrawals from the
`Anaeho`omalu aquifer, which is relied upon solely as brackish irrigation water.
MR. INABA: Okay. Then in terms of the fresh groundwater, that's going to come
from that same company, is that right?
MS. BOUSLAG: They provide the service, yes.
MR. INABA: Okay, and what is the proposed or assumed increase in need for
water?
MS. BOUSLAG: The Kumu Hou overall—are we able to get some of the people
on Zoom here? I'd like to call on Mr. Tom Nance for that.
(Note: At this time, Tom Nance, Water Resource Engineer, came forward
to address the members of the Committee.)
MR. NANCE: Could you repeat the question to make sure I respond to it
correctly?
MR. INABA: Sure. In terms of the water, the proposed increase in water usage,
what does that look like? How many gallons, millions of gallons per day does that
look like for full buildout?
MR. NANCE: The use of the potable water at full buildout, that use is estimated
to be approximately 540,000 gallons a day. In terms of the brackish water, there's
actually going to be a reduction in the brackish water use, a separate system from
the potable, based on drawing just from the `Anaeho`omalu aquifer, but with
displacement of the nine holes of golf, and the increase in the wastewater being
reused for irrigation, there's actually about a 300,000-gallon reduction in the use of
the brackish water, 300,000 gallons per day.
MR. INABA: Got it. Okay, then I'm going to yield now because I think my time
is up, so I'll leave it up to my colleagues. Thank you.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Vice Chair Villegas, you have the floor.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. Just in kind of commiseration with Council
Member Inaba, we are in this era of extreme housing crisis. I mean mind you we
are not—unfortunately and tragically, the Big Island is not alone in that. That is a
statewide and national crisis. So while not a direct reflection of the occurrences
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here in the County, it is top of mind to everyone right now. I may not have
understood it accurately, Holeka, but what was resonating with me in your
question was when we sit and talk about affordable housing projects, we have
somebody like Mr. Carr sit here and talk about an affordable housing project, the
numbers that are brought forward are statistics about how many homes are needed
in order to house people for this County.
So it doesn't necessarily surprise me that you wouldn't necessarily have a number
like that, because timeshares aren't need, they're a luxury. And it's a luxuryI
mean I have lots of friends who sell timeshare, I know it brings in great income. I
also have been spoken to a lot lately about the benefits of timeshare versus
short-term vacation rentals in our neighborhoods and keeping those people to that
distinct area. But I recognize and wanted to acknowledge the irony and the
challenge around those kinds of questions because I don't know of anybody that's
not working in real estate or in that luxury accommodation industry that would
say, "We need more timeshares," other than for economic and capitalism. So I
recognize the irony and the challenges that you'll be faced with to actually get him
the data that would show the actual need.
We are actually in an era, after being through all we've been through with the
coronavirus for the kama`aina and the maka`ainana and kupuna and those crying
out for some relief from the inundation and perpetuation of our reliance on the
tourist industry. So you're sitting here at a time, which I think is relevant to take
into consideration when I know myself, I have received dozens of letters in
opposition to this development. And it tends to be from those people within our
community who tend to be more ferocious about protecting our resources and this
place and the concerns. I'm born and raised on the Big Island. I'm actually fifth
generation. I'm a big white girl. I went to college with your brother for a while at
Colorado State, but I met him at(inaudible). No, that's fine. He's hilarious, him
and Tony. He's hilarious. But I hear you're like the really together one.
But we're in this time of transition and of challenges and trying to reidentify who
and what the Big Island is and what we want to rely on, and do we want to
perpetuate this model of tourism and short-term stays. I do recognize that the
Waikoloa area has become kind of that hub, and I appreciate parts of it I
appreciate it being just that. I mean we haveI grew up an activist trying to
protect Kohanaiki, and you know, through my predecessors and my mentor here,
Maile David working with Karen Eoff in ensuring that development had impact
fees, pay things forward, so thanks for listening to my, "Coffee at 5:00 p.m."
blather.
But I'm just recognizing the difference in the testimony and the people that I have
been hearing from because I also work with and admire and appreciate a number of
the testifiers here who are in complete support of this development and the legacy
and the history of your `ohana and your family and the things that have been taken
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into consideration and the extras that have been given. And I can see from that
perspective the desire to do no harm, right? It's just we're in this ironic time in
history as we look at how we've created our systems. If I could just ask for
another minute of
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Go ahead.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. So one of my questions is then, will the affordable
housing get built first?
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Mr. Plunkett, thank you.
MR. PLUNKETT: Yes, it will be.
MS. VILLEGAS: Okay. That is good to know. There's a cap of 65 years on the
affordable housing. Is there any cap timeframe on the timeshares?
MR. PLUNKETT: There were some SMA required timelines. Maybe you could
speak to that?
MS. BOUSLAG: There's no timeline on the affordable housing as you know.
What Mr. Carr is saying is that he would guarantee its affordability for 65 years.
Sometimes you don't want to go longer than that for a multi-family building
because you don't know the life of the building.
MS. VILLEGAS: And I'm not sure where we're going toI mean it's late in the
day. We are still just in Committee. I'm not sure where my colleagues stand with
this. But these are food for thought things. You don't have to necessarily have to
answer them for me right now, Sid. But you know
MR. FUKE: I found the answer.
MS. VILLEGAS: Of course you did.
MR. FUKE: Because it's not a mathematical response, I can get it to you.
MS. VILLEGAS: It's a word, not a number?
MR. FUKE: Yeah, the Planning Commission had asked the same question that
you did, Council Member. So they had imposed a Condition Number 27, which
required that, "Construction shall commence . . . "this relates to the 900
timeshares, " . . . within five years of the effective date of the permit and
completion, 50 percent of the units within 15 years of the start of construction."
