Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN LAAC 2023/02/21 (2022-2024)Committee on Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions 4th Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii February 21, 2023 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions ORDER: was called to order at 10:00 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Vice Chair Ms. Cindy Evans, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (came in later) Absent & Excused: Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, 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 Chair called Cindy Freitas, who registered to speak in opposition to Bill 7 (Comm. 28), and came forward when called. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 7: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 98-91, WHICH RECLASSIFIED LANDS FROM AGRICULTURAL — 20 ACRES (A-20a) TO AGRICULTURAL — 5 ACRES (A-5a) AT KALOKO, NORTH KONA, HAWAI`I, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 7-3-025 :012 (Abblicant: Sunshine Holdings_ LLC) (Area: 21.353 acres) The Leeward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for the applicant's request for a five-year time extension to Condition D (Final Subdivision Approval) for the development of a four -lot subdivision. The property is located along Kaloko Drive, approximately 720 feet southeast of its intersection with Kaloko Loa Place, Kaloko Mauka Subdivision, North Kona. Reference: Comm.28 Intr. by: Mr. Inaba (B/R) Postponed: February 7, 2023 LAAC-4 February 21, 2023 (Note: There is a motion by Ms. Kimball, seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz to recommend passage of Bill 7 on first reading.) ; and Comm. 28.3: From Council Member Holeka Goro Inaba, dated February 15, 2023, transmitting A request to postpone Bill 7 to the call of the Chair. CHR. INABA: Can I please have a motion to—do we need to take up the motion to forward the bill first, Mr. Clerk? MR. HENRICKS: You may ask if there is any general discussion at this time on the main motion, which is a favorable recommendation. CHR. INABA: Okay. Well with that, I did have a meeting with Mr. Fuke and the applicant a week ago, and it was requested by the applicant, Mr. Christensen, that this matter be deferred. On your board, Communication 28.3 as the Clerk shared, transmits this request. So at this time, the applicant is going to continue working with Mr. Fuke to see what options they can pursue that will be beneficial to the community. So with that, if there are any questions, I can take them now, if not — oh, Ms. Evans. MS. EVANS: Is it appropriate to just make a comment on what I'm reading in the bill? CHR. INABA: Sure, go ahead. MS. EVANS: Okay. I just want to make record of the Fair Share contribution, clearly there's been quite a bit of negotiations between the person who wants to develop and the Planning Department, and the Public Works Department. It's interesting how they've changed what the Fair Share contribution is, clearly they're asking for a five-year extension, so this is five years later from the original, but I just want to make note of it. I have some concerns about the calculation and what they came up with for the Fair Share, just to make note of that. CHR. INABA: Got it, thank you. I'm not going to entertain further questions on this just because the applicant and the representative are not here today, so at the time that it does —or if it does come back, we can answer those questions then, and have Planning Department ready. MS. KIMBALL: Chair Inaba? CHR. INABA: Chair Kimball, go ahead. Page 2 LAAC-4 Vote on Motion to Postpone: (Approved) Ms. Kimball moved to postpone Bill 7 to the call of the Chair. Seconded by Ms. Lee Loy and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder —1. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: Mr. Clerk, next item. February 21, 2023 Bill 24: AMENDS SECTION 25-8-33 (CITY OF HILO ZONE MAP), ARTICLE 8, CHAPTER 25 (ZONING) OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT CLASSIFICATION FROM AGRICULTURAL — THREE ACRES (A-3a) TO SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL — 15,000 SQUARE FEET (RS-15) AT HILO, SOUTH HILO, HAWAI`I, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 2-4-003:035 (Abblicant: Matthew C. Wuna and Eric J. Wuna) (Area: 3.1285 Acres) The Windward Planning Commission forwards its favorable recommendation for this change of zone request, which would allow the applicant to subdivide the property into five lots ranging in size from 20,080 to 45,363 square feet. The property is located at 862 West Kawailani Street, approximately 1,000 feet west of its intersection with Komohana Street, Waiakea, South Hilo. Reference: Comm.97 Intr. by: Mr. Inaba (B/R) Motion to Approve: Ms. Lee Loy moved to recommend passage of Bill 24 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Galimba. CHR. INABA: I believe in Hilo Chambers today we have Mr. Yeh who is representing the applicant. If you'd like to come forward to the table and introduce yourself and give us a little introduction as to the request before us today? (Note: At this time, Thomas Yeh, Esq., came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. YEH: Good morning and aloha, Chair Holeka Inaba and members of the Committee. My name is Thomas Yeh, and I represent the applicants in this matter. As the background report information provided by the Planning Commission references the applicants are two brothers basically, who are also Page 3 LAAC-4 February 21, 2023 descendants of a larger family with the last Wung, who owned property in this vicinity for really decades. Currently, there exist on the subject property, and I don't know if you can take a look at the zoning map, it's kind of a rectangular property with a large, flagged portion that abuts Kawailani Street, and there currently exists on that property towards Kawailani Street direction a residence, garage, and some agricultural buildings. The proposed five -lot subdivision would actually involve the addition of four, basically new, lots that would take access from South Kumuwaina Place. There is an existing driveway on Kawailani Street that serves the property as well as a smaller lot owned by the grandmother. On Thursday, we did submit a letter to the committee along with some information you may have looked at. Basically, Condition H of Bill 24 proposes that certain road