HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0493.087 2000-2002 808-524-8221
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73-4310 hue true , kailua-kona, HI 96740
` July O5, 2002
Chair Planning Committee Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd and Members of the Council
Subject: Support for Kohanaiki Open Space Designation
Dear Chair Planning Committee Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd and Members of the Council:
I atn writing in full support of Mayor Kim and Planning Director Yuen's proposed amendment to
the County General Plan to place the shoreline at Kohanaiki into the Open Space designation.
As a resident of Hawaii, I fully support the broad community that regularly accesses this area for
surfing, fishing and catnping and their longstanding stewardship of ehis precious community
resource.
It is important to ensure that Kohanaiki is proteceed from the impacts of exclusive /resort
development along the coast for the following reasons:
1. This area is rich in native Hawaiian cultural sites including village areas, sacred/ceremonial
areas, anchialine ponds, wetlands and trails as well as habitat for endangered plants, birds and
reef fish.
2. The land is adjacent to the Kaloko Ilonokohau National Park and a portion of it has been
designated to be within the Congressionally Authorized Park boundaries.
3. The local community as well as visitors enjoy the beach and coastal area as a prime surfing,
fishing, day use and catnping spot.
4. The Kohanaiki 'Ghana, Na Keiki He'e Nalu and the Kona cotnmuniry have demonstrated
commitment to stewardship of the natural and cultural resources for over 12 years, providing
bathrooms and trash pick up, beach clean ups, trail and pond reseoration projects.
Thank you for considering my vote for Open Space along the coast at Kohanaiki and my full
support of Bill X163.
Designating open space today is a guarantee of access to our beaches for our future generations.
(Note: Similar letters also received froth the following individuals:)
P-Iaia TrTageaner iionnie P'iasterj ohn Lisa Eunge
P. 0. Eox 1229 P. 0. Box 2006 73-1111 Oluolu St.
Pahoa, HI 96773 Keaau, HI 96749 Kailua-i~ona, HI 96740
~mrn, ~Is~ ~
~il~ Hs~._
t'om'. fp'~`~.,..-....,~t. _ _ a
Sincerely,
karla ke saville
MICl~AEL J. MATSUKAWA
ATTORNEY AT LAW . ,
TERRITORIAL CENTRE, SUITE 201
75-5751 KUAKINI HIGHWAY
KAILUA-KONA, HI 96740 r-
TELEPHONE NO. 18081 329-138
FAX NO 1808) 329-0512
July 2, 2002
Ms. Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd
County Council
County of Hawaii
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, HI 96720
RE: GENERAL PLAN ORDINANCE
SITE G-6, HELLO GENERATION STATION SITE
Dear Councilmember Leithead-Todd
I had earlier written of my clients' concern on the
proposal to designate the HELLO generator site as an Urban
Expansion area. During the Kailua-Kona meeting, the planning staff
stated that the reason for the designation is to conform to a 1994
ruling that the planning director had made that the site fell
within the Urban Expansion, not Extensive Agriculture, designation
on the LUPAG map.
However, in Civil 97-017K, the circuit court found that
the HELLO site falls within the Extensive Agriculture designation.
HELLO was a party to this action and did not object to the court's
finding. For that reason, I believe it improper to assert that the
basis for the current proposal to designate the HELLO site as Urban
Expansion is ~o conform to a prior ruling of the pla~~-r~iny ~'irector
when a circuit court has already ruled that the HELLO site is in
the Extensive Agriculture designation.
Thus, the only reason for the current proposal is for the
County to endorse its support to rezone the HELLO site in order to
allow HELLO to expand its power plant. At this time, whether HELLO
can or cannot complete the proposed expansion of its power plant
under its so-called default entitlement is still before the state
Supreme Court (since 1998) and the Court could rule that HELLO has
no such entitlement.
Cor~Yn, N®,
F°iie No.
~tef. ~o:~
r3>~c~~e ~
MICHAEL J. MATSUKAWA
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Ms. Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd
July 2, 2002
Page 2
In that event, HELLO will have to seek rezoning of its
land to validate what is on the ground now "after the fact." In
fact, as a result of a recent Board ruling on March 25, 2002, the
Board required HELLO to initiate proceedings before the LUC to take
its land out of the Conservation district and to place it in the
state Urban district.