And the rationale that was given by the commission chair at that time is that SMA
looks at conditions, like the development as it evolves. So there may be different
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access concerns, there may be different requirements for like if this were a coastal
property maybe sea level rising and all that stuff. So the commission chair
essentially said we should be given an opportunity to, if need be, refresh the
conditions. So that's how the conditions came about.
We had argued that really, it's like the original project. There was no construction
timetable. It started in 1977 when I started working for the County as the Planning
Director. And here I am. Maybe this might be my exit strategy, I don't know.
MS. VILLEGAS: You're never going to exit, Sid. You're an addict.
MR. FUKE: But anyway what I'm saying is it took so long to just be where they
are, and yet they have some vacant properties that they kind of want to rearrange.
But nevertheless, the commission asked, and we said fine, we can understand.
MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you for that. I want to commend also this being the first
project to have affordable housing component within a resort area. That's
fantastic. One hundred and forty-two still won't be enough, especially with this
addition. So not that it becomes the complete responsibility of this resort area, but
it's still not enough. I would be remiss not to mention that.
Then I have some more specific questions, about what's considered affordable,
what are the parameters of that rental, how we keep the utilities affordable in those
rental compartments. I also have some more questions about the foundation. The
world is full of foundations from properties and families who have done very well
in developing areas. So I'd love to learn more to be able to establish trust,
authenticity, a sense of place, and you know, a real understanding that all the
monies would be spent in West Hawaii or on the Big Island at the minimum, and
that what agreements or ideas or parameters are already being looked at. Because
the goal is for the Big Island to become self-sustaining and regenerative instead of
reliant. And you know, the term sustainability is way overused. So that's why I
think regenerative to what we have here and keeping the resources in circulation
here.
So thank you for your patience with my comments and I look forward to continued
conversations. I have a feeling this one's going to get hot, so I think we all have to
have our thinking caps on,just from the testimony that I received from a number
of people who are very smart, very akamai, and concerned. So thank you.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Vice Chair Villegas. Mr. Kaneali`i-
Kleinfelder.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Thank you very much for
the presentation today. Very well done, very well scripted. Looking through some
of the stuff and the questions that I've heard, and that have been asked by my
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fellow Council members, I'm just going to follow-up kind of across the board. So
you're going to have to bear with me.
Waikoloa Land Company has multiple trading names. Those are all part of the
Waikoloa Land Company, correct? King's Land
MR. PLUNKETT: There are a number of entities that operate under the Waikoloa
Land Company umbrella. We consider that kind of the original parent company so
to speak. It's a complicated organization chart, but they all operate under that
umbrella.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: It is, it's a lot of names as far as trade names
underneath that.
MS. BOUSLAG: But I'm just glad you mentioned Hilton Grand Vacations as a
trade name. That is not part of Waikoloa Land Company.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I don't know if I saidI said?
MS. BOUSLAG: I thought you did. Oh, King's Land.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I said King's Land. King's Land is, correct?
MR. PLUNKETT: King's Land is part of Hilton Grand Vacations.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Thank you. And then follow-up for
you, the Waikoloa Foundation also has four different trade names as well? Or had
in the past? The Royal Foundation, there's a few of them that come underneath
the
MS. BOEDDEKKER: Well, I don't know. I know it's the Waikoloa Foundation
today. I just took over two years ago running this. It was basically a dormant
organization for many years after my father passed away. I saw the need for the
community to have something like this, and I operate it as the Waikoloa
Foundation.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. The reason I'm asking, it's basically
what Sue had asked before. How much is coming from those timeshare units,
which is I kept hearing, "a percentage of."
MS. BOUSLAG: Two percent, yeah.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And I know you mentioned two percent, so
thank you. And then you mentioned, "across the island," and I'm just trying to
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nail it down because none of the timeshare units have a fair share contribution. I
don't know if that's normal, but it's in the conditions. Am I wrong?
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Mr. Fuke, can you point out where the fair share
contributions are for this project? Thank you.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: There's one condition that actually stated that
none of the timeshare units have fair share contributions.
MR. FUKE: Actually, there is a fair share contribution for the 900 timeshare units.
The one that doesn't have the fair share contribution is the other one that's
adjacent to the Mauna Lani property. And the theory behind that, which the
Planning Department had agreed to was that Carrie, was already entitled. So that
would have been exempt. It's like having zoned properties, so you can't go back
retroactively to impose something new. But relative to this Project District area,
the 900 additional timeshare units, it would be subject to the fair share. That's
found in Condition U.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. There was one section—and I was
wrong, sorry, Maile pointed it out for me. But there is 264 units that are not
applicable to the fair share contributions.
MR. FUKE: That's right.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. That makes me feel better.
And can I tie it back into where those contributions are going and how much,
and—talk a little bit about island-wide contributions from this possible $50
million
MS. BOEDDEKKER: Absolutely. So that question has come up for me actually,
is how am I going to use the money. What are we doing with this money? Is it
staying in Waikoloa? Is it just specifically for your people there? And the answer
is absolutely not. The advisory board that I put together specifically encompasses
people and cultural practioners, business leaders that really encompass the entire
island. My goal, and under the direction of the advisory committee, I don't want
this to be my thing. I want this to be the people's thing.
We are honored to be able to have these funds to use to support the community in
every way possible. What does that mean today? I don't know. I know what I'm
doing today with very little money. I'm doing things like the Food Basket. I'm
doing things like virtual field trips online for the keiki. I'm working with Keiki
Heroes. These are all island-wide initiatives that I'm doing right now today with,
again, very little money in our foundation. So the goal is absolutely to support
other foundations, to support other nonprofits, and to really look at the needs of the
overall community everywhere. How can we help? That's what we're here for.
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MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Maybe this is a question for Director Kern.
How much of the—how much—and there's a percentage of land that's required to
be set aside for parks when we look at something like this. What is the percentage,
or am I off?
