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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0518.000 1988-1992Comm. No. File Ref. To: Ref. Date MAY 15 1989 V May 10, 1989 Alys Wall Mauna Loa Dive Shop 97 Haili Street Hilo, HI. 96720 Dear Ms. Wall, COUNTY CLERK COUNTY 0pHAWAII ECEIVED CrA Y-14. M -to '5/15/141a9 I take this opportunity to address your concerns regarding the Traffic Reversal Proposal as outlined in your May 2nd letter directed to the Hawaii County Council -40 ��%n » � 'o May I begin by stating that this letter is quite disturbing to me as I personally visited (with a confirmed appointment) your place of business on March 31, 1989, to discuss this issue with you and your husband. You were not present at the meeting. I expressed the DIA Board position and explained clearly that anyone at anytime is free to come to the Main Street Office to inspect any records that we have. I also offered to explain the issue to you personally at some later, date, when it was convenient for you. To date, I never received a follow up call from you or your husband. Regarding your concerns that you claim the DIA is unable to answer, let the following serve as your reply: First of all being a new merchant to the Downtown area (approximately one year), you may not be aware of the fact that we have been pursuing this traffic proposal for the last two years! It is ironic that you would ask the Council to not not "too hastily", while we feel a decision is Igng overdue. If every issue before the Council took this long, nothing would be accomplished... 1. Currently more traffic travels down Kinoole Street than Kilauea Avenue for the simple reason that a vehicle can penetrate into town through Kinoole as opposed to Kilauea. Note, however' that a traffic count study implemented in May of 1988 produced some interesting statistics. See Exhibits 1 and 2. ' Also, see attached Exhibit 3 dated August 197A, which shows than "that Keawe/Nilauea Street is used as the central spine for distribution of Downtown Traffic." This clearly showy that this is the path consumers preferred. Downtown shoppers will not be confused by the change at Kinoole Street, as it is visually obvious that turning right will lead to the Downtown area as opposed to turning left toward the residential area. Hilo Main Street Program ,AAjecto/deDowntown Improvement Association 252RamehamehaAvenue * Hilo, HavmiiQ6720wTelephone (808) 935-8850 2 This is a muot question' as they this as of towo no ma".tyr wIhich dirscti.nn they enter town fruni. Besides that, if Unu invj.sti,ate further. you will. real:i.ze ttjat many strategies are being worksd on to develop that of the Dowotown area. So what you Be. noo will. not last long, 3. Yesrhe reversal of Keawe Street will extend ooe way through the 00,111aku DrjLdga 1/11-13 the Wainaku area |lcmember. at one time all streets in the arpa were two way If the [irc trucko could maneuver th,ouOh town then. 7'm cnnfidpnt (having one way Patterns> thpy wi1l be ahle tn countinue the ]evel of service ve hays come to expect rim mal�er which ane way street they travel on. We koow ror su,e the response time to Ili lo High c5chool will be inc,eased, but uo(AeI'S tand that Kaomana [ ire Statiun is the "first l" to that area, 221 Central Fire Station. At this time, we da not know the effeot of the ,esponse time to the Wainaku area, becausu there have not been any test runs to eoter the Wainaku District from Keawe 5treet. qThe rosults are not unlq available, and enclosed for Vou, review, but have appeared io our newsletters that are mailed to over 800 people, including all businesses ill the Downtown area Ofter ynur, initial inquiry, I made a persnnal visit to shnw 9nv the resolts o[ the survejs, but ynor were oot there. Enrlused are the twu surveys in question. 5� The Duwntowo ImProvemyot /\ssociatiuo has sorveyed the merchants in various ways. 1We had diycussiuns at several meetiogs in 198/. whereby the County Traffic Department did se,veral presentatiuns at DIA Board Meptinys .1 "1 the public Wail; encou/-aged (ao a]Way s> T. 13 attend oil yivc input. 