If tr~is takes place and if the state LUC grants HELCO's
petition for a boundary amendment to the state Urban district, then
the underlying county zoning would take effect Extensive
A~culture general plan designation and Open zoning. Since the
county charter allows general plan amendments to be made only by
the county council or planning director, HELLO could not move
forward with its rezoning until and unless the current Extensive
Agriculture designation on the general plan is changed to Urban
Expansion (as is currently proposed).
I do not believe the public has been adequately informed
on this subject. The question to the county council is, "Is the
county council at this time supporting HELCO's proposal to rezone
its land to allow HELLO to continue with its expansion project at
the Keahole station after-the-fact?"
I believe this matter needs to be fully discussed and not
be allowed to slip into the general plan unnoticed and without
debate. This is an important policy decision for the county
council to make.
I trust you will give this matter the attention that it
deserves and the county council will exclude the Urban Expansion
designation.
Thank you.
Yours truly,
"L
`ice 1
f/~ ~
6/
r
Michael J. Matsukawa
MJM: j ff\oi7~todd-~ti.sP
xc: Anthony Ching, LUC
James Arakaki
Curtis Tyler
Christopher Yuen
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MICIIAEL J. MATSUI~AWA
Attorney at Law
Territorial Center, Ro` d 1
75-5751 Kuakini Highway
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96749
Telephone 329-1385`-'~ -
July 1, 2002
Mr. Christopher Yuen (VIP, FAX: 96I-8742 4 pgs./ORIGINAL BY MAIL)
Planning Director
County of Hawaii
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawaii
Re: General Plan Ordinance (Proposed)
Site G-6, HELCO Generator Station
Dear Mr. Yuen:
At the Kailua-Kona meeting, Mr. Hayashi said that the HELCO station was
being designated Urban Expansion because of a ruling that the Planning Director
made in 1994. However, even if so, in Civil 97-017K, the circuit court ruled that
the area was Extensive Agriculture in 1999. This is the "law of the case" and
HELCO did not object.
Now we are being told that the county council intends to make this area
Urban Expansion to accommodate HELCO's alternate, back-up plan to rezone its
land for its proposal to expand the station. The back-up plan became a reality
when the BLNF: ordered HELCO to remove its site from the Conservation district
on March 25, 2002.
Meanwhile, we have not heard from the state supreme court on the
question of whether HELCO has a valid entitlement under the Board's 3-2 vote in
1996 to deny HELCO's CDUA. It appears That the forces at work, including the
supreme court's long delay, is forcing HELCO to pursue a rezoning action (as
Keith Ahue, 13LNR chair had recommended back in 1993.
Thus, my clients feel that this issue has not had the public attention as did
the Kohanaiki open designation proposal. I fear that this matter, G-6, is going to
slip into the general plan without public notice and debate. It sets the stage for
HELCO to rezone its land to industrial if it succeeds at the LUC.
I do not know if you, with your background on this matter, truly endorse
this idea when valid alternatives exist to the expanded proposal. I trust that you
Mr. Yuen
July 1, 2002
Page Two
will investigate this matter and recommend the removal of G-6 from the LUPAG
map.
Thank you very much.
Yo r I ,
Michael J. Matsukawa
c: Curt Tyler
Ms. Leithead-Todd
Mr. Arakaki
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warms AAfO lAAtO OEVE~~waeErT
2 ® ~g~3 File No.: I-I.~-487A
I-Iawaii Electric Light Company, Inc.
54 l~ialekauwila Street .
Milo, I~awaii 96721-1027
Attn: Clyde Nagata
Dear l0~ir. Nagata.,
subject: Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Keahole
Generating Station Expansion
Thank you for revising the I3raft Environmental Impact Statetrteni and addressing the
concerns raised in our July 1, 1993 letter to you. Since full disclosure is required for the
document, we would .appreciate your addressing the f®Ilov~?ing concerns in the final
environaatental imoact statement.
Theo~aa~~t~c~r~~~vvth estimates ~ hown in section 3.3.3 is based on figures available
during a late 191~0's. `Tj s vvas ~ per€od of extraordinary economic growth in the State
and not reflective of current conditions. 'The most conservative projections of table 3-11
may be considered optimistic under present circumstances. (VVe note that several resort r
projects in l~Vest I-lawaii have delayed their development schedule.)