(Note: At this time, Planning Director Zendo Kern came forward to
address the members of the Committee.)
MR. KERN: Good afternoon. Good evening. Zendo Kern, Planning Director. I
actually have my Program Manager Maija Jackson on the line. She can help
answer that question. Maija are you available on Zoom?
(Note: At this time, Planning Program Manager Maija Jackson came
forward to address the members of the Committee.)
MS. JACKSON: Aloha.
MR. KERN: Aloha.
MS. JACKSON: So I don't have an exact number for you. If you can give me a
moment, I can look up the Parks Code. But when we evaluated the Kumu Hou
project, we looked at the Parks Code at that time to see whether they met the
standard, and they did. They're actually there's a Land Use Commission order
that requires a certain amount of open space. And then the park that they're
proposing at the intersection along with the open space required by the Land Use
Commission order meets the requirement in the Parks Code.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Thank you very much.
MS. JACKSON: Thank you too.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And then tying up another questions: water.
And I asked this question earlier. Where is the water coming from for this
buildout, this extension of the resort area?
MR. KERN: If you're asking me, that would be provided by Hawaii Water
Service, and I believe Tom Nance can answer any additional details of that.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Mr. Nance are you online?
MR. NANCE: Yes, I am.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: What is the aquifer providing for this
proj ect?
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MR. NANCE: There actually are two aquifers, the potable water supplied by
Hawaii Water Service, all of their wells are in the Waimea aquifer. And all of the
irrigation wells providing brackish water are in the `Anaeh`omalu aquifer.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Is there a report for those aquifers on what is
sustainable yield?
MS. NANCE: Well the present sustainable yield of the Waimea aquifer is 60 mgd
(million gallons per day). The present sustainable yield of the `Anaeh`omalu
aquifer is 30 mgd. But those numbers were adopted in the 2019 update of the
Water Commission's Water Resource Protection Plan. But they had a footnote to
them that the boundaries of the Mahukona, Waimea and `Anaeh`omalu aquifers
were under the process of being adjusted. So the sustainable yield aquifer numbers
that were in that 2019 report would be subject to revision when that process of
adjusting boundaries was completed.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember
hearing somewhere along the line that that water use development plan basically
was unchanged from the last time they brought it forward.
MR. NANCE: The last time before the 2019 I believe was 2008, and there were
changes to the sustainable yields of the Mahukona and the Waimea aquifer
systems, but again with this footnote or caveat to the table that said the staff is
looking at adjusting boundaries which would also adjust the sustainable yield.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, would that have a bearing on this
project at all, Mr. Nance?
MR. NANCE: It should not at this point in time.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. Thank you for that,
Mr. Nance. This property is larger, or this buildout is larger than 15 acres. Was
the Land Use Commission involved in this process at all?
MR. KERN: Yes, the Land Use Commission (LUC) was heavily involved in this
project, which basically set various conditions, as Ms. Jackson had mentioned, as
well as it sent the density in the SMA. And the Land Use set that density. So there
was, and everything has been followed with the LUC requirements.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. And then is there a copy of
the SMA in front of us? It was emailed to us?
MR. KERN: It was emailed to you.
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MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: But not put inside this document here?
MR. KERN: I am not sure.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. I'm checking my notes. I'm kind of
bouncing back and forth between the two bills, so I apologize. Then there was
mention of a donation of land of 300 acres for the affordable housing. That's
interesting to me. So who donated the land to who?
MR. PLUNKETT: Waikoloa Land donated, and I don't remember the exact year,
It may have been 1991, 300 acres in Waikoloa Village, for what is known as the
Kamakoa Nui Project, which the Office of Housing County development is
developing as affordable housing.
MR. KERN: So when that was done, that met all of the affordable housing needs
for the entirety of the project, with the maximum density that they had. So the
additional affordable housing that they're bringing in to the project is above and
beyond what was required.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: How many units is that? I'd sayshoots, I
don't have the exact number of existing units. I'd say we have a lot more potential
units. So right now I know Housing is going through a new master plan of the area
and kind of putting the areas off that have some FDS or Formally Defense Site
area that isn't cleared. And they're going to be working on the configuration of
that to eventually have more projects being developed there.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, then that donation of the land equaled
to the donation of the land to the County, correct, equaled out to the affordable
housing units needed to qualify this project—?
MR. KERN: It met the affordable housing requirements for the entire project. So
all density
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: The Waikoloa Land Company projects?
MR. KERN: So yeah, when we look at that 6,000-plus, you know, existing
entitled units, it would have covered all of that.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Just the donation of the land, not building
them?
MR. KERN: That's correct.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Who's building that? That's County?
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MR. KERN: So County isI don't believe that the County is planning to do a lot
more building. My understanding is that the County is going to be looking at
redoing the master plan, bringing infrastructure to the sites, then I believe there
would be housing developers that would build those.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, so sum up. Waikoloa Land Company
donated 300 acres of land to the County, the County is building out an affordable
housing project there. That counted towards the affordable housing requirements
for the project that's in front of us now in Bill 112 and 115.
MR. KERN: Correct. It covered all of them, yes.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Plus the small amount of housing that's being
built out under this certain project right now.
MR. KERN: Correct.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Interesting. Okay. Thank you. That was my
question. Appreciate it. Thank you for being here today.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. I'm going to recess this body for about
10-minutes for a quick restroom and stretch break. We'll be back at 5:30 (p.m.).
We're in recess. Thank you.
Recess: At 5:22 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 5:31 p.m.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Aloha. Okay, we are back. I am calling this meeting back
into session at 5:31 p.m. Mr. Richards, I believe you had your light on. You have
the floor.
MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. I've been listening to my colleagues very
carefully, and I'm exceedingly familiar with Waikoloa Village and the Waikoloa
resort area. Waikoloa Village is in my district though. Being a long-time,
life-long resident of Hawaii, I remember when it was Boise-Cascade. And the
original—don't make fun the whole structure of that. So listening to the plan
and the evolution of what the Waikoloa resort area is planning on doing, I'm very
supportive of what you're trying to do. What I fully appreciate is the
thoughtfulness of all this.
To some of the point that Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder was asking concerning the
water. I've been working with the Hawaii Water Company for decades. I've
known them for a long time. They manage both the wastewater and the potable
water. Very familiar with the water system, very familiar with what they do for
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Waikoloa Village and resort. So I understand the concern and questions from the
Council, but I have no questions, because I'm very familiar with what they're
trying to accomplish and what they actually do accomplish for the resort as a
whole.
I really am fascinated by the concept of the foundation. I really like the idea of
investing but reinvesting back into the resort area,but more than resort area. I'm
talking about reinvesting in the people of the County because that's something that
I—it's a unique model in my mind. I appreciate the fact that being very thoughtful
going forward. I also like the idea that we're redefining your golf experience. I
think it's not just with building timeshares and/or the affordable housing. It's also
paying attention to the resource management, the water or reuse of the wastewater.
So I like the structure and how you're coming forward. One of the concerns that
was brought to me had to with the setback with the Queen Ka`ahumanu Highway.
That's been addressed. It's already been looked at and I appreciate that going
forward. I also like the fact that you're paying very close attention to what we can
do with the affordable housing. And a summary on that is best described as you
don't have to do the affordable housing on this portion but you're choosing to do it
because it's the right thing to do and the right direction to go.
And members of this Council, we all know we need a lot more housing. But
you're actually talking about doing it. And what I really like is that you're doing it
first. So many of these projects that come forth they say, "Yep, we're going to do
all that, and then we'll finally get around to doing the affordable housing." But
doing it the other way is the way I fully appreciated the fact. Because what it does
is it gets things going. You know, we had some testimony quite a few hours ago
now, talking about employment on the west side and people living on the east side.
And I had dinner on that side last night and I was talking to the waitress, and she
does the exact same thing. She commutes an hour and a half each way. We have
to work harder to reduce the travel miles. We have to do that for safety, but we
also have to do it for the—and we use the term "family capital."
I know a guy who was working as a bellhop and/or valet, two different resorts, and
they worked it out so he could work a full shift at one and then go work a full shift
at the second one and then sleep in his car. He did that for three or four days,
rotating, and then he'd drive back there to spend the weekend with the family.
That's no way to have a life, and it's certainly not a way to have a successful
family, because we're missing a parent through all that.
So this is a step, and I agree, Rebecca, with what you're saying about affordable
housing. But we're actually starting to do something about that, and there's a lot
of stuff slated. We as a Council have to embrace the fact that we are going to have
to make decisions for housing if we're truly going to have that housing. This is a
step towards that direction.
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I like that, because I haveI grew up in North Hawaii, and I have a lot of friends
and family, and family of family, that are always looking for housing. If we don't
start making a differencea little bit latitude?
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Go ahead.
MR. RICHARDS: If we don't start making a difference and making the selection,
we're not going to get there. So this is a start. So thank you. I am supportive of
this project going forward because I think it redefined how we might be able to do
things. Thank you, I yield.
MR. PLUNKETT: If I could just interject. I appreciate the comments. Hopefully
you'll be able to convince other developers and so forth. Part of our justification
for it is frankly it's good business. It's a very constrained labor market here on this
island. We have to compete for people to work. And we think that will offer—we
have a lot of employees out and Waikoloa, and we think that will offer a
competitive edge. So while I think it's a good thing to help address the housing
needs, I think it's also good business.
MR. RICHARDS: A quick response, Chair. It's more than good business. It's
actually taking care of the people, and that is good business, by taking care of the
community.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. On the affordable housing piece, I know that
the intention is to build a minimum of 142, but I recall reading in the minutes of
Commission Stanford Carr bringing up the 201H application and there being the
possibility of developing upwards of 220. Can someone from the project team
confirm that?
MR. PLUNKETT: That was a conceptual site plan, and we haven't done all the
work. We haven't done the AIS and so forth to determine, you know what the site
will actually yield, you know once we go through all that. We would support
obviously, but we agreed to a minimum, not less than. We would obviously
support however many Stanford can justify, and the site can yield.
MR. FUKE: Just to add to that, the 142 was struck because of the existing zoning
that entitled the property to 142 units. However, I kind of overheard some
discussions about—and we also talked to Mr. Stanford about increasing the
density. The thought is that should this project be approved, then there is a very
real possibility after the baseline studies are done off the property, and then trying
to figure out whether more units can be placed on the property and if more units
can be placed on the property, the idea is to seek a 201H exemption.
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CHR KIERKIEWICZ: So that clarity. And just for Council Services,
Mr. Plunkett used the term, "AIS,"that's Archaeological Inventory Survey. Thank
you.
MR. PLUNKETT: That's correct.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Other questions or comments from my colleagues?
Council Chair David.
MS. DAVID: Thank you, Chair. Aloha and welcome. Hi, Mr. Fuke. And thanks
for the broad discussion on the project, and all the good things that you folks are
doing. I have a question on the timeframe, and I think Mr. Fuke kind of answered
that. So the workforce housing, the affordable workforce, is this affordable
housing or workforce housing?
MR. FUKE: It's intended to be a workforce housing project, so according to
Mr. Carr, you know, the idea was to have like 60 percent of the units be targeted
between 30 to 60 percent AMI, and the balance would be up to 120 AMI.
MS. DAVID: Okay, and that's based on the current housing figures, right?
MR. FUKE: That's based on the prevailing, you know, like the yeah.
