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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0220.012 2008-2010 P.1 CD M M. 2- 07 BELL 6-4 P/pG To: The Honorable Donald Ikeda, Chairman [n09 APR 15 F 2 23 and Members of the County Council Fax: 961-8912 Date: April 16, 2009 Re: Committee Meeting Information for April 21, 2009,1:30 pm an Sheraton Please distribute. Change of Zone Application (REZ 08-000089) Application: William & Dixie Minson Request: ML-la to MCX-1a Tax Map Key: 7-3-51-65 Aloha Donald Ikeda & Members of the County Council, I am faxing 8 pages (including this cover page) of our response to the Committee Meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday, April 7, 2009 and postponed until Tuesday, April 21, 2009. If you do not receive all 8 pages please contact us C 987- 9719 so we can re-fax. Could you please distribute the following information to each of the Council Members in preparation of the Committee Meeting scheduled in Kona next Tuesday, April 21"? I will also fax this to the County Council branch in Kona so Brenda Ford and Kelly Greenwell will have a copy. If you do not receive all 8 pages please contact us so I can re-fax. If anyone has questions or comments, we may be reached at 987-9719. See you Tuesday. Mahalo, William & Dixie Minson, owners Aloha Plaza Comm. No. Ref. To: Ref. Da to A R 21 2009 p.2 William and Dixie Mmson Aloha Plaza 73-5613 Olowaiu Street, Suite A Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 April 16, 2009 The Honorable Donald Ikeda, Chairman and Members of the County Council County of Hawaii 333 Kilauea Avenue, 2ad Floor Hilo, HI 96740 Change of Zone Application (REZ 08-000089) Application: William and Dixie Minson Request: W-latoMCX-la Tax Map Key: 7-3-5165 Dear Chairman Ikeda and Council Members, This is our response to the Committee Meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday, April 7, 2009 and postponed until Tuesday, April 21, 2009. We would like to respond to County Council's Brenda Ford's comment to reinstate Condition H of the County of Hawaii Planning Department's Recommendation dated 02/04/09. 1. We are opposed to reinstating Condition H concerning the dedication of any our property along the Kamanu Street frontage for the following reasons. a Please see the letter (Exhibit A dated February 4, 2009 which states: With regards to the dedication of property, we have never been approached with the idea that there would ever be a need to dedicate any portion of our property to the County. We were confident purchasing the property knowing that TSA's new development of Kaloko Business Park would include and meet all the requirements (including infrastructure) necessary for the future growth of the area. In addition, prior to purchasing our lot, the Keahole to Kailua Development Plan had been adopted and revised. This plan identified schematic roadway corridors necessary to accommodate future traffic volumes upon full build-out of the study area. Just recently construction was completed and it appears that TSA developers have provided a 20 foot setback on Kamanu Street directly in front of our property. This would give the Kamanu Street portion fronting our property an approximately 80 foot wide roadway. Dedicating 10 foot of our property would be not only be a project killer, but would be counterproductive for any attempt to become MCX. 1 p.3 It appears that Kamanu Street with its 80-foot wide roadway would satisfy the recommended width in the Keahole to Kailua Development Plan (K to K Plan). When we met with the Planning Commission on February 19, 2009 they did not agree that the I Moot wide future road widening setback was necessary and, therefore, deleted this condition from its recommendation. b. Reducing the size of our property jeopardizes the appeal for future tenants which would result in financial hardships for us. c. The loss of property results in a loss of our investment. For example, if you have a nice, shiny, new apple you would get a much better price for it than one with a bite out of it. d. Landscaping, available off-street parking, and maximum rentable building have to all come together to make our project successful. 2. We are opposed to Condition G of Bill No. 54 concerning the upper Olowalu Street mauka driveway for the following reasons. a. Please see the letter (Exhibit A) which states: Regarding the driveway, the 2 driveways servicing the upper and lower entrances and exits off of Olowalu Street have been built, approved, and used for several years. All plans to date have been approved by the County of Hawaii and the Olowalu Street mauka driveway approach did conform with Hawaii County codes. With approximately 1/3 of the property built and occupied, it is not feasible for a design change- The Olowalu Street mauka driveway is needed to conveniently gain access to the upper level businesses. In addition, it is needed as an exit for container traffic and as an entrance and/or exit for emergency vehicles (if needed). Therefore, we are respectfully requesting that the conditions suggested for the Olowalu Street mauka driveway approach be remove& b. The Planning Department also advises against this recommendation because Chapter 22, Hawaii County Code was revised after the applicants constructed the driveway, so although the driveway is non-conforming now, at the time it was constructed it met the requirements of Chapter 22, Hawaii County Code. This driveway serves as the primary access to the development and therefore it would be unreasonably expensive to require the applicant to close off the driveway and re-design a different primary access for the development. c. Olowalu Street driveways, fencing, and sight distances were part of Phase 1. Phase I has been completed, accepted, and occupied prior to the Revision of Chapter 22, Hawaii County Code and respectfully should not be required to be altered, changed, or amended. 