The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0598.012 2006-2008 Page 1 of 1 Murashige, Laura From: Jacqui Hoover [jacqui_hlpc@yahoo.com] Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2007 6:48 AM To: Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference; HI County Council Cc: Jarman, Casey; Pilago, K. Angel; Higa, Stacy; Yoshimoto, J; Naeole, Emily; Ikeda, Donald; Yagong, Dominic; Ford, Brenda; Jacobson, Bob; Hoffmann, Pete Subject: HLPC Testimony 070822_Bill 151 Testimony 1st Reading Attachments: 070822_Bill 151 Testimony 1st Reading.doc Aloha, Please find attached testimony re: Bill 151. r-.. Thank you and Best Regards, - Jacgoi L Hoover - ~ ~ ~ c. t~ Jacqui Hoover, President Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference P.O. Box 2159 Kamuela, HI 96743 Phone (808) 885-9588 Fax (808) 885-9590 Cell (808) 960-7503 E-mail jacc~u_~c~ahoo.com Web www.hawaiileewardplaiuiing .org coxrmp~~rrnf.rr~~ rvorfce: 'Phis' c-mail message, including anY attachment(s), is for the sole use of the intendeJ recipient(s) and may contain rnnfidential and/ar privileged infunnatiun. Auy unauthorized review, use, copying, disclosure or duWhutinn is prohibited. If you are nut [he in[endttl recipient, please conbtet the sender immediately by reply e-mail and destroy the original message and a0 copies. Comm: No.~~.~..9~~I 2-~ Ref. To:'h~~ u - ~ 8/21/2007 Ref. Date AKINAKA & ASSOCIATES, LIMITED ALSTON HUNT FLOYD & ING ASHFORD & WRISTON HAWAII LEEWARD PLANNING CONFERENCE BANK OF HAWAII BAYS DEAVER LUNG ROSE BABA P.O. BoX 2/59 KAMUELA, HAWAII 98'!03-2159 BELT COLLINS HAWAII, LIMITED LADES SCHUTTE FLEMING & WRIGHT CASTLE & COOKE WAIKOLOA, LLC CENTEX DESTINATION PROPERTIES CENTRAL PACIFIC BANK 22 August 2007 CLARK REALTY CORPORATION COOPER & COOPER, LLC D.R. HORTON, INC., SCHULER DIVISION In Consideration of DE LUZ ENTERPRISES, INC. FIRST HAWAIIAN BANK Bill 151 FOREST SOLUTIONS, INC. GREEN W ELL FARMS, INC. Proposes to amend Chapter 27, Flood Control, HAWAII LAND COMPANY Hawaii County Code 1983 (2005 edition, as amended), HAWAII PLANING MILL, LIMITED HAWAII ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY Relating to Floodplains and Other Flood Hazard Areas HoKULI'A HOLUALOA COMPANIES HUALALAI RESORT IMANAKA KUDO & FU]IMOTO ]ACOBV DEVELOPMENT, INC. The Honorable Pete Hoffmann, Chair JARDINE INVESTMENT PROPERTIES, LLC The Honorable An el Pila o, Vice-Chair KAHUA RANCH, LIMITED 9 9 KAI HAWAII, INC. and Members of the Hawaii County Council KAMEHAMEHA INVESTMENT CORP. KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS 333 Kilauea Avenue (Ben Franklin Building) KAUPULEHU DEVELOPMENTS Second Floor, Council Room KEALAKEKUA RANCH, LIMITED KEALIA RANCH Hilo, Hawai`I 96720 KEAUHOU KONA CONSTRUCTION CORP. KE KAILANI DEVELOPMENT, LLC KIiCHELL CONTRACTORS KOBAYASHI GROUP, LLC KOHALA RANCH DEVELOPMENT CORP. Aloha Chair Hoffmann, Vice-Chair Pilago and Members of the Hawaii KTA SUPER STORES COUnt COUnCII. LANIHAU PROPERTIES, LLC Y L'ORANGE & ASSOCIATES LYNCH HAWAII DEVELOPMENT, LLC M & E PACIFIC, INC Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference (HLPC) IS an organization MacFARMS OF HAWAII committed to long-term, forward thinking planning; comprised of a MARYL GROUP, INC. MAUNA KEA PROPERTIES, INC. diverse stakeholder group including and not limited to; large and MAUNA LANI SERVICE, INC. kama~aina landowners, ranches, conservation interests, contractors, M[CANDLESS LAND & CATTLE COMPANY McCORRISTON MILLER MUKAI McKiNNON developers, project managers, engineers, architects, financial MENEHUNE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, INC. MOOERS ENTERPRISES, LLC institutions, and COnSUltantS. THE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF HAWAII NORTH KONA VILLAGE, LLC OKAHARA & ASSOCIATES, INC. We would like to state once again that we recognize and appreciate the PA'AHANA ENTERPRISES, LLC PACIFIC RESOURCE PARTNERSHIP commitment that Council members and County staff have given to this pgRKER RANCH matter. We also remain committed to a collaborative effort to