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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0756.001 2008-2010February 4, 2010 Ms. Bobby Jean Leithead Todd Planning Director Planning Department, County of Hawaii 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 • Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Re: Response to some of neighbors' letters Change of zone application TMK: 3 -2 -4 -28:09 364 Hualalai Street. Hilo Dear Madam, I received today from Ms. Maija Cottle copies of 10 letters written by the neighbors. While all the letters were dated prior to the subject change of zone application dated November 18, 2009 and my letter to the owners within 300 feet dated January 21, 2010, most of the letters were made reference only to Mr. Boschettt's 100 - unit 4 -story residential project. I believe I had addressed all the concerns that might be related to my proposed project in my letter to the owners within 300 -feet radius and my subsequent letters to Mr. Henderson and Mr. Mandonca dated February 1, 2010. I wish to take this opportunity to amend a statement that I made in my letters to the owners within 300 -feet dated January 21, -2010 regarding the estimated number of bedrooms. It was brought to my attention today by Ms. Cottle that Ohana units are only allowed in lots 10,000SF or larger in RS -7.5 zoned properties. I was not aware of this condition and I apologize for my miscalculations. However, my calculation is really hypothetical and conjectural in nature with the intent to show that the difference in the number of additional bedrooms under RM -2.5 compare to that under RS -7.5 is insignificant in terms of increase in traffic and noise. For example, I assumed the main house and the Ohana unit contains 3 bedrooms each. An argument could be made that most likely the main house and the Ohana unit can easily accommodate 4 bedrooms each in a larger lot, i.e. 10,000SF versus 7,500SF, Therefore, just for demonstration purpose, the property in theory can subdivide into ten 10,000SF lots, and the number of bedrooms count based on various scenarios are shown as follows: 1. Main house- 3 bedrooms plus Ohana unit- 3 bedrooms equals 84 bedrooms 2. Main house- 4 bedrooms plus Ohana unit- 3 bedrooms equal 98 bedrooms 3. Main house -4 bedrooms plus Ohana unit -4 bedrooms equal 113 bedrooms The proposed project will contain about 118 bedrooms. It is fair to say, and the County's traffic analysis supports my view, that the increase in traffic and noise is negligible. Thank you for your attention Sincerely, VINO T T.C.TAI, AIA VINCENT T.C. Tai, AIA, Architect Architecture Planning Interior A n 2184 Round Top Drive Honolulu. HI 96822 808 -941 3778 Tel 808 -941 3778 Fax Email TaiArchitecture @ gmail corn Coma No. 1 Slog I Ref. To: 1 PC- Ref. Date APR 0 6 2010 �r February 1, 2010 To: Ritchie Henderson do 16 Hale Nani Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Dear Mr. Henderson, VINCENT T.C. Tai, AIA, Architect 3819 Sierra Drive Architecture Honolulu HI 96816 Planning 808 -941 3778 Tel Interior 253 -830 8892 Fax Email TaiArchitecture @gmail com A n Re: Your letter of October 29, 2009 Request change of Zone from RS -7.5 to RM -2 5 (Application no REZ 09- 000101) 364 Hualalai Street, Hilo, HI 96720: TMK: 3 -2 -4 -28:09 f refer to your letter to the Planning Department dated October 29, 2009. Although your letter was in response to my previous application which was very different in scope from the current one and had been withdrawn, I believe I addressed most of your concerns in my letter to the owners within 300 -feet radius dated January 21, 2010. An extra copy of my letter is enclosed for your reference. First of all, I appreciate and understand your concerns. I certainly hope that my letter of January 21 and my explanation below will help you to gain a better understanding of my proposed project's intent and impacts on the City of Hilo and the surrounding neighborhoods. I understand that the County officially on record designated this area in the 1960s and 1970s as 'urban' and 'medium density residential'. It has been in the works for over 40 years for the County to allow and encourage residential developments that supports its goals in providing a variety of housing types in downtown locations where residents are close to work places and shopping. While 'medium density' is defined as up to 35 units per acre of land area, my proposal of up to 62 units is far less, only less than 19 units per acre. I had pointed out that the impacts in noise and traffic are minute when compared to the development allowed under the current RS -7.5 zoning classification. Based on the Institute of Transportation Engineer's Trip Generation handbook, the County surmised that