MS. DAVID: Then what is the timeframe on building the affordable housing? I
know the actual development you folks said the conditions state they need to do
within five years they need to complete a certain aspect of it. So where does the
workforce housing fit into that process?
MR. FUKE: The workforce housing has to be completed, or at least portions of it,
the units have to be completed prior to the issuance of any occupancy permit for
the timeshare units. So that kind of like really incentivizes them to really get off
their duff. They are still, as I mentioned earlier to the Chair, that there are things
that need to be done on the ground like they had to complete and have an approved
Archaeological Inventory Survey. And if there's a need for a Preservation Plan,
you know, all of those protocols would have to be taken. Then the physical design
of the project can be developed.
Developer is also, you know, Waikoloa Land is prepared and has obligated
themselves to Mr. Carr that they would provide the road access leading to the site
as well as the utility. So basically, you know, all Mr. Carr asks of everybody,just,
he has this property, he's going to develop it, you know, ground up subject to all
the archaeological protocols.
MS. DAVID: Right, and that archaeological survey, that is expected to be done as
soon as the
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MR. PLUNKETT: As soon as we're done here, we would start that.
MS. DAVID: Okay. Depends on the results of the archaeological survey then, I
assume that your project will either
MR. FUKE: It'll determine like how many units you actually can yield on the
property.
MS. BOUSLAG: And the preservation methods.
MR. FUKE: I'm sure that when our too bad he's not here, but when we talked
about it, he said he would like to have the ability to perhaps go up to like 200 units,
but he doesn't know. But the project is going to be built in phases.
MS. DAVID: Okay, and then the timeframe for the phasing out is basically the
five years, or the length of the completed project.
MR. PLUNKETT: We need to complete it prior to the first occupancy permit for
the timeshare project. This was, you know, frankly to the Planning Commission's
credit, they wanted teeth behind that promise of ours.
MS. DAVID: Alright. I think for now that's the only questions that I had. Okay,
well we'll be seeing you two more times anyway in this process. So lots of good
discussion and topics to dwell on until we meet again. So thank you so much for
everybody's contributions today in helping us understand this whole process.
Thank you.
MR. FUKE: You're very welcome.
MR. PLUNKETT: You're very welcome.
MR. FUKE: Can I just make one comment? I have to apologize to Council
Member Kleinfelder because I mentioned that the fair share would not have
applied to the 270-some odd condos. But it does apply to the 25 units,
single-family residential lots.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Mr. Chung, you have the floor.
MR. CHUNG: Very briefly, Madam Chair. First of all, I just think all of the
comments and the questions that have been asked and made are really good. All
fair points. I can only share my perspective. With regard to the increase in
timeshares, I cannot say that there is a need for it. I don't thinkI cannot
seriously sit here and say, "There is a need for increased timeshares." But at the
same time, instead of looking at the need, I'm going to look at the possible
benefits.
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Okay, now you already talked about the foundation, that's one component. But we
also have to look at real property tax bases and what we are going to generate, and
what are the impacts from the development. Generally speaking I think, the
timeshares—and the Waikoloa development was intended to keep people onsite. I
mean as much as possible. Of course tourists will be what they are, and they'll be
going here and there. But for what we can generate in the way of real property
taxes, I think we can make some inroads in helping other aspects of our County.
Not to put you guys on the spot or anything like that, it's not out of the realm of
possibilities. I don't know exactly how timeshares fit into the whole two-tier
taxing system, but it might fall into that if we tweak our taxing laws a little bit. So
we could generate a little bit more monies there, too.
I mean, because we have to look at it in terms of what's the benefit for us, right? I
mean having more timeshares in and of itself doesn't benefit the County, it's a
development decision, right? But I believe that we can derive a great deal of
benefit from the development with not as much impacts as people might imagine.
So that's my thoughts, anyway. But I think everybody, all of the comments and
questions, are very relevant to, you know, the consideration of this matter. I'm
going to be supporting it, because when I look at what you guys have presented in
totality, you guys have presented a very thoughtful development. You know, it put
a lot of good ideas into trying to come up with a better development than you guys
could have come up with under your, whatever you guys had before your present
entitlement.
But I wanted to say something, and it's kind of unfortunate that the gentleman is
not here anymore, Mr. Carr. You know I was on the Council from 1996 to 2004.
After I had left at that time, I would often reflect on several things. And one of
those things was, you know, we had approved so many developments during those
eight years and only two people, large development, actually followed through on
their plans. One was out in Pahoa, you know, where they have the Subway. I
always wanted to shake the hand of that person. I don't know who it is, but I said,
"You guys went for the rezoning, you guys did it."
And the other one was Stanford Carr. I was able to track his career from that time.
I think it was the first development, his first development on this island. And he
came through with a very good development. Actually one of the persons, one of
my former colleaguesI'm not going to mention that person's name but who was
against that project—would tell me years later that, hey, that actually turned out to
be a really good project. And you know, Mr. Carr is a local guy. He's from Maui.
You know, I've been able to look, you know, see his career. I learn about him, and
he's always done good stuff. You know, sometimes we take leaps of faith for
people from different investment outfits from wherever, right? And oftentimes
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they'll just sit on the property, try to spin it, or do all of these different things.
Mr. Carr, he does a good job.
So you have that workforce housing component, that's a big plus. I was upstairs,
sorry, I've got my bad back right, so I was just listening to the testimony. And
you've got the workers who are going to benefit from this, right? But you know, if
Mr. Carr were here, I would have said, "Nice seeing you after all these years," and
you know, "Thanks for doing a good job." That's all I wanted to say. I'll be
voting in support of this. Thank you.
MR. PLUNKETT: I would just add to that, that when we were coming up with the
idea of the affordable housing within the resort, and we had engaged early with
former Mayor Billy Kenoi, and we were trying to set the right developer. He was
adamant that Stanford was the guy that could actually make it happen. So that
was—and plus he was successful in Waikoloa right after 911 building Colony
Villas, and he followed through with it and completed the project when a lot of
developers were starting to bail out. So our experience was good.
