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Home My WebLink AboutMIN PWMTC 2020/02/04 2018-2020 3 3 Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit 18th Session 3 Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii i February 4, 2020 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit ORDER: was called to order at 2:33 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, Hawaii, by Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member Ms. Karen Eoff, Member, Member(via videoconference from Kona) Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member Absent& Excused: Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Vice Chair Mr. Herbert M. "Tim"Richards, III, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) i CHR. LEE LOY: So with that, I'm going to close Statements from the Public. We have some—Oh, why don't you go ahead, Clerk, please read in Communication. Oh,the bill COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. (There were none.) ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. i i (There were none.) i PWMTC-18 February 4,2020 BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. Bill 134: AMENDS CHAPTER 3, ARTICLE 1, OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATED TO SIGN CODE VARIANCES Moves the authority to grant variances from the Sign Code from the County Council to the Director of the Department of Public Works. Reference: Comm. 714 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy CHR. LEE LOY: If I could kindly ask for a motion to approve Bill 134? Motion to Approve: Ms. David moved to recommend passage of Bill 134 on first reading. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter. CHR. LEE LOY: I'm a little stuck because my Vice Chair is not here, and usually we fall back pro tem, Council Chair. I would like to ask, Ms. David, if you don't mind chairing this meeting because I am the introducer of Bill 134? So with that, I'd like to— MS. DAVID: I'd be happy to. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you very much. MS. DAVID: Thank you very much. CHR. LEE LOY: With that, I'll relinquish the chair to Ms. David. Relinquish Chair: At this time, Chair Lee Loy relinquished the chair to Council Member David. ACTING CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Chair Lee Loy. And let the record reflect that I am assuming the chairmanship of this committee. Ms. Lee Loy, go ahead. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. David. If I could call forward Ms. Robyn Matsumoto, from Department of Public Works? (Note: At this time,Acting Building Chief Robyn Matsumoto came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. LEE LOY: Bill 134. As everyone knows, we are going through a comprehensive overhaul of all of our building codes, and this was something that we saw that needed some tweaking. The bill that is in your packets really begins to streamline and refine this Building—or Sign Code process. This body saw a bit Page 2 PWMTC-18 February 4,2020 of a hiccup a few months back with another sign variance, and so we really dug in and began to refine that and make that a little bit more efficient. So I did work with the Department of Public Works and the Corporation Counsel to take a look at this and created what I'm hoping is a more effective and streamlined process. What we do see now is someone applying for a variance would come to the Council. In the old process, there was a notification process that had to happen. It wouldn't work,yeah. If you don't mind, Robyn,maybe you can take it from here and explain some of the nuances that we fixed and refined in Bill 134. MS. MATSUMOTO: Good afternoon. My name is Robyn Matsumoto, Acting Building Chief. Thank you very much for introducing this bill for us. So as like many of our other codes, the process is that once we give a decision,the applicant can appeal that and it goes to the Board of Appeals. Unlike in this Sign Code, if you don't like our decision, you have to go through the County Council, which is a long process. In order to streamline it and make it consistent with our other codes, we're asking for this change so that it follows the same process. In addition, it has some deadlines in terms of when we should be getting decisions from these Design Committees, like the KVDC (Kailua Village Design Commission), the Pahoa Design Commission, as well. So hopefully that will give the applicant some definite deadlines on when they should be able to get an answer, and not have it hanging out there. And like you said,the notification process wasn't achievable, and now with these details, you know, I believe the applicant can make that notification so that everyone has enough time to present their comments or either be there in person. MS. LEE LOY: And thank you for that, Robyn,right, because we want to manage that expectation. And that's the number one complaint we constantly hear, is how long is it taking,how long is it taking? And the way this is structured, it provides some very hard deadlines as far as timing requirements for the department to act and then for that matter, if it's appealed, to be heard by the Board of Appeals. i MS. MATSUMOTO: Correct. MS. LEE LOY: Okay. We do have some already in the pipe, correct? MS. MATSUMOTO: We currently have one application in the process. That should be on the agenda for committee next session. i MS. LEE LOY: Okay. At the end of this bill, Section 6, "This ordinance shall take effect upon its approval,"and based on what we already have active in the Page 3 i i PWMTC_1 g February 4,2020 i pipe, I'm going to actually amend this section to make it effective June 1St. Is that something that the department could support? I MS. MATSUMOTO: Yeah, that's definitely acceptable to us because that gives the applicant a time to go through this process; and unfortunately,that we didn't already have, you know, revised. MS. LEE LOY: Yeah. And then, I guess it would also provide you opportunity, right, to educate the large stakeholder community that this change is coming, right, and any forms that need to be revised? MS. MATSUMOTO: Well, correct. You know, it's the opportunity for us to j message out to our customers that these are the new changes that are corning into effect. You know, we have so many things going on with the division right now. So it's good to get in touch with them, as well. Some of our forms are kind of outdated, so it's a good opportunity to do some more housecleaning. MS. LEE LOY: Thank you, Robyn. Thank you for being here. I am asking for your support. I mean, I'm working with the department to really fix some of the kinds in the links of this chain, at Public Works. So with that, I will yield to any questions for Robyn. ACTING CHR. DAVID: Thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Thank you, Robyn. Any questions? Alright, Robyn or Director—oh, he's still here. You know, I want to thank you, Ms. Lee Loy. Because I think this is a process that really belongs with the department who is actually making decisions on variances. You know, it basically hamstrings it, as about two months worth of processing that—for a sign variance,that's pretty overburdensome, I think. And thank you, Robyn, for actually working—are you going to amend this—up the next—? Okay, perfect. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. Alright, we're streamlining guys. It's awesome. Alright, so all in favor of approving Bill 134, and forward to Council with a positive recommendation please say "aye." Vote on Bill 134: The motion to recommend passage of Bill 134 on (Approved) first reading was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Lee Loy, Kierkiewicz, Poindexter, Villegas, and Acting Chair David–7 Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Richards–2. Excused: None. Page 4 i PWMTC-18 February 4,2020 i I ACTING CHR. DAVID: Thank you. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 2:40 p.m., Ms. Lee Loy moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Poindexter and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, Eoff, Lee Loy, Kierkiewicz, Poindexter, Villegas, and Acting Chair David—7 Noes: None. Absent: Committee Members Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and Richards—2. Excused: None. I ACTING CHR. DAVID: We are adjourned. And mahalo everyone. i I i i A roved: L. K. Lee Loy, C (Date) Public Wor and Mass Transit tt SL/na Page 5