ensure PBR HAWAII PONOHOLO RANCH, LIMITED that the ordinance that is ultimately passed by the Council is one that QUEEN EMMA LAND COMPANY a ro riatel and ade uatel addresses the concerns; best articulates THE QUEEN LILI'UOKALANI TRUST pp p y Q y R.M. TOWILL CORPORATION the intent of this ordinance; and ensures compliance with the National RIEHM OWENSBV PLANNERS ARCHITECTS RYAN ASSOCIATES FIOOd Insurance Program. SAM O. HIROTA, INC. SURETY KOHALA CORPORATION TITLE GUARANTY ESCROW SERVICES, INC. To this end, we have participated in the public information meetings TSA CORPORATION that were hosted b the De artment of Public Works to introduce Bill WAIMEA WATER SERVICES, INC. y p WASTE MANAGEMENT OF HAWAII 151 that they and Council member Ford have drafted. We shared WATER RESOURCES INTERNATIONAL, INC. W ES THOMAS ASSOCIATES concerns immediately identified with the principals at both the session WEST HAWAII CONCRETE titled "Addressin Flood Issues - A resentation about the Count 'S WILSON OKAMOTO CORPORATION g p Y WIMBERLY ALLISON TONG & GOO (new) Multi-Agency Approach to Addressing Flooding Issues" given by Jiro Sumada, Deputy Director of Public Works; and "Technical Issues - ,acqui L. Moue. Proposed Ordinance to Amend Chapter 27, the Proposed Changes and President How It May impact You" presented by Bruce McClure, Director for the County Department of Public Works (DPW) and Robert Yanabu, p•o. BOX 2159 KAMUELA, HAWAII 96743 Special Project Engineer. rEU Boa.B8s.9saB . FAX: 808.885.9590 h I pc®hawa i la ntel. net HLPC Testimony 22 August 2007 Re: Bill 151 Specific concerns identified then and subsequently, include and are not limited to: • Chapter 27: Section 27-10 which is not proposed to be amended, currently reads in part that "The degree of flood protection required by this chapter is considered reasonable for regulatory purposes and is based on scientific and engineering considerations." In the session on technical issues, DPW representatives distributed ahand-out which stated the "Goal of this proposed ordinance is to have the Hawaii County Code adopt requirements that exceed the minimum needed to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program." HLPC is fully supportive of adopting additional requirements to ensure compliance with and participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and understand that these additional NFIP requirements were imposed after considerable scientific and engineering review by many participants including and not limited to; Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE), and National Resources & Conservation Services (NRCS). HLPC is also committed to work with the County to identify and adopt additional requirements that exceed NFIP compliance if warranted. However to date, the authors of Bill 151 have offered no scientific and engineering considerations to support the need to "adopt requirements that exceed the minimum needed to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program." Previous efforts to amend Chapter 27 via Bill 51 were challenged by this lack of "scientific and engineering considerations' and the authors of Bill 151 have repeated this flaw which serves to underscore additional concerns noted as follows. • Section 27-5. Applicability. Bill 151 proposes to amend this section by stating that this chapter shall apply to: "All areas within Zone X -shaded (moderate hazard) and Zone X -not shaded (minimal hazard)." Zone X -not shaded affects 98% of the island/County of Hawaii yet no "scientific and engineering considerations" have been introduced to support inclusion of Zone X as an area of special flood hazard. This absence of scientific and engineering considerations begs to question whether this inclusion qualifies to be "considered reasonable for regulatory purposes." • Section 27-18. Standards for construction. Bill 151 proposes to amend this section's heading to Standards for construction in special flood hazard areas. While Zone X -shaded and not shaded are not called out specifically in the amended section