2. We also had a public i.nformation hearing at the County Building ii November of I987 which was all noupced thrnuOh the Downtown Newslettcr and the Haoaii T,ibune Herald. The proposed plan intends to leave the Kilauea exteosino between Hai li and Mama Street the way it is. In your case. I feel it will benefit your business in that not Billy will the Puna residents be able to reach yvu throuHtr gh aili �eet, but the Piiknnua/Wainaku District will be able to drive dow/' Kinnole, right on Haili and a right on to Kilauea Street to enter Uoorpar�inq lut I fiod it interesting tha4 you wnuld comment - ". . .it seems that the Downtown Association should act as a mediator between thp busioessos and the Counto Cuvernments about there sn,t nf specifics." ~ and then circumvent that very procesa that hap existed fur past 26 years by writing diryctl4 to the Couoty Council rather than contact os as folluw up to my first meeting with only qour husband in attendenre. Last bui. not least� please �/o|yr��a/�d that thn purpose of the DIA is `o �uJild consensus among merchants a/x] fo/-qe ahead with speciric and fuq�.i on issues thal. af[ect the Downtown area. No organization can satis[y thy wishes nf all paop]e conccIlnpd. l wm�ld suggest your busi/es% makc a conce/-ted e[fort to wnrk with fyllov merchants Whrouyh the existing orgaoizatiun chaonels r.o gain a i/yttnr u/x]erstandi//g o; nu/, comprehcosive yuals and objertives. I look [oroa,d tn meyting with ynur to develnp a better understandiog o[ the sAtuatiuo on May 11th at 11W0am at the Main Street Of[ice. ercly� �Wl/- Kirk W 5nares ||i].o Main Director cc� Hawaii CnuootU Cnuncil Uembcrs Tony TaniDuchi, DIA President Leon Druno, Econo. Committee RichaVd C|`ief c. p5.,0. oD Q I z S Q E Y✓ a- �, 2 55 u Kt� 91 Fo�Mf jE2Y. 574 r K1�auEA _� EXHIBIT 1 OSE -WAS V5 70D qCj '.1 r 5 � � X03 t53': 157 c� 701.E L A?,OsIAC c-rA.FFIIC /56S C 5 3o r I<JNa. L E EXHIBIT 2 EX/'� - 7,�*/tic �•• ��r �v�• s/z�/8a TENN/J" Couig�T JL 1r• ©Nf:--wA)r s� 1 it, law CoLN PAGI� t vs n t T 33t � X66 1 ` TO7eC, AP/ao�iH Te�fF/L /76% ' 1 EXHIBIT 3 HILO DOWNTOWN DEVELG_:(ENT PLAN by Belt, Collins . Associates for the County of Hawaii - August 30, 1974 NUMBERS INDICATE AVERAGE DAILY TRAFFIC COUNT. traffic flows wi-fhin the downtown are nol shown because of the lack of comprehen- sive counts In the area. However, the few counts which are available indicate that traffic entering on Kilauea Is reduced to approximately half of its volume by the time It reaches Walanuenue (via Keawe Street). Kamehameha, Walanuenue, Kinoole, and Ponahawal do not appear to follow this same drop-off rate, which would Indicate that they are used more as bypass routes and that Kilauea/Keawe Is used 1 r as the central spine for distribution of down - I town traffic. F C O NO M 1C IIOWNT"WN NEWSLNTTER - Volume 3 'Ssue 9 - November 1987 ItF'STRUC LURING HRA UPDATE '''*r most people, "Economic Restructuring" ie Lhe least clearly understood point of the four -point "Main Street" Approach. This is probably due to the speed at which actions $ring results. Typically, Economic Restruc- turing takes a long time. }conomic Restructuring, in Main Street terms, is simply the rearrangement of the downtown economy to better address consumer needs and business realities. Is Economic Restructuring exclusive to Main Street towns? No. Economic Restructuring actually occurs in any downtown over time, regardless of whether a revitalization program, like Main Street, is active. The key distinction, however, is that an active revitalization program increases the likelihood that Economic Restructuring will. be a positive trend rather than a nega- tive trend. The process of Economic Restructuring is a lot like gardening: the soil must be prepared first, before seeds are planted and new grow- th occurs. In Main Street terms, the "soil" of downtown is prepared by attending toissues of organization, Promotion, and Design first. Once these areas are stabilzed, Economic Restructuring (seed planting and new growth) can occur. Some would argue that pure economic growth alone will solve a downtown's problems of poor appearance, ineffective marketing, and disjointed leadership. (This line of reason- ing is especially handy when rationalizing an attitude of complacency). While it is true that new wealth gives a community a greater ability to improve downtown, those new resources can just as easily go elsewhere, and often do. As the Main Street Approach has demonstrated in hundreds of cities, positive growth and change (Economic Restructuring) is more typ- ically a result of improved leadership, bet- ter marketing, and improved appearance in downtown. Downtown has to prove it has the capacity to take care of what is has already, before it can expect to be blessed with more. Reprinted from Walla Walla, Wa. Newsletter Written IT, Dwight Van Vleet, Main Street Program Manager The Hawaii Redevelopment Agency has submitt- ed two proposals to be heard by the Planning Commission November 17, 1987 at 2:00 PM in the County Council room. The first is the Downtown Nilo Commercial District (CDR) zoning ordinance. The proposed ordinance will combine the four downtown zones into one district ranging from retail and office to multi -family residential. It will encourage mixed use development and simplify zoning in the downtown area. The second proposal is to delete the future widening of Keawe Street/Kilauea Avenue be- tween Wailuku Drive and Ponahawai Street from 60 to 80 feet as shown on the