MR. FUKE: Just to add to that, I was kind of looking at all of my notes and this
project has been over four years in the making. Before we actually had something
submitted to the Planning Commission, and a lot of it had to do with this
community outreach, you know,just trying to find out like you know, they had
this objective already. They kind of wanted to do something with this nine-hole
portion of the golf course that's not doing anything. So they kind of like wanted to
basically renovate the house. So that's the objective, and then the process becomes
like how do you go about doing it? You have to check the laws. You don't want
to exceed the density. You have to look at the infrastructure. The more critical
and you've got to talk story with your neighbor to find out like, "Hey, if I make
this extension is it going to block your view, or what?" You know, that's how they
approached it. They're saying like, "Maybe we've got to go out, talk story with
the community, have somebody like Billy Kenoi or Kanani Aton go out into the
community to talk story." Then as a result of that,you say like, "Well, we've got
this property, maybe we should do a workforce housing." So Mayor Billy at that
time said, "Great idea." You know, who's going to develop? We should get
Stanford.
So that's how it's how. So that's how the project evolved. You know, it wasn't
something that was thought about like last year, "Hey we've got to do something
with that." It was a long, long four years. For that I tell them thank you very
much for four years.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thanks for that background. Mr. Inaba, you have the
floor.
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MR. INABA: Thank you. I just want to circle back. And I think, you know, the
bills before us require further conversation at the Committee level is how I feel.
But in terms of the water, you know, we've kind of talked about it a little bit, and I
would like to know if somebody from either CWRM (Commission on Water
Resource Management) or the Department of Water Supply, anybody can give us
an idea of what allotment exists, or entitlements exist for water coming from that
aquifer. Because we know that the sustainable yield is 16 million gallons per day.
Over the last, I believe, 10 years, we've had some—we've had a couple of times
where we've exceeded that sustainable yield, and other than that, maybe averaged
around maybe 14 million gallons per day in pumping.
So I think it really would be smart for this body to know what kind of water usage
or entitlements exist beyond the 500,000 gallons that would be pumped in addition
if these units were approved. Because we need to always look at the big picture.
Especially when besides the Keauhou aquifer, Waimea was kind of the only other
problematic aquifer on this island.
So there are some other questions. I'm going to ask for a postponement after Chair
Kierkiewicz gets a chance to weigh in. But I'm hoping that maybe we can have
some of that data prepared for the next time we meet.
I just also want to comment real quick, and I'm thankful that we have this
foundation that could stand to benefit from these rezonings. Right now, who is on
the governing board of this foundation?
MR. PLUNKETT: The current board is Ms. Boeddekker is the President and Scott
Head and myself. Scott and I are placeholders. The plan is to transition the board
from the advisory committee to actually becoming the board, because this is
frankly—sort of this is part of our exit plan for Waikoloa, because Kumu Hou is
really our last significant project. And the foundation is what we leave, and this
advisory board will become the governing board. But Scott and I are, it's fair to
say we're basically placeholders.
MS. BOEDDEKKER: No offense, John. But yes, you will be kicked off the
board. I'm kidding.
MR. INABA: So your role as President of the board of the foundation, not
President of the foundation. Not like an executive director.
MS. BOEDDEKKER: No, the intent is to absolutely hire the executive director.
In a foundation of this magnitude, it's needed. Even if this didn't happen, I would
need to hire an executive director. The goals I have for this, even if this project
doesn't get approved, we will be a foundation that will need to raise money. And I
will raise a lot of money, even if we don't do this today, to do amazing community
things. And we will have an executive director and we will continue to have an
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advisory board made up of the community, looking to the community for what
their needs are.
MR. INABA: And when are we looking at having this transition? Because it
would make sense if it had already been done, right, to have these community
people on the board, the governing board, not—no offense to the people
advocating for the project.
MS. BOEDDEKKER: No I understand. The first step is just getting the
foundation back up and running. So that was my goal initially. Now that we have
the advisory board in place, I think there's no question that we want to eventually
transition them into the full-fledged board to run this foundation. There's no
question.
Frankly, I think until I have a significant amount of money to run the foundation,
these are very successful people that don't have a lot of time to spend. They're on
lots of different foundations that I need to put more boots on the ground doing my
work first. Like you talked about, the trust is very important. Yes, I grew up here
for a long time, but there's still a sense of trust that I need to develop with the
community. Even with my advisory board members although many of them are
my friends and I've known them for many years. My job right now is to earn the
trust of the community. I think until that time even these advisory board members
aren't going to fully invest in this until they understand what our mission and goals
are. That's what I'm trying to show.
MR. INABA: And I totally support that idea and I would argue that part of buying
community trust is getting those people in the position.
MS. BOEDDEKKER: Absolutely, I agree.
MR. INABA: Like I said, no offense, but not you folks who are over here. Not
you, but this whole team was here today advocating for the foundation.
MS. BOEDDEKKER: No. Yeah, no, I agree. And they understand that. They
understand that totally.
MR. INABA: So I brought that up in our private meeting, and I think we should
really get moving with that—
MS.
hatMS. BOEDDEKKER: Yeah, I'm with you.
MR. INABA: Because that's not the best—
MR.
estMR. PLUNKETT: There is a separation
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MR. INABA: And I'll leave that for, you know,perhaps another conversation. I
think, Chair, I'm going to yield with that—
MS.
hatMS. BOEDDEKKER: Yeah, thank you, I appreciate that.
MR. INABA: And we can wrap this up. Thank you.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Any other questions or comments. Ms. Kimball.
