Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PCPLUD 2024/10/15 (2022-2024) DRAFT Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use, and Development 22nd Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii October 15, 2024 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use, and ORDER: Development was called to order at 11:05 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba Acting Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Vice Chair Ms. Cindy Evans, Member Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelde'ry Member (came inlater) Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Member (came in later,via videoconference from Hilo) Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member (came in later) Absent& Excused: Ms. Ashley L.Kierkiewicz, 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: Kealoha Sugiyama: Bill 217 (Comm. 1093), in support. Audrey L, Veloria: Bill 217 (Comm. 1093), in support. Randee Golden: Bill 217 (Comm. 1093), in support. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. PCPLUD-22 October 15,2024 Bill 217: AMENDS CHAPTER 6, ARTICLE 2, SECTION 6-12, OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO PROHIBITED HIGHWAYS FOR COMMERCIAL BICYCLE TOURS Seeks to add a portion of Kohala Mountain Road and a portion of Akoni Pule Highway as prohibited highways for commercial bicycle tours. Reference: Comm. 1093 Intr. by: Ms. Evans Motion to Approve: Ms. Evans moved to recommend passage of Bill 217 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Villeas. ACTING CHR. INABA: Council Member Evans. Point of Order: MS. EVANS: Thank you. Just for the benefit I thought the Councill Members, I have a communication that I've forwarded. I was just for informational purposes only. It is not an amendment. And it,basically is to give you the section now of the Code. You know, we would've had this bill before you by now, but we had to wait until we had the Code revisor actually assign this section, the article in section, so that now the public if they want to see it in Code can go online and look at the unofficial version of the Code. It will be in there. My understanding is in February when they go to prints,it'll then become "the official version." So, right now it's Section 6-11, which kind of gives the layout of the land as what the expectation is with approval of this Bill 217, With a favorable,recommendation, what would happen is these two sections would,,correspondence would go to the Director of Public Works and our Chief of Police,;to have 45,days to provide any comments that they would want to provide us on the condition of the roads,and any recommendations they might bring forth. So, if we pass this, I guess I'd have to ask the plan, order of the Clerk, maybe. If we agree to this today, does it stay held in Committee for 45 days and come back like we do with the Zoning Code when we send stuff forward to the Planning Commission, and wait"x" amount of days for them to respond before we take action. So,point of order for the Clerk. MR. HENRICKS: May I respond, Vice Chair? ACTING CHR. INABA: Yes, you may. MR. HENRICKS: So, when looking at this Section 6-11, Subsection B, it says, prior to taking final action on any such ordinance. So, that introduction right there states that it wouldn't be required that this matter remain in Committee or even pass first reading of the Council. It just says,prior to final action, the Council is required to request the respect recommendation of the Chief of Police, Director of Public Works, and other public officials deemed appropriate. My Page 2 PCPLUD-22 October 15,2024 recommendation would be that in some point in the process, prior to taking a vote on second and final reading, that the Council of this Committee make a motion to refer the bill to the Chief of Police, Director of Public Works, and then also include any other public officials that may deem appropriate for this specific proposal, to request their recommendations pursuant to this section. I hope that's clear. MS. EVANS: It is. I think what I'm hearing is that we could forward it to Council but also, we need to make a motion to forward it to the Director of Public Works, the Chief of Police, and if anybody on the Council wants any other public official, we could have that discussion today,and make,a determination that there's someone else we want to hear from. MR. HENRICKS: That is correct. And then it's part of that motion if the body determines that there are "other public officials deemed appropriate,"that would be included in said motion to provide clarity. That would not necessarily halt the process, but it would be at this Committee or the Council's prerogative whether or not to halt the process. As long as this matter is not voted on, on second and final reading without receiving the recommendations of those public officials. MS. EVANS: Okay. Thank you, Thank you. So,with that I would open it up for discussion. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Evans, before I call on other Council Members, can you just provide clearly the areas that are being proposed. This is your district, so I just want to make sure that members of the Council are clear on where the pzrohibition is being proposed for. MS. EVANS Right: Thank you. So, there's two areas in North Kohala that has been really disturbing to people, and these are really, this is like our roads up in North Kohala. So,when you leave Waimea and you go over to Hawaii Preparatory Academy(HPA), there's a fork in the road and you have a state highway that goes down to the ocean, or you have the road that goes over in the Kohala Mountain. When you get over Kohala Mountain, you come down to another fork in the road and to the left is Haw! Road that goes into Haw!, and to the right is the road that goes to Kapa`au. So, the restriction that we're talking about is from the HPA fork in the road, over the mountain to the next fork in the road. And that is where all the curves and the blind spots, and the no shoulders, and really, really narrow roads. Those roads used to be sugar cane hauling roads, so they're very, very narrow without shoulders and a lot of like cut into the mountains. So, that's why they're talking about rocks, and rockslides, and flooding or whatever. So, that's one section. And then the other section of the road is when you get to where the middle school is in Kapa`au. From the middle school out to Pololu Valley, the lookout point, Page 3 PCPLUD-22 October 15,2024 it's all these switchbacks and gulches, and it goes down, and we have single lane bridges. But we also have the blind spots and cuts into the mountain, so to speak, which again, have no shoulders, and that's the end of the road. And that's where we're having, with the closed they're shutting down Waipi`o Valley, it's even been exasperated more and more and more. Tourist are coming out, driving out to the end of the road. And so, now there's lots of traffic, but more importantly, we have all these blind spots and curves in the road. And those are the two sections of road that people are really worried about. Thank you. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you. We'll starthere with Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and then we'll head over to Hili with Council Member Lee Loy. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Actually, I'm pretty proud of Council Member Evans for not only working the bill through and getting it to this point, but then actually coming back in,front of us with the two roads. This is a real testament to her perseverance as well as doing exactly what she started out to do in the beginning. I like that you have kind of set in motion the process that you've helped created. And also',you've identified two roadways that you find to be in this case, public safety issues. I agree with the clerk on his reading, What I'm getting is we need a recommendation from two different departments, two or three different departments, which I, from my listening to the Clerk, would say that can be started"novo and,those recommendations can come back from departments well, I mean, maybe before we get to second reading. So, this could be a real positive thing for the community. So, look forward to supporting and I look forward to seeing how the process rolls out for this first time. Thank you. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Lee Loy. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you. Yes. Echoing the sentiments of my colleague. I love it that we passed policy and now we're putting it into action. As far as recommendations of other agencies, I would highly suggest that we do Department of Transportation (DOT) at the state level. My review of their maps, I believe Highway 1-50, is kind of covered under state, and they label it as state cion NHS'(National Highway System), I don't know what that means. And maybe getting some guidance from State Department of Transportation Roads Division would be another agency for review of this work. But I absolutely agree with Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Whether we bounce the ball for the 45 day review right here and now or at some later point, I think we could do it concurrently. Those are my suggestions. In full support of Bill 217. Thank you. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Kagiwada and then Council Member Kimball. Page 4 PCPLUD-22 October 15,2024 MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Just I wanted to second including Department of Transportation Director Ed Sniffen in this. That would be terrific. Thank you. ACTING CHR. INABA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: I'm just going to concur with Council Member Kaneali`i- Kleinfelder and Lee Loy about the process. I'm going to be a bit of a procedural tourist and say I think it needs to stay here while wewait for that feedback to come just because I feel like approving out of the committee is a recommendation for approval and without the data, we can't really do that. So, I think that making a motion to move it here and then keeping it here until we get that response back is the appropriate mechanism. Thank you. ACTING CHR. INABA: Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Boy, you've been on a trail and track and a bike trip to get this legislation-moved forward: I want to thank the testifiers who live in your district and who are directly affected. Having lived for a short time in middle school up at the Makapala area, being very familiar, and this is, that was back in the 80's So,we have nothing even near the amount of traffic we have now and with the exposure through the internet of sacred and special sites like Polohi Valley, that traffic has only expanded, which can be a blessing and a curse. And fortunately or unfortunately, roads that were considered very rural and thus ideal for riding bicycles on, you know, very rural roads that didn't necessarily have side parts of the road to navigate was fine then. But we are in a different era and.in a different time, and when it comes to commercialization of public resource's and roadways for personal business gain, if health and safety is an issue I think that we need to takes those steps necessary. And especially as I've heard over, it's been almost the last two years now, serving with you, that this is a message and something that has been requested from your constituency, and,I appreciate that. And I appreciate your listening to them and your perseverance bringing this forward. I'll be supporting this should you choose to try and move it