City of Hilo Zone Map. This change would eliminate setback requirements along downtown's main corridor and preserve the historic street - scope by allowing construction up to the sidewalk. Notification of the Planning Commission hearing on the proposed amendments was mail- ed to the affected property owners Nov. 2. If you are interested in commenting on a pro- posal to reconvert the one way traffic pat- tern of Keawe and Kinoole Streets, please be sure to attend a public hearing on November 24th at 7:OOp.m, held at the County Council room in the County Building on 25 Aupuni St. The proposal is to change the traffic direc- tion so vehicles may enter Downtown through Keawe Street as originally proposed by Belt Collins and Aasociates in 1975• PROPOSE) TRAFFIC PAl'I1ZRN VOLUME 3 ISSUE 8 OCCOBER 1987 NEWSLETTER A PUBLICATION OF THE DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION ALOHA WEEK ENDS W STYLE Aloha Week Festivities wrapped up in style Friday night, Sept. 25, with a Ho'olaulea Celebration in Koehnen's Alley. Nearly one hundred people enjoyed the great Hawaiian music of "Bruddah Smitty" and "Bruddah Charley" as the crowd also enjoyed pupus including BBQ meat sticks, kalua pig, and pipikaula. This was also the night the winners of the architectual features contest were chosen, as fifty five people won prizes donated from the Downtown merchants. The grand prize, a round trip on Aloha Airlines - offical carrier of the Statewide Main Street Program, was won by Mr. Moban Mie&ler of Hilo. The celebration continued with Hawaiian dances preformed by the Hula Halau 0 Puna. At one point everyone got into the act as volunteers were asked to join the girls in the famous Tahitian dance. It was great to see Randy Rohner of Koehnen's (and DIA/Mainstreet Vice President) out among the crowd doing the Tahitian dance like a pro. Now that's participation!' The night rounded out with the crowd dancing in the alley to music provided by "Island Sessions". 552 entries of the architectual feature con- test were filled out and there were 487 cor- rect entries. Many people who had not fre- quented the Downtown area in a while said they thoroughly enjoyed the contest. One woman told us she was so determined to find the correct answers she "had to spend five dollars worth of gas I". Another woman brought the answers in a few days late, insisting we look them over because she and her husband had had a $10 bet on the line! (She won). All in all, it was a well done promotion that continued to build on a good image for Down- town Hilo as well as a fun activity to attract more consumers to the area.. Congratulations go out to the Downtown Aloha Week Committee consisting of; Randy Rohner of Koehnen's, David Reed of Old Town Printers, Nancy Day-Lum of Day-Lum Inc. Property Man- agement, and Peggy Konanui of Tokunaga Store. A special thanks also goes out to Woody for her fine flower decorations, and to Sandy for helping run the food booth. We couldn't have done it without you (again). Survey Results - Coors Classic Do you like Downtown Hilo? Yes 98% Have you noticed any changes? Yea 92% Is there enough parking? Yee 58% Do you like the merchandise selection? Yes 83% ,;,,Would you also like to enter :- town thru Keawe St.? Yes 85% Do you enjoy the shopping environment? Yee 93% Do you work near Downtown? Yee 6016 What do you buy Downtown? 01fts,plant&, tourist things, clothes, food, books, fabric, arta & craft&, everything. VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4 APRIL 1988 A PUBLICATION OF THE DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION 1988 Merry Monarch Survey Moku 0 Keawe Fair April 1988 Pboto b, I . Ra.d The 25th annual Merrie Monarch Festival Parade and Mol',u 'D Keawe Fair was a great success to all who attended to see the colorful floats and the marry arts & crafts at the fair in Mo'oheau Park. Although the DIA did not enter a float in the parade, we did participate in the Moku '0 Keawe Fair in one of the booths by giving away 72 merchant gift certificates through our "Wheel Of Fortune" contest. Two grand prize winners won free inter - island trips courtesy of Aloha Airlines, official carrier of the Statewide Main Street Program. This was the first promotion in a while that united the promotion to the retail merchant by way of the gift certificates. According to some merchants, people were redeeming the gift certificates on the same Saturday that we were handing them Pboto by D.K. Reed Yes No Do you like Downtown Hilo? 204 2 Have you noticed any changes? 187 18 Is there enough parking? 116 91 Do you come Downtown often? 161 44 Do you shop Downtown:- 184 19 How long do you stay in town? 1-2 hr=_. Would you like Keawe St. to enter Downtown? 147 37 Have you heard of the Hilo Main Street Program? 134 71 Pboto by D.K. Reed