MS. KIMBALL: It'll be super-fast. I know everybody's getting tired and you
haven't had a chance to talk yet. I had just one question from Director Kern or
whomever actually. And I may have missed it in all of the documentation. Where
did we end up on the near-shore water quality monitoring? Is that going to still
happen at regular intervals?
MR. KERN: Zendo Kern, Planning Director. Yes.
MS. KIMBALL: Okay, great. Thank you. But what is that interval, sir? And I
have one more question for you. You're not out of the hotseat yet. What is that
interval?
MR. KERN: I'll have toMaij a?
MS. JACKSON: Yes, the applicant is required to provide annual monitoring
reports to the Planning Department and Department of Health.
MS. KIMBALL: Great. Thank you, Maija. Then Director, for the next time we
talk about this, if we can per contacts and if it's easily accessible, I'd be curious to
know how many similarly zoned areas we have left for development on the island,
you know, with this appropriate zoning for timeshares. First of all, and second of
all, do we have other project areas out there that have these entitlements that have
not been taken advantage of. This is obviously that I'm encountering for the first
time, so I had a lot of questions about it. So I don't want it now, but is that
something that you could provide for our next conversation?
MR. KERN: We can look into it, yeah. I'll do my best to get you some
information on that.
MS. KIMBALL: Okay, great. Thank you. The other questions I had were for
Mr. Carr. And since he's not here, we can wait for later in the process. But there
were a couple of things around the affordable housing that I did want to talk about.
One was this idea of workforce housing and the availability of the funding
mechanisms that he plans on using to actually restrict who's eligible. I know we
have to comply with Fair Housing, but I was trying to the Maui Housing Plan,
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page 145 has some mechanisms by which to comply with the Fair Housing Plan
but also limit who is eligible for the units. So I wanted to refer him to that.
The other question I had, had to do with the utilization of housing credits as part of
this project. So because the affordable housing requirement has already been
satisfied for this project, he would be eligible to seek credits for the development
of this project. The only reason I'm bringing it up—and I was hesitant to because I
love the affordable housing part of it. Yay, it's the right demographics, all that
good stuff, however, if the credit process is incorporated what that means is that
some other developer who might develop affordable housing as a requirement at
some other location on the island now doesn't have to. They could purchase those
credits. So it's kind of a(inaudible) some gains in terms of units. Just something I
want us to be thinking about on that conversation.
So I understand from you that he does intend to seek credits at least in part for the
funding?
MR. FUKE: Yeah. It provides an opportunity for additional funds, development
funds for the project if he can sell some of those credits. So my short answer to
you at that time was yes. I hear what you're saying though.
MS. KIMBALL: Chair, I yield. I'm fine with eithersorry, I don't yield yet. I'm
fine with either moving this forward today. I still do want to discuss the
amendment that Council Member Lee Loy you mentioned before. Preference, I
don't mind if we do it in Committee or move it to the next step. I guess since this
is a 20-year long project in all likelihood maybe saving in Committee one more
week is not—two weeks, is not that big a deal.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I was watching other municipalities. The
multi-family dwellings that are being built; can those be used as short-term
vacation rentals down the line?
MR. FUKE: No, they cannot.
MR. PLUNKETT: No, they cannot.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: They cannon? Okay, thank you.
MR. FUKE: Because very shortly because they'll exceed the cap for the
number of visitor units in the resort.
MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Thank you, Sid.
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CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Anyone else? If I could just get a report back
on what exactly we are going to be discussing at the next committee meeting,
because there was a lot of, "I would like information on x, y, z," There was also
another offer to put forward some strengthening of various conditions. So Council
Members, if you could just help me out here so that Sid, you can report back on
what kind of information you are bringing back to this body so we can have a
productive conversation in two weeks.
MR. FUKE: Well, if I can read my scribbled notes. I think there were several
things that we already have, like an affordable workforce housing condition, and I
think the discussion focused on whether that language should be tightened up to
reflect several things three things essentially. One is whether they should be
specific in terms of the AMI, you know what was represented verbally. Secondly,
a 65-year rental cap; and thirdly, the issue of whether they would be eligible for
any credits. Is that correct?
The other question similar was what Council Member Kimball brought up was
about trying to establish a cap. At least like some system of monitoring the cap
because there is none right now and trying to find whether we can craft the
language to have a monitoring system so that it doesn't exceed. I've answered
Council Member Kaneali`i-KI einfelder's question about can others go to
timeshare, and we said, "no." But yeah, I think you need to have some kind of an
accounting system and yeah, I think we can develop that language as a condition.
There were two other things that were not really condition-type but more like
wanting to seek information. I think Council Member Inaba brought up. One
related just to the whole notion of timeshare in terms of trying to find whether
there's really you know, how do you quantify demand essentially. So that's
something that we can generate that information. I mentioned to him offline that
there is this organization called ARDA, American Resort Developers Association,
whose primary focus is to work with timeshare developers. And they have a
wealth of information. So working with ARDA or other active timeshare
providers such as like Hilton Grand and maybe we can generate the information
that he's looking for.
The other relates to the potable water and especially the aquifer. I think very
simply, looking at like what is the yield, what is the projected amount that this
project would use and at the end of the day, what's the leftover. Is that correct?
MR. INABA: Oh, everyone looks to me. Okay, yeah, that's correct. And Sid,
thank goodness they keep you employed because your mind is so sharp. Just on
the water, I wanted to make sure we had the big picture for that aquifer. So yes, I
think they shared the water usage that is anticipated for full build-out of this
project, but looking at what's been entitled, allotted from the greater aquifer, I
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think we need to have that information. But besides that, I think that was a pretty
good recap. Better than I could have done.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Very thorough. Very excellent. Thank you, Mr. Fuke.
Ms. Lee Loy.
MS. LEE LOY: And in addition to the water
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Hang on. We need to go into recess. 15 minutes.