in Bill 151; language in Section 27-5 states that Chapter 27 shall apply to "All areas within Zone X...." Page 2 of 4 HLPC Testimony 22 August 2007 Re: Bill 151 Bill 151, Section 27-18 (F) proposes that "Within areas where the grade of the natural elevation of the ground surface prior to construction exceeds ten percent, filling, grading, and other development which may increase flooding or erosion hazards shall be prohibited unless a professional civil engineer licensed in the State of Hawaii certifies that the development will contain its own runoff and not increase flooding or erosion in other areas." Insurance carriers, who provide errors and omissions (E&O) coverage to civil engineers, have stated that they will not offer E&O coverage for the proposed certification. This begs the question as to whether this proposed requirement is "reasonable for regulatory purposes." Bill 151, Section 27-18 (F) also proposes that "Creation of impermeable surfaces on such sloping areas will be limited to no more than forty percent of the total land area of any lot or proposed new subdivision" This requirement begs to question whether the test for rational proportionality has been applied. While to date, Bill 151, Section 27-18 (F) in its entirety has been devoid of any evidence of "scientific and engineering considerations', HLPC has previously recommended and reiterates its recommendation that the proposed language be amended to read "Within areas of special flood hazard where the grade of the natural elevation of the ground and "Creation of impermeable surfaces on such sloping areas will be limited to no more than forty percent of the portion of the total land area within the Special Flood Hazard zone. • Section 27-26. Storm drainage standards. Bill 151, Section 27-26 (b) proposes that "All new subdivisions and developments, except single-family dwellings, duplexes, and ohana dwellings, shall be required to dispose of the difference between the pre-development discharge amount and the post-development discharge amount based on the expected one-hour 25-year storm event." What "scientific and engineering considerations" have been taken into account to exclude single-family dwellings, duplexes, and ohana dwellings? What about triplexes or subdivisions of single-family dwellings? More importantly, what scientific and engineering considerations have been utilized to support the requirement for the one-hour 25-year storm event versus the current one-hour 10-year storm standard? Bill 151, Section 27-26 (b) further proposes that "The 25-year storm event shall be interpolated from plate 1 (10-year) and plate 2 (50-year) from the department of public work's Storm Drainage Standards." What scientific and engineering basis is being used to support that such interpolation accurately identifies a 25-year storm event? Why interpolation versus use of scientifically and engineered supported 25-year storm event standards identified by sources for example, such as, the Soils & Water Conservation Districts? Page 3 of 4 HLPC Testimony 22 August 2007 Re: Bill 151 As previously noted, the aforementioned does not comprise a complete list of concerns noted in our analysis of Bill 151. However, the aforementioned and additional concerns noted by HLPC do serve as the basis for our reiteration that this Council, at this time, pass an ordinance that exclusively addresses the requirements necessary for compliance with and protect Hawaii County's participation in the National Flood Insurance Program. We simultaneously reiterate our commitment to work collaboratively with this Council and administration in on-going efforts to comprehensively review, identify and consider additional requirements to ensure heath and safety to our island's population, and minimize risk to property, from flooding. Thank you for this opportunity to express our views and we look forward to continuing to work with you on this matter. Respectfully submitted, Jacqui L. Hoover President Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference Page 4 of 4