REP PC 027 2019/07/23 2018-2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PLANNING DATE: July 23, 2019 Re: Comm. No. 352/Bill No. 87 PLACE: Council Chambers Kailua-Kona, Hawaii TIME: 1:02 p.m. Council Chair and Members Hawaii County Council Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Your Committee on Planning, to which was referred Bill No. 87, reports as follows: Bill No. 87, transmitted by Mayor Harry Kim via Communication No. 352, dated July 2, 2019, a Planning Director Initiated Amendment of the Kona Community Development Plan(CDP). The Leeward Planning Commission, at its duly noticed meeting on June 20, 2019, forwarded to Your Committee a favorable recommendation of the amendments to the Kona CDP. As noted in the Planning Department's Background and Recommendation report, Article 3 and 6 of Hawaii County Charter, Section 15.1 of the General Plan, and Ordinance No. 08-131,the Planning Director is the initiator of amendments to the Kona CDP. The purpose of the Kona CDP Amendment Package was to align language within the document so that it would not conflict with the Hawaii County Code and Administrative Rules, eliminate commitments for projects where there was no capacity for follow through, and remove mandated policies and actions beyond its scope and authority. As a result of the Missler Case (No. CAAP-13-0002347), which found that the Kona CDP has the force of law as an ordinance,the Amendment Package was developed to aid the Kona CDP's successful implementation and protect the County from possible legal action due to the binding language around mandatory obligations. Appearing before Your Committee from the Planning Department was Director Michael Yee and Planner Kamuela Plunkett. Mr. Plunkett gave a brief presentation to provide some background information on amendments to the Kona CDP and the implications of the Missler Case. He noted that various groups such as the Department of Public Works, Corporation Counsel, and the Kona CDP Action Committee provided input over a two-year period, based on initial edits from the Mayor's Office in 2017. When the Planning Department reviewed the approved Kona CDP to determine implementation and obligations, a new scope of work was established to review the document's contents against Hawaii Revised Statutes, Hawaii County Code, and Administrative Rules in order to address conflicts, issues of concurrency, and potential liabilities. Mr. Plunkett, who specializes in long-range planning, explained that the Planning Department worked diligently to clean up language,taking into consideration every group's perspective and reasoning, without altering the overall intention of the Kona CDP. Director Yee added that amendments to the Kona CDP were developed within a system where new thoughts and ideas amongst many groups were integrated, and the body of work, would serve as a sufficient stop-gap in the PC Report No.27