Technical issues. Thank you.
Recess: At 6:05 p.m., the Chair called for a recess.
Reconvene: The meeting reconvened at 6:14 p.m.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: We are back, Planning Committee has reconvened at
6:14 p.m. Mr. Fuke, thank you for going through that very thorough list of what
you're going to report back to the Council. It's really quite extensive. Where we
left off, Council Member Lee Loy, you had the floor.
MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Chair. I just wanted to highlight that Water Use and
Development Plan, some of the numbers that Mr. Inaba is asking for. I know
Mr. Nance can do a fantastic job with identifying the number of water units
through the entitlements, but I also know through the work with the Department of
Water Supply and the Water Use and Development Plan that we send to CWRM,
some of that entitlements is also driven by open building permits which were about
to cancel starting March 1st. So if there's a way for Mr. Nance, or to work with
John Nishimura over at CWRM on how they develop those plans, I think we get to
a more realistic number on the sustainable yield.
In addition to—and I'm putting it out there, and this is something that Council
Member Inaba and I have been trying to integrate into some of our commercial
units, we had heard from a constituent who had a very bad experience down in
Waikoloa with her father having suffered a heart attack. And there was no AED's
(Automatic External Defibrillators) in that entire resort are. If that is something
that we could also include through conditions of approval in this new commercial
unit, is to provide one of those AEDs or maybe two, it actually goes a log way in
life saving options because the nearest fire station I think is almost 10 minutes
away. And if it wasn't for that AED, they would have had a very different
situation with their father. So if that's something that you would like to consider,
I'd like to also integrate that into our conditions of approval. Just being really
transparent about what we're asking for. Chair, with that, I yield.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you for that. We don't have time to get into this
today, but I recall somebody mentioning childcare as being a component of the
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workforce housing. At our next meeting, I'd like just a little bit more clarification
around what that looks like. If that's going to be tied to funding from the
foundation.
And then the other thing, I just ran into Ms. Boeddekker out here during recess,
where she kind of talked about serving some of the timeshare membership to see if
they are accessing all of the amenities within the resort footprint, and not going
beyond that. If you are able to kind of share some of the result from that study,
that would be really helpful.
I just want to mahalo all of you for your excellent presentations, for being here, for
all of the due diligence you've done in engaging community and really pulling
forward a worthwhile and thoughtful plan and projects before us. We don't always
get developers that are this thoughtful, this engaged, but we really feel that your
hearts are in the right place. Clearly there are still some more issues to resolve, so
we look forward to having another productive dialog with you in a couple of
weeks. Also again just want to thank Leeward Planning Commission for their
really well-done, very thorough discussion with all of you which resulted in really
strengthened conditions of approval which I think we would have fought for as
well. But they really did a lot of that hard work for us.
So thank you so much for being with us for this late hour. Gosh, 6:18 already.
Thanks everyone. Mr. Inaba, if I could get a motion to postpone,please?
Vote on Motion Mr. Inaba moved to postpone Bill 112 to February 22,
to Postpone: 2022. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the
(Approved) following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kierkiewicz—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Committee Members Chung— 1.
Excused: None.
CHR KIERKIEWICZ: There's one more item I need to read into the record.
Mr. Clerk, Bill 115.
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Bill 115: AMENDS SECTION 25-8-13 (PUAKO-`ANAEHO`OMALU ZONE MAP),
ARTICLE 8, CHAPTER 25 (ZONING) OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE
1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT
CLASSIFICATION FROM OPEN(0), MULTIPLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL—
4,000 SQUARE FEET (RM-4), MULTIPLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL—6,000
SQUARE FEET (RM-6), MULTIPLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL—8,000 SQUARE
FEET (RM-8) AND VILLAGE COMMERCIAL— 10,000 SQUARE FEET (CV-10)
TO PROJECT DISTRICT (PD) AT WAIKOLOA, SOUTH KOHALA, HAWAII,
COVERED BY TAX MAP KEYS: 6-9-008: POR. 013, 022, 025, POR. 029
AND 033 (Applicant: Waikoloa Land Company) (Area: 133.822 acres)
The Leeward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for this
change of zone, which would allow the applicant to develop "Area B" of the
proposed Kumu Hou project, to consist of 900 multi-family residential timeshare
units, private community centers, a convenience retail center, golf support facilities,
an operations facility,public parks and recreational amenities, and associated
infrastructure. The properties are located between the 75- and 76-mile markers on
Queen Ka`ahumanu Highway and west(makai) of the highway to the King's
Highway Foot Trail, `Anaeho`omalu and Waikoloa.
Reference: Comm. 601
Intr. by: Ms. Kierkiewicz (B/R)
and
Comm. 601.1: From Planning Director Zendo Kern, dated January 20, 2022, transmitting the
testimony and hearing transcripts from the Leeward Planning Commission's
November 18, 2021, meeting and the draft testimony and draft hearing transcripts
from the December 16, 2021, meeting.
MS. KIERKIEWICZ: We're done for the evening. We've had quite a bit of
discussion on this so I will be looking for a postponement on this measure.
Vote on Motion Mr. Inaba moved to postpone Bill 115 to February 22,
to Postpone: 2022. Seconded by Ms. Villegas and carried by the
(Approved) following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kierkiewicz—8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Committee Members Chung— 1.
Excused: None.
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ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, at 6:21 p.m., Mr. Inaba moved that the
meeting be adjourned. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the
following voice vote:
Ayes: Committee Members David, Inaba,
Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Lee Loy,
Richards, Villegas, and Chair Kierkiewicz— 8.
Noes: None.
Absent: Committee Members Chung— 1.
Excused: None.
CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Planning Committee is adjourned at 6:21 p.m. Good work
everyone Thank you.
Approved:
Ms Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair Date
Planning Committee
ALK/ja
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