Assurraing that the forecasted annual peak power demand shown in table 1-1 is based on
population growth estimates of section 3.3.3, we would expect the projections to be
lowered The 9°l~ p~calecte~3: ancrease ~a~ annual. ~'c~reca~t~d ~e~k ~ao~~~.?:~er~an~ betvdeen
3 ~ ~ ~
9~.,an~. ~9 :~pprs to be very ht~h haven current ecottoma~ r~aIatte~s. It tray be useful r
to ~~~onstrate in the appet~tiiar cif` th~''l~itt~l ~ EIS the' tri~tfi®~otia~ 'used to forecast peak
power demand.
so, the statement on page 3-44 that the proposed expansion is consistent with the
gate's land use classification is misleading..A generator station .belongs. itt the urban
.
~t~t~tt °li`lt~.,exaste~~~,.of t1~~,ge. nerator,.statr<on tata;th~., ~o~as~rvation District. is a result of
~ ~~t, .
unplanned historical circuanstaraces. It would be appropriate to petition the Land Use
®mra~isson remove the parcel from the Conservation District.
Please contact Don I~oriuchi of the Office of Conservation and 1?nvironmental Affairs at
587-0381 if you have any questions.
V truly yours,
Keith W. Ahue
Chairperson
cc: C~--i21V11-€ill
(?1?QC
Hawaii Et~ctric Light C®~pany, Inc. • PO E3ox 1027 • Hilo, HI 96721-1027
Warren F~. W. Lei, P.E.
P,,,, ®ecember 8, 1993
l
The Honorable Keith W. Ahue
Chairman of the t3oard
Department of Land and
Natural Resources
State of Hawaii
130 Kalanimoku Building ~
Honolulu, HI 96813
®ear Mr. Ahue:
am writing about your September 20, 1993, letter in which you comment on
the Revised Draft Environmental Im act Statement for the Keahole Generatin Station
P 9
unit addition.
Hawaii Electric Light Company's consultant for the EIS, CH2M DILL, will be
preparing a separate response to your comment letter. We believe our Revised final
EIS {EIS) and the responses to the comments on the Revised Draft will fully satisfy all
legal requirements for your acceptance of our EIS.
Acceptance of our EIS is a very important initial step towards satisfiying the
Island of I-lawaii's 1995 electrical needs. Your acceptance is urgently needed in order
to prevent rolling blackouts on the Sig Island resulting from delays in completing
future generating units wrhen they are required. Your acceptance of our EIS and the
Land Board`s approval of our CDIJP amendment, are two of the very significant
approvals needed before we can proceed with the expansion of our existing Keahole
generation plant.
We need to have the next generating unit completed in mid-1995 when
additional generation will be necessary. X1.0 other viable site has been proposed for
new generating capacity in 1995, and the earliest date for which an independent
power producer (IPP) has proposed new generating capacity is at the end of 1996 or
later. We note that, very recently, an IPP proposing to build a 58 MW power plant on
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands property near Kawaihae Harbor received a
negative declaration for its EIS. Nevertheless, the IPP does not expect to have its
generation unit ce~mpleted until late 1996 or later.
~~i
-
An HFI C~moanv
1°he Honorable Keith W. hue
Page 2
December 8, 1993
Under these circumstances, we must not allow the residents- of the Island of
Hawaii to face the risks that would arise from waiting until late 1996 or beyond for
power provided by an 4PP. HELLO has learned, from the delays encountered by Puna
Geothermal Venture, that the best-laid plans can go awry. So far, alt of the IPPs with
which HELLO has existing firm power purchase contracts have either encountered
delays in developing their projects or have had unexpected periods in which they have
ceased production.
Especially in Nght of this experience, HELLO believes that it is in the public's
best interest, first, to build the 1995 generation unit at Keahole, and, second, to plan
for the following generation unit through concurrent planning by HELLO fora utility-
constructed addition along with discussions with IPPs proposing units in that time
frame. In this way, the public will have better assurances that a reliable source of
generation, providing power at a reasonable cost to the consumers, will be available
when it is needed.
would like to address the fourth paragraph of your comment letter, which
states:
" the statement on page 3-44 that the proposed expansion is consistent with
the Sfate's land use classification is misleading. A generator station belongs in
the urban district, 7-he existence of the generator station in the Conservation
District is a result of unplanned historical circumstances. It v~ould be
approprlat~' t® pe°t%tit'brl tl'B~ ,.and (15~ fioTrlrBllSSi®n t® rim®V~' tl7e parC~'I from th@
`COnservatl®n DlStrict.'