forward today. If not, I also, you know, understand the need for a couple other parts and pieces to fall into place. But I do think that they can be happening concurrently, and we can headed to where we need to get to if you would like to continue to move this forward. I yield. ACTING CHR. INABA: Council Member Evans. MS. EVANS: Thank you. So, I guess I had a couple thoughts. The thought being is we could postpone it. And then when we postpone it and bring it back, that's additional two weeks, or we could get it to Council and we could hold it there and postpone it and count the days, hit 30 days or whatever. So, at some point, the 45 days are really critical. If we want the consistency of how we do it with our Planning Commission and the way we change Zoning Code, and if that's Page 5 PCPLUD-22 October 15,2024 something that the Council believes for consistency purposes, we could hold it here until we make the 45 days. And so, Mr. Clerk, 45 days from now, what's the closest Council Meeting? MR. HENRICKS: Well, let's see here. It probably wouldn't be 45 days from this day. It would probably be 45 days from the receipt, which I don't know when that's going to happen. So, I'm concerned about giving information that may not be entirely accurate, even though I think I understand,your question. MS. EVANS: So we could get a response from'the Director; all of them could respond within two weeks. They just have up to 45 days, MR. HENRICKS: Yeah, correct. They,have up to that much amount of time and they're also,just to point out, there aren't any repercussions oT consequences where you want to say, "if they fail to respond." It's a request. So, yeah, you could get that information from one or all three within days or never. MS. EVANS: So, I'm going to suggest that we postpone Bill 217 no. First of all, I have to make the other motion first, right,before we do the postponement? Okay. So, the first motion, motion is to forward Bill 217 to the Chief of Police, the Director of Public Works, and the Director of the State of ACTING CHR. INABA: Before I entertain those motions, Council Member Evans, I would like to chime in. MS. EVANS: Okay,please. ACTING CHR. INABA: Director Pause, could you come forward. I just wanted to know; there was some interest in DOT review. Can you share whether in fact there are portions within these roads being introduced that are under the state's purview? (Nate: At this time, Public Works Director Stephen Pause came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. PAUSE: Sure. Steve Pause, Director of Public Works. Good morning. So, the section of road that Council Member Evans describes is Kohala Mountain Road: That is entirely within the purview of the DOT. The District Engineer for the Island of Hawaii is Harry Takiue, who reports to Robin Shishido, who reports to Ed Sniffen. So, that's kind of how that works. And yes, I would recommend getting them to weigh in on that section of road. The Akoni Pule was part of the road swap back in January 2022, so that is entirely within the purview of the County of Hawaii. So, upon receiving a letter, I would refer that to my traffic folks, probably get some weigh in from Engineering and Highways as well. I think one of the testifiers pointed out that that section of the road does have Page 6 PCPLUD-22 October 15,2024 landslips and slides and things. So, yeah, we would be able to turn that around in fairly short order. But again, I think I answered your questions about the DOT. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you. And for Corporation Counsel,just wanting to confirm. I know the ordinance says that we may by ordinance prohibit commercial bike tours on designated portions of public highways due to substandard road conditions, this includes state highways or roadways under the state's jurisdiction. (Note: At this time, Corporation Counsel Elizabeth Strance came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. STRANCE: Thank you. Elizabeth Strance, Corporation Counsel. The short answer is I'm not quite sure. As a general statement, this body,cannot regulate the activities of non-state land. The one reservation I have is that'this is a County issued permit, and so I'd like to look at that a little bit more carefully whether a County issued permit could regulate activity,on state controlled property. ACTING CHR. INABA: Okay. Thank you; With that, Council Member Evans, if you'd like to restate your motion for review?_ MS. EVANS: Yes. Given that comment, yes, we're regulating bicycle tours, not the state highway, which we do have ihat'authority. So, my motion is to forward Bill 217 to the Chief of Police and the Director of Public Works for their respected recommendation. ACTING CHR. INABA: Did you want; you originally included DOT. MS. EVANS: I did. But I think that we can inform them, but I'm not sure they can make a recommendation because the recommendation would be don't regulate the bicycle tour operators. Because the reality is that's really what this bill is about. ACTING CHR. INABA: Okay. I just wanted to make sure the motion is clear. Motion to Refer: Ms.Evans moved to refer Bill 127 to the Chief of Police and the Director of Public Works for their review. Seconded by Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. ACTING CHR. INABA: On the motion for recommendation, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and then Council Member Kagiwada. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. I'm asking the body and I'm asking Clerk, the wording in the bill is prior to taking final action on any such ordinance, the Council shall request the respective recommendations of the Page 7 PCPLUD-22 October 15,2024 different director of the departments. My question is, do we need to forward the bill for that content, or can it simply be a request from the Council Member or the body to the departments; does it need to be as formal as we're making it, or can it be a simple email request for their recommendations? ACTING CHR. INABA: The ordinance says that the Council shall request, so we're making an official motion so that the Council is in fact sending the request to those two individuals, the Chief of Police and the Department of Public Works Director. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I'm sorry. One more time. ACTING CHR. INABA: The ordinance,or the"Code now says,that we shall request, the Council shall request. So, we're taking a motion;the motion on the floor is that we are going to forward that request to those two individuals for their review and their recommendation'on'the bill. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, Pm just thinking out loud because it doesn't really say how we request; it's just we're requesting. So, by saying we're forwarding the bill, it's not like we're forwarding it to the Environmental Management Commissions we're just saying we're going to send them a copy and they're going to look it over and come back to us with a recommendation? I'm thinking through the process because other people may want to do this in the future, and I want to know that we're kind of nailed down the process in this first attempt. Mr.Pause, if you have any input? And then to the Clerk, too, if you have any input on how we request their respective recommendation. MR. PAUSE: So, my input is my understanding in reading this and listening to all of you is that the Council would make a formal request of our department, the Director of Public Works, to provide their recommendations. So, my understanding is you ask as a body, right? Because it says the Council shall request, we receive that correspondence and then we act appropriately. That's my interpretation. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Mr. Henricks? NMR. HENRICKS: Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, yes, and I concur with Vice Chair Inaba's statements that the reason why a motion was recommended is because the Council shall request. So,just to be careful, word any loopholes or anything of that nature during that rigid formality, them suggest the Council made this request. And then from that point forward, you know, it won't be complicated. We'll just send a copy of the bill with theI assume Council Chair staff will do that and just make clear that there's a 45-day window of opportunity from the point of receipt to provide that recommendation back to the Council. Page 8 PCPLUD-22 October 15,2024 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Perfect. Thank you. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Just to say on this particular thing, I disagree. I think that the whole reason that we had this discussion about other public officials weighing in was to address people who might have insight as to the substandard road conditions and how that would work with bicycle tours. And so, I respectively ask that we do include theDepartment of Transportation at the state level, especially on that one state road. I remember that this was, you know, the discussion that we had and if now we're going to say we're not going to include other people to get their feedback because they shouldn't weigh in on us giving permits, I'm just a little, that seems a little bit different,than what I remember our discussion being. So, I'll just leave it there. I wouldlike to see them included with the state road. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you. Checking in Hilo. Council Member Lee Loy. Point of Clarification: MS. LEE LOY: Yeah, thank you. Just point of clarification. What we're discussing is a motion to send ACTING CHR. INABA: Bill 217 to the Chief of Police and the Department of Public Works erector for their review and recommendation. Point of Clarification: MS:'LEE LOY: Yeah. I agree with Ms. Kagiwada. I don't think it would hurt to get sotrmething from DOT. I do, point of clarification or inquiry. Mr. Clerk, does this motion,foreclose on,advancing this bill to the Council or will that be dealt in a subsequent mention? MR. HENRICKS No. The motion itself, if approved, it does not cease operations or halt the process, not into itself. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Clerk. You know, I'm going to be a little bit of a rubble here and definitely support the motion to forward to various agency, but I also want to see this work efficiently and honor the community on the time that they've waited to get some safety done in this area. And so, I'm going to support the motion on whatever agency we forward to, but I'm also going to support the motion to get this to Council because I think we can run these concurrently and demonstrate to the community that government can work efficiently and use these parallel tracks. And at some point,prior to final action, everybody is going to come together. Those are my thoughts. Thank you. I yield. Page 9 PCPLUD-22 October 15,2024 ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Lee Loy. Alright, Council Member Evans. MS. EVANS: Chair, I either withdraw and redo it or I amend it. But I'm about moving Bill 217 to Chief of Police, Director of Public Works, and Director of the State Department of Transportation for their respective recommendations. Withdraw Motion Ms. Evans withdrew her motion to refer Bill 217 to the to Refer: Chief of Police and the Director of Public Works. ACTING CHR. INABA: Okay. So, the first,motion has been withdrawn and then the new motion is that Bill 217 is to be fbrwarded'to the Police Chief, the Director of Public of Works, and the Department of Transportation for their review. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please say, "aye." Vote on Motion Ms. Evans moved to refer Bill 127 to the Chief of Police, to Refer: the Director of Public Works, and the Department of Transportation. Seconded by Ms. Kimball and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder; Kimball, Lee Loy, Villegas, and,Acling Chair Inaba–8. Noes: None. Absent Committee Member Kierkiewicz– 1. Excused- None. ACTING CHR. INABA: We are still back on the main motion now, which is Bill 217 forwardingto Council with a favorable recommendation. Council Member Evans, how would you like to proceed? MS. E' ANS: I ready appreciate Member Lee Loy understanding how passionate my community is about this. And, you know, thinking it through, it's very possible that we could get a response from the department within two or three weeks. And if it gets to Council and we haven't heard back, we can always postpone its at Council level. So, given everybody that came out today and I really appreciate their persistence and willingness to keep coming back to testify, I think Ftn going to—I would like to see it go to Council. I yield. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you. Any further discussion on Bill 217? Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I got one question for Director Pause. Director Steve. Page 10 PCPLUD-22 October 15,2024 MR. PAUSE: Aloha. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So, the state owns the highway, we do the markings, correct; or do they do the markings? MR. PAUSE: On Kohala Mountain Road, they just repaved it and there are still temporary markings. I believe they do the permanent markings. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: And signage? MR. PAUSE: Because it was a contracted job, I believe their contract required them to do signage and markings. That's why we would typically do that. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. And it's under their jurisdiction? MR. PAUSE: Excuse me. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: It's under the state's jurisdiction? MR. PAUSE: Yes, that's correct. HDOT. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Interesting. Interesting discussion between jurisdiction, our ability to tell a state agency what to do, which we normally cannot, and then how toproceed"With doing everything we're looking at doing down the line from this bill on the County level. MR,.PAUSE: From my perspective,'I don't see any great harm in requesting the State DOT to weigh in on their thoughts. They may come back and say we have no opinion,but certainly they manage and maintain the road. That one was part of their inventory even prior to the road swap. So,that was never a County road as far as I'm aware. So, I don't personally see any harm in asking them to weigh in their'thoughts on'�the'safety of their own road. MR. KAEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Let's say they say no opinion. I think as part of the bill, we are to put up signage. Is that correct? If I remember back to how we finished with an amended bill. MR. PAUSE: I'm not sure we can actually put signage up in their right of way. But there's, on the Waimea side, that's all their road. But on the Hawi side, Hawi Road and Kynnersley (road) are both County roads. Not Haw!, but Kynnersley. How we would actually do that, I'm not quite sure. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Okay. Thank you. Taking down the light. Page 11 PCPLUD-22 October 15,2024 MR. PAUSE: But again, we have a relationship with DOT, so it's not like we're on opposite sides. We manage and maintain all their signals and traffic lights and things, so I'm sure that's something we could work on. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: We also enforce laws upon the state highways as well, from the County level. MR. PAUSE: Correct. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay. Okay. 'Thank you, Steve. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you. I just want to clarify. I'm not sure that we did speak to signage in the bill that we,passed, at least in my'review of it. I just wanted to clarify that before we go on. Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. I'm going to disagree with Council Member Lee Loy. I do appreciate how long the community has waited for this because I know we took a long time to get Bill 1�5 just right. But since we are precedent setting on the process here and the motion before us is to move this forward with a favorable recommendation. Without the response from DOT, DPW (Department of Public Works)and the Chief of Police, you know, I'm not sure I can make a determination.if I have a favorable recommendation. So, my preference is to leave it here before weproceed to Council because we just don't have the information from the people, we decided were experts when we developed Bill 125. That's my,recommendation. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you. Any further discussion? There being none, motioii:on.the floor is to forward Bill 217 to the Council with a favorable recommendation. Mr. Clerk}roll call please. Vote on Bill 217: ,The motion to recommend passage of Bill 217 on first (Approved) reading was carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Lee Loy, Villegas, and Acting Chair Inaba—7. Noes: Committee Member Kimball — 1. Absent: Committee Member Kierkiewicz— 1. Excused: None. ACTING CHR. INABA: With that, that was our last, one and only agenda item for the day. Page 12 PCPLUD-22 October 15,2024 ADJOURN- There being no further business, Acting Chair Inaba adjourned the meeting MENT: at 11:41 a.m. ACTING CHR. INABA: This meeting is now adjourned. Mahalo. Approved: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair (Date) Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use, and Development AK/tk Page 13