the increase in traffic for this area is negligible. As for your concern regarding flooding from surface runoff, I did explain that there will be no off -site runoff as storm water management will be handled on -site by a series of dry wells or combined with the use of porous paving materials for the parking and landscaped areas that allow rainwater to percolate through the pavement's surface back to the ground. By the way, you indicated that surface runoff from Hale Nani Place flows towards the subject property If this is the case, you should notify the County to correct this condition because it is illegal to dispose storm water or surface runoff to adjacent private properties. I have been in this business for over 40 years and I had seen changes in the built environment that turned out to be good as well as bad. I consider this change of zoning is good in light of our recent challenges that deal with climate changes, green house gas emission, carbon dioxide from passenger vehicles, dependent on foreign oil, etc. These issues were little known or ignored until they were brought to the attention of the public in recent years by concerned politicians, scientists, and common people like you are me. I recognize it is human nature to resist change. For example, Americans were used to driving big gas guzzling cars with comfortable seats that rival their living room sofas. I remember premium gas sold for less than 29 cents per gallon in the early 60s. Americans resisted April 5, 2010 Page 2 change to smaller and gas- efficient cars for decades until in recent years. Our living environment is also undergoing changes that discourage urban sprawl and the use of automobile, and encourage infill developments within urban centers, zoning changes that allow new housing developments closer to where people work and shop, use of alternative renewable power generating sources, etc. We, as citizens of Hilo and the world, have the responsibility and vision to build a more sdstainable community and to recognize these positive changes make it a more attractive and safer place to live and work, make urban transit more efficient and economical, and will enhance, not diminish, our lifestyles; unlike that of a suburb that is only a collection of houses connected to the outside by automobiles. I look forward to meeting with you in person on February 5. Sincerely, VINCENT T.C.TAI, AIA cc: Planning Department, County of Hawaii Vincent T.C. Tai, AIA, Architect Architecture Planning Interior "1. February 1, 2010 To: Clarence Mandonca 58 Hale Nani Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Re: Your letter of October 25, 2009 Request change of Zone from RS -7.5 to RM -2.5 (Application no. REZ 09- 000101) 364 Hualalai Street, Hilo, HI 96720: TMK: 3 -2 -4 -28:09 Dear Mr Mandonca, I refer to your letter to the Planning Department dated October 25, 2009. Although your letter was in response to my previous application which was very different in scope from the current one and had been withdrawn, I believe I addressed most of your concerns in my letter to the owners within 300 -feet radius dated January 21, 2010. An extra copy of my letter is enclosed for your reference. First of all, I appreciate and understand your concerns. I certainly hope that my letter of January 21 and my explanation below will help you to gain a better understanding of my proposed project's intent and impacts on the City of Hilo and the surrounding neighborhoods. I understand that the County officially on record designated this area in the 1960s and 1970s as 'urban' and 'medium density residential'. It has been in the works for over 40 years for the County to allow and encourage residential developments that supports its goals in providing a variety of housing types in downtown locations where residents are close to work places and shopping. While 'medium density' is defined as up to 35 units per acre of land area, my proposal of up to 62 units is far less, only less than 19 units per acre. I had pointed out that the impacts in noise and traffic are minute when compared to the development allowed under the current RS -7.5 zoning classification. Based on the Institute of Transportation Engineer's Trip Generation handbook, the County surmised that the increase in traffic for this area is negligible. As for your concern regarding flooding from surface runoff, I did explain that there will be no off -site runoff as storm water management will be handled on -site by a series of dry wells or combined with the use of porous paving materials for the parking and landscaped areas that allow rainwater to percolate through the pavement's surface back to the ground. My proposal to develop 47 new townhouses will actually increase and not