widening work occurs within a template strip on the Kawailani Street side. After the Planning Commission hearing, we worked with the Department of Public Works Engineering Division and have requested that Condition H be revised, similar to a previous ordinance that was recently adopted by the Council, and providing a time extension for a six -acre lot that lies just west, so to speak, of this subject property, where only a road widening setback be denoted on the subdivision plan, and then any building setbacks be taken from that location. So part of our letter that we provided references Ordinance 21-64, and Condition E of that ordinance that was recently adopted states, as follows: "A 10-foot wide road widening strip along the Kawailani Street frontage of the property shall be set aside and delineated on the subdivision plans. All structural setbacks shall be taken from this future road widening line." In the information that we provided Public Works, that kind led to this proposed change of condition, we provided two photographs, one of which showed the property line that exists now. The ten -foot road widening setback would be taken to the right of that photograph, and if there was needed to be road widening improvements on this approximately 85-foot length of road frontage boundary along Kawailani Street, it would involve taking out a water meter, water lateral, rock walls, and cutting into the slope; and from the perspective of the surrounding properties along Kawailani Street, if you take a look at that photo, there are actually utility lines and poles within that ten -foot strip. So at the current time, it really doesn't make a lot of sense to require the applicant here to conduct that road widening improvement when actually no additional access would be taken from that driveway, instead the new four lots would be taken from that Kumuwaina Place. Page 4 LAAC-4 February 21, 2023 So, that's the only change we're requesting for purpose of this bill, is to amend Condition H accordingly. But, open to any questions. If you need more information, we would be happy to provide that. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you very much. I'd like to see if anyone from the Planning Department or DPW (Department of Public Works) is online and would like to make comments regarding this application at this time. MR. YEH: Also, Mr. Chair, members of the Committee, along with our letter of February 16, we did provide —February 9, 2023, a memo from DPW saying that they reviewed our request and had no objections to that proposed amendment, and we copied the Planning Department with our request previously, just for informational purposes. Thank you. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Mr. Yeh. We can take up this amendment —well, we don't have actually an amendment before us to amend the bill. Council Member, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you, Chair. Myself and Ms. Kagiwada kind of share this district. As Mr. Yeh described, there's some desire to widen that shoulder, however, it's going to end up being done incrementally; so ideally, setting it aside for some future larger improvements is completely in alignment with the character of that neighborhood in the area. If it's okay, I'll be more than happy to work with the applicant and Ms. Kagiwada to advance that particular edit. It's consistent with what we did back in 2021 for a property just adjacent to it. And as Mr. Yeh noted, you know, he's provided evidence that DPW is in support of fine-tuning this particular zoning change along with others that we've done in the past. I'm looking for any more feedback from my colleagues, but I can completely kind of support the applicant's desire to set this aside and have the road widening done, consistent with all the other properties along Kawailani Street. I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. And for the Committee, this letter requesting the amendment to Condition H with supporting pictures is contained in Communication 97.1, in your pinky folder. Council Member Galimba, go ahead. MS. GALIMBA: So looking over that six -acre change of zone that we're just referencing, I noticed also that in the conditions of that change of zone they crossed out the time to develop which, I think, this would also be inappropriate in the sense of removing that. It may be a controversial thing, but it's obviously an area where it's adjoining residential. So, it doesn't really make sense to sort of have a time limitation for something this small, just so that the applicants won't feel stressed out, I mean, to jump through all the hoops within a specific Page 5 LAAC-4 February 21, 2023 timeframe. So, that's something I just wanted to bring up. I will let Council Member Lee Loy take that up or not, as she desires. CHR. INABA: Council Member Galimba, question, can you point this to which section you're talking about, where timeframes were not being applied? MS. GALIMBA: Okay, so on the inner packet, on Ordinance 21-64, second page, Condition C has been crossed out, that would require seven years; and also the follow-up, where it's the removal of the extension since there is no time limit and extension. Does that make sense? I know that —having been on the Windward Planning Commission, there was one member who was very passionate about sort of taking out the time limitations on certain applications when he felt that it —you know, it just makes sense. This would be adjacent to similar kinds of subdividing. In the foreseeable future, we're not going to change, such that this would be an inappropriate zoning. So I'm thinking that he convinced the rest of the Windward Planning Commission to do this. That was part of one of his passions, and in certain instances, the Windward Planning Commission would go along with it. Not always, but in cases like this, especially within the city, you know, adjacent to similar zoning. So, that's my guess on why that happened, yeah. CHR. INABA: Okay, thank you, Council Member Galimba. Deputy Director Darrow or Ms. Jackson from the Planning Department, do you folks want to weigh in on anything for this application? I believe you folks are joining via Zoom. (Note: At this time, Deputy Planning Director Jeff Darrow came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. DARROW: Aloha, Chair Inaba, and members of the Hawaii County Council. Jeff Darrow with the Planning Department. I've reviewed the applicant's request to change Condition H, and we are amenable to that based on concurrence with the Department of Public Works. As far as the next -door property, we've had to do a little research. This is kind ofI'm looking at it right now; the actual amendment added an additional seven years, and so what Council Member Galimba is mentioning is probably accurate. There was a period of time when members of the Windward Planning Commission were recommending that the time condition be dropped, but we can look more into that and provide that at our next hearing. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Mr. Darrow. Any other discussion on the application? Council Member Kagiwada. Page 6 LAAC-4 February 21, 2023 MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Sorry, I'm kind of still new to all of this, so I'm figuring it out. I noticed that it said that, "The method of sewage disposal shall meet with the requirements of the State Department of Health;" and in the letter from the Planning Commission, it said, "The subject property is not currently serviced by the County's sewer system." Is there anything nearby or plan to be nearby that we should be considering so that we don't continue to just do individual wastewater systems? I see that that's what they're planning to do here. We know that cesspools are not the way to go, but these individual wastewater systems are not ideal either. So, anything that you can tell me about where the sewer runs currently, and any possible expansion to the area with potential? We have a lot of development going into this area, by looking at all those undeveloped parcels. CHR. INABA: I think the question might be best directed toward the Department of Environmental Management. MS. KAGIWADA: Right, probably. CHR. INABA: I'm not sure if anyone is on the line right now, from DEM (Department of Environmental Management). MS. KAGIWADA: Okay, can we maybe have them here for the next discussion? CHR. INABA: Yes. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. CHR. INABA: Any other questions or discussion? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair Inaba? CHR. INABA: Thank you, sorry, I forgot about you folks in Hilo. Council Member Kierkiewicz, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thanks for the opportunity. Mr. Yeh, thanks for being here. Wung brothers, or twins, thank you for your presence. This is a very straightforward request. I'll be supporting it. And thank you, Mr. Yeh, for bringing forward the potential amendment. I think it makes good sense rather than tackling that work piecemeal; good to tackle all of Kawalani Street at one time. One of the things I just wanted to make clear, the request is to do a five -lot subdivision, but there is the ability to go up to nine? Page 7 LAAC-4 February 21, 2023 MR. YEH: That's correct. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, but there's no intention to do that? MR. YEH: No. You know, I discussed that with the applicants. Basically, if you went to nine, or to max this thing out, the cost of development and infrastructure is prohibited, so there's a cost -benefit analysis to they're not looking to be developers. CHR. INABA: Mr. Yeh, if you could speak into the mic, please? MR. YEH: Yeah, they're not looking to be developers. They just want to try to keep this as a part of their family distribution, and that's basically the goal of this thing, just as the other families have done historically. Interestingly enough, I actually live on a parcel that's behind the Life Care Center. That's part of that same family property, married to their aunty actually. What's going to result from this is you're going to have four additional lots on lot sizes that are approximately 15,000, 20,000 square feet, or more. The addition of four septic systems, which the Department of Health does say are acceptable for this particular area, should be okay. I'm not aware of any sewer line serving this area at all, and obviously looking forward from a cost -time perspective, I don't see DEM installing sewer lines, let alone dealing with a capacity that they have now in their over -taxed system down at Keaukaha. So from a practical standpoint, I really think that for the moment, septic system is the way to go, unfortunately. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you for that additional information. I'm just confirming that the five -lot subdivision is how you and your clients want to proceed. Just appreciate knowing that, because when we make these decisions, just want to make sure folks are aware that they had the ability to go up to nine, but for record, you're saying that it's going to be five. And then, Council Member Lee Loy, if you and Council Member Kagiwada also put forward an amendment removing the time restriction of five years, I would be supportive of that. I think what we're doing right here is just, you know, putting our stamp of approval on if this particular rezone makes now, it's going to make sense in perpetuity, so the timing element is not necessary. Thank you, Chair. I yield. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Coming back to Kona? All right, with that then, I have no further questions; confirming that Council Member Lee Loy will work with you and Mr. Yeh, and perhaps Kagiwada as well. Requesting the Department of Environmental Management to Page 8 LAAC-4 Vote on Bill 24: (Approved) February 21, 2023 be present at first hearing for this Bill 24. All those in favor of forwarding Bill 24 to Council with a favorable recommendation, please say "aye." The motion to recommend passage of Bill 24 on first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder — 1. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: Thank you, Mr. Yeh. We'll see you in a couple of weeks. MR. YEH: Thank you. CHR. INABA: With that, a motion to adjourn? ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 10:27 a.m., Ms. Evans moved to adjourn MENT: the meeting. Seconded by Ms. Galimba and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Chair Inaba — 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Kdneali `i-Kleinfelder — 1. Excused: None. CHR. INABA: This meeting is adjourned at 10:27 a.m. Mahalo. Approved: � 7 /-, Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair (Date) Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions Committee H I/na Page 9