2 p.4 3. With regards to our responses to the other conditions stated in Bill No. 54, these were addressed in our April 2, 2009 letter which we have included as Exhibit B for your information and convenience. In summary, we originally decided to apply for rezoning based on the Planning Department's recommendation that by rezoning to MCX, we could allow tenancy mixing of some industrial uses with commercial uses. Rezoning would also help deal with the confusion between Commercial and Industrial zones. Chris Yuen, former Planning Director in Hilo stated in a re-zoning hearing transcript dated June 5, 2007 that "In most Zoning Codes you have a line between Commercial and Industrial. And the line typically is that you can't do retail sales in an Industrial zone, or at least you're not supposed to. And you can't do warehousing and other kinds of Light Industrial things, like some kinds of manufacturing in a Commercial zone. So in practice the line gets pretty blurred. If you go through an area that's zoned Industrial like the Kanoelehua Industrial area or the Kona Industrial area, you may find a lot of businesses that are possibly crossing the line into Commercial. But then the County enacted this MCX zoning which let's you do pretty much of both in MCX. So in a way it's the broadest of the zoning categories, of the business type zoning categories." In conclusion, we do not feel that the upgrade from ML to MCX warrants dedicating any property or changing our Otowalu Street driveways and sight distances (including fencing and landscaping) which were part of our already completed, accepted and occupied Phase I construction. We would like to thank you for your time and consideration in re-zoning our property MCX. If you have any questions or comments please contact us at 987-9719 at your earliest convenience. S y, William and Dixie Minson, owners Aloha Plaza 3 P.5 William and Dixie Minson Aloha Plaza 73-5613 Olowalu Street, Suite A Kailua-Kona, Hl 96740 February 4, 2009 County of Hawaii Planning Department 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 Hilo, Hl 96720 Dear Datyn S. Arai: Change of Zone Application (REZ 08-000089) Applicant: William and Dixie Minson Request: ML-latoMCX-la Tax Map Key: 7-3-51:65 Enclosed is our response to the comments received from the Department of Public Works regarding our change of zone application. We oppose the conditions concerning the upper Olowalu Street mauka driveway and the dedication of property suggested by the Department of Public Works. Regarding the driveway, the 2 driveways servicing the upper and lower entrances and exits off of Olowalu Street have been built, approved, and used for several years. All. plans to date have been approved by the County of Hawaii and the Olowalu Street mauka driveway approach did conform with Hawaii County codes. With approximately 113 of the property built and occupied, it is not feasible for a design change. The Olowalu Street mauka driveway is needed to conveniently gain access to the upper level businesses. In addition, it is needed as an exit for container traffic and as an entrance andior exit for emergency vehicles (if needed). Therefore, we are respectfully requesting that the conditions suggested for the Olowalu Street mauka driveway approach be removed. With regards to the dedication of property, we have never been approached with the idea that there would ever be a need to dedicate any portion of our property to the County. We were confident purchasing the property knowing that TSA's new development of Kaloko Business Park would include and meet all the requirements (including infrastructure) necessary for the future growth of the area. In addition, prior to purchasing our lot, the Keahole to Kailua Development Plan had been adopted and revised. This plan identified schematic roadway corridors necessary to accommodate future traffic volumes upon full build-out of the study area. EXHIBIT A p.6 Just recently construction was completed and it appears that TSA developers have provided a 20 foot setback on Kaman Street directly in front of our property. This would give the Kamarm Street portion fronting our property an approximately 80 foot wide roadway. Dedicating 10 foot of our property would be not only be a project killer, but would be counterproductive for any attempt to become MCX. As property owners, not developers we have designed and built a structure with aesthetic value in a highly favorable location with surrounding MCX zoned properties mauka and makai in hopes of rezoning for MCX occupancy. The only missing element is a rezoning to MCX... Thanks for your consideration in helping to make this happen. If you have any questions, please contact William Minson at 987-9719. Sincerely, William. and Dixie Minson, owners Aloha Plaza p.7 William and Dixie Minson Aloha Plaza 73-5613 Olowalu Street, Suite A Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 April 2, 2009 Ms. Bobby Jean Leithead Todd Planning Director County of Hawaii Planning Department 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 Hilo, HI 96720 Phone: 961-8288 Fax: 961-8742 Change of Zone Application (REZ 08-000089) Applicant: William and Dixie Minson Request: ML-la to MCX-Ia Tax Map Key: 7-3-51:65 Dear Ms. Bobby Jean Leithead Todd, We just returned from the Hawaii County Council office, Kona branch. They suggested that we contact you prior to our Tuesday, April 7'" meeting regarding conditions from the Planning Commission's letter dated March 9, 2009 which appears to be your Bill No. 54. Please review our response to the conditions. Please note that Phase I of our project has been completed and occupied and that Phase 11 and III are currently permitted and under construction. Phase I, II, and III will accommodate an MC.(-la occupancy. Condition D: Phase I is completed and occupied. Phase II and III are permitted and under construction. The permitted plans will be forwarded "as is" to the Planning Director for Final Plan Approval as an MCX-la occupancy. We want to continue construction on the project while the application for re-zoning is being processed. Condition G: Olowalu Street driveways and sight distances were part of Phase I. Phase I has been completed, accepted, and occupied prior to the Revision of Chapter 22 Hawaii'I County Code and respectfully should not be required to be altered, changed, or amended. Condition H: The only new driveway connection to the property is from Kamanu Street permitted with Phase ]I as a "right-in I right-out only" mainly due to the recently installed median curb on Kamanu Street. We will honor the sight distance condition from DPW of five foot sight distance setback from County property within three to eight feet from the Kamanu driveway north to Hina Lani Street. EXHIBIT B p.8 Condition I: Grading and drainage has already been accepted for Phase I and permitted for Phase it and III. Condition J: After discussing with Paul Okuda at Freshwater COK our project does not require an Underground Injection Control (UIC) permit. If we can be of further assistance, please contact us at 987-9719 as soon as possible. Sincerely yours, RIiam and Dixie Minson, owners Aloha Plaza