decrease the values of neighboring single family homes. Perhaps the zoning that allows and implies 'multi - family' comes with a negative connotation that associates with dense apartment blocks or high rise buildings. According to the Urban Land Institute, studies have shown that a change come about with regard to a reasonable diversity of housing types within a neighborhood helps materially in stabilizing and enhancing housing values and in preventing decline by allowing the individual family to adjust its housing requirement to its size, age group, and income status. For some reasons, modern townhouses are rare in Hilo. In reality, they are no different from row houses, or attached single family homes, that exist in many American cities such as San Francisco and New York; some lots measure no bigger than 25' wide by 100' or 2,500SF as allowed under RM -2.5. Townhouse is actually an attached single family home in many ways very similar to a detached single family home, such as it is VINCENT T.C. Tai, AIA, Architect 3819 Sierra Drive Architecture Honolulu. HI 96816 Planning 808 -941 3778 Tel Interior 253 -830 8892 Fax Email TaiArchitecture @gmail corn • April 5, 2010 Page 2 owned fee simple, has its own private enclosed backyard and parking stalls, and shared common areas and facilities like those in gated communities. The townhouse is a good compromise between a detached single family home and a condominium unit in a multi -story building. From my personal experience, I find townhouses are ideal for young working couples who have no time to care for a back and front yard and for retired, or older empty nester folks who want to move back to the city center where the actions are and to a smaller house but find a condominium too restrictive as they are active enough work on a smaller garden plot in their own private backyard. The market value of the newly constructed townhouses will be governed by the present construction and land costs which are substantially higher than the existing older detached single family homes that were built decades ago. Therefore, the value of these new townhouses will establish a higher base value for comparable detached single family homes on larger lots in the vicinity. I have been in this business for over 40 years and I had seen changes in the built environment that turned out to be good as well as bad. I consider this change of zoning is good in light of our recent challenges that deal with climate changes, green house gas emission, carbon dioxide from passenger vehicles, dependence on foreign oil, etc. These issues were little known or ignored until they were brought to the attention of the public in recent years by concerned politicians, scientists, and common people like you are me. I recognize it is human nature to resist change. For example, Americans were used to driving big gas guzzling cars with comfortable seats that rival their living room sofas. I remember premium gas sold for less than 29 cents per gallon in the early 60s. Americans resisted change to smaller and gas- efficient cars for decades until in recent years. Our living environment is also undergoing changes that discourage urban sprawl and the use of automobile, and encourage infill developments within urban centers, zoning changes that allow new housing developments closer to where people work and shop, use of alternative renewable power generating sources, etc. We, as citizens of Hilo and the world, have the responsibility and vision to build a more sustainable community and to recognize these positive changes make it a more attractive and safer place to live and work, make urban transit more efficient and economical, and will enhance, not diminish, our lifestyles; unlike that of a suburb that is only a collection of houses connected to the outside by automobiles. I look forward to meeting with you in person on February 5. Sincerely, VINCENT T.C.TAI, AIA cc: Planning Department, County of Hawaii Vincent T.C. Tai, AIA, Architect Architecture Planning Interior 364 HUALALAI STREET, HILO, HAWAII, TMK: 3 -24-28:09 REVISED : 12 -03 -2009 300 -FEET RADIUS PROPERTY OWBERS 24055002000 TORKELSON,SAM W 24055003000 GAZMEN,VERONICA C QUINN,ELIZABETH G, CABUS,KATHY A 24055004000 KISHII,LEATRICE E TR 24055005000 TOMAS,FREDERICO TOMAS,MARIA M A 24055006000 TOMA, ROY T TOMA,ANN 24055007000 CHINEN,KIMIKO MARY TRST 24055006000 MENDONCA,CLARENCE C TRUST MENDONCA,PATRICIA A TRUST 24055009000 DO UGHERTY,SRAVAN DOUGHERTY,BERT EDWIN DOUGHERTY,KIRTAN 24055010000 BELLAVER,JOHN T 24055011000 WKD TR 24055016000 KO,WEN RUEY 101 AUPUNI ST #808 HILO HI 96720 38 HALE NANI STREET HILO HI 96720 44 HALE NANI ST 30 HALE NANI ST HILO HI 96720 1 KEAA ST. 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