H~LCO believes that the proposed expansion of the Keahole Generating
Station should be permitted in this instance. °fhis conclusion is based, among other
things, on the fiollowing:
1. I°BELCO constructed its generating station at Keahole in reliance upon a
Conservation ®istrict Use Permit issued by the Board of Land-.and ~latural
resources in ®ecember 1973. Subsequently, three C®UP amendments were
issued by the Land Soard in February 1984, P~bruary 1987, and September
1988. Since 1973, excluding operating costs, HELLO has invested more than
$10 million in the Keahole Generating Station in reliance upon the CDUP
approval and amendments granted by the Land Soard over the -last 20 years.
We believe it would be unfair and unreasonable to now require t~~LCO to
pursee the State Land Use and County rezoning: approvals efor~; u~sder~aking
the proposed expansion of the Keahole Generating Station.' a -also believe
that this would be very detrimental to HELLO and would prejudice HELCO's
•g ~
the Honorable Keith W. Ahue
Page 3
December 8, 1993
investrraent and its ability under law to continue to provide the ~3ig Island's
residents reliable power in a cost effective manner.
As we had indicated to both Mr. Katy and Mr. Masumoto in mid-1992, if HELCO
were to pursue the State Land Use and County rezoning approvals before
proceeding with the expansion of the Keahole Generating Station, this .could .
delay the project bey®nd 1995 and even for up to three ®r more years. Such a
delay would not be in the public's best interest.
2. HELC®'s,currerat
application for an amendment to the CDUP' was made
f4llowin~,,c®nsultata~n with, your predecessor, Sil! l~aty, in nnid-1992, and in a
separate meeting with Harold Masumoto, Director of the ®ffice of State
Planning, in mid-1992.
3. Since the CDUP amendment was accepted by DLNR in late 1992, HFLCO has
relied on Dt~NR°s September 25, 1992 "Notice of Acceptance," which states in
part that "the proposed use is a conditional use within the General Subzone of
the Conservation District according to Administrative Rules, title 13, Chapter 2,
as amended DLNR's staff report, dated January 21, 1993, to the Land
board for the initial hearing on the CDUP amendment restates the ,
aforementioned finding.
DLNR's staff report, dated September 1988, and the acceptance of the CDUP
amendment HA-8/27/88~87°/~, dated January 27, 19.88, also makes an
identical finding. In September 1988, the Land Soard approved the 1988
CDUP' amendment. hILCO has also relied on the direction provided in
DLN~'s finding,,anF~ the~Land:~®a~-d'approval of the 1988 CDUP amendment in
~ui-susng:wt~e., c ~t ~mendrncnt.
.
4. ®n the basis of the foregoing, the December 1992. Draft ~lS, the June 1993
Final X15, and the July 1993 Devised Draft CIS contained the statement that the
expansion of the Keahole Generating Station "is consistent with ...the State's
land use classification.... " .
sin he fourth era ra h of our Se tember letter were not
°fhe comment t P 9 P Y P
previously raised in DLNi~'s draft ~1S comment letter, dated January 21, 1993,
or in either of DLNFZ's torvo July 1.993 letters concerning the Final CIS (published
in June 1993).
DLN~ stai~f also did not raise any., of the..comments stated in the fourth
~ldl'A.:'~i+'1 :/bL:S~ °aGd3'g. 4'Pa Tn a'te' '~'~PY.
paragraph,of,y®~r letter ~n any.~f.their meetings with representatives of HFLCO
slid/ar^CI~2M 4~llLL~~tiurr~~~-199 and through September 1993.
fihe Honorable Keith W. Ahue
- Page 4
December 3, 1993
5. Finally, we know of no reason to conclude that the present CDUP amendment
for the proposed expansion of the power faciUty is not in conformance with all
applicable statutes, rules, and standards relevant to the approval of the CDUP
amendment.
1
Mr. Ahue, without y®ur timely acceptance of our Revised EIS, the residents and
economy of the Sig !eland may be again jeopardized by blackouts. We request your
prompt action in accepting our E1S.
Very truly yours,
cc: °fhe Honorable John D. Waihee,
Governor, State of Hawaii
Joshua C. Agsalud, Ph.D.,
Governor's Executive Administrator
Harold Masumoto,
Director, Office of State Planning
Roger C. Evans, Administrator,
Office of Conservation & Environmental Affairs, DLNR