HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0181.010 2006-2008 Page 1 of 2
Murashige, Laura
From: GeoMike5@att.net .
caa~ ~i' 1. 1? 17
Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2007 5:59 PM
To: counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us
Cc: Hoffmann, Pete; Ford, Brenda; kapilage@co.hawaii.hi.us '
Subject: Bill 75
Dear Chairman Hoffmann:
Please include this a-mail as testimony to the County Council for their May 2-3, 2007 meetings. I suggest
that they do not adopt the Planning Director's revisions to the General Plan in Bill 75 without further
consideration and amendment.
believe the changes in the Bill 75 amendments creates vagueness by removing too much specific
information concerning the process. Therefore, [ask the County Council to reject these amendments as
written.
One of the goals of government is to perform in a timely fashion and that should be met here rather than
tailoring the General Plan to this particular Planning Director's whims. For example, 1 believe the time
stated for review of submissions is still excessive.
Specific objections for 16.1 are:
a) There is nothing wrong with having a review every 10 years, especially as the General Plan may be in
force longer than that period. Therefore the review should take place at least every ] 0 years.
b) A clear definition of the term "substantial change" needs to be included. There should be a clear
understanding between Department and Council on the use of this term.
c) The words "the Council shall adopt" should be changed to "the Council may adopt" to allow the County
Council to hold public hearings on the proposed amendments. This is needed because the proposed change
appears to eliminate any and all requiremenst for public hearings or input. The word "shall" has a specific
legal meaning giving no latitude for alternatives. You may ask corporate counsel whether "may" has the
same binding authority as "shall."
d) The 150 day period should be changed to "within not more than 60 calendar days" in order to make it
consistent with the time frame in 16.2
Suggested changes to 16.2 are:
a) That the Commission shall submit its recommendation to the Council within 60 days.
b) In an issue dropped by the revision, [suggest that a $100.00 filing fee be submitted at the time of
submitting an amendment by the general public, and if the amendment is accepted for processing by the
Director, an additional $400.00 fee shall be submitted to help defray administrative costs of processing the
amendment.
Presently, the County Council is conducting interviews with various Departments and Commissions
regarding appropriations. If the Planning Commission/Department needs more staff to address issues in a
Comm. No. / 81 • /O
Ref. To:r?~e:e.~ CokNCtL
5/1/2007 Ref. DateMAY 2 2D0T
Page 2 of 2
timely fashion and to conduct thorough reviews of submissions, they should ask for it in their budget request.
Please submit to the County Council a revision to the General Plan that reflects timely processing for
submissions and clarifies rather than muddles the process.
Michael Reimer
Kailua-Kona
GeoMikeS@att.net
5/1/2007