HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-03-25 South Kohala Community Development Plan Action Committee Minutes - FINAL
Harry Kim Michael Yee
Director
Mayor
Duane Kanuha
Deputy Director
County of Hawai‘i
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
SOUTH KOHALA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE
Aupuni Center 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720
Phone (808) 961-8288 Fax (808) 961-8742
Monday, March 25, 2019
Meeting Minutes
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Kaneali‘i called the South Kohala Community Development Plan (SKCDP) Action Committee (AC)
meeting to order at 5:10 p.m. in the Waimea Senior Center. The following persons were present:
ROLL CALL
Action Committee Members Present: Diane Kaneali‘i (Chair), Ruth Smith (Vice-Chair), Kevin
McLaughlin, Julia Ann Alos, Pete Hendricks, Tristie Licoan, and William Sanborn.
Action Committee Members Absent-Excused: Mark Gordon
Staff: Planning Director Michael Yee and CoH planners Bethany Morrison, Kamuela Plunkett and Eric
Cook.
Members of the public: 6
ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: None.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1. Action Committee Member McLaughlin invited the Action Committee as well as the public to
th
attend Experience Pohakuloa Training Area Day on April 18 from 9am to 1pm.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS: No one from the public signed up to provide public comment,
however questions, concerns, and other discussion points brought up by community members are
reflected in the narrative of the respective agenda items.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Vice-Chair Smith moved to approve the minutes of the January 28, 2019 meeting as submitted.
Seconded by Committee Member Sanborn. The motion to approve the minutes as submitted passed
with 6 votes aye, 0 votes nay \[Committee Member Licoan was not present at the time of the vote\].
BUSINESS:
2. General Plan Comprehensive Review Update: Bethany Morrison, Long Range Planner, provided
a presentation and led a discussion with the Action Committee outlining the comprehensive
planning system in relation to the General Plan comprehensive update. She explained the
changes being made to the General Plan, the relationship to the Community Development
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Plans, and the role of the Action Committee. Ms. Morrison also provided an outline for the
public review and engagement process and timeline for 2019.
Ms. Morrison sought feedback on proposed new structural changes to the Long Range Planning
Program. Committee Members and the public responded with various questions and/or
concerns, which were recorded and discussed.
The General Plan presentation slides, Communication Number 2019-08, may be viewed and
downloaded from the following website:
http://records.hawaiicounty.gov/Weblink/1/doc/99963/Page1.aspx
Planning Director Michael Yee address questions and concerns that arose during the
presentation including the alignments of development with the Community Development
Plans, standardization of Community Development Plan work plans, and the desired future for
the CDP Action Committees. Director Yee addressed concerns over development alignment
with CDP’s and explained that each time an application goes before Planning Commission the
application is also reviewed by the Planning Department to determine if the proposed project is
in alignment with the Community Development Plan of the respective planning area. Director
Yee also addressed the relationship between the CDPs and CIP priorities.
He addressed the standardization of CDP work and explained the purpose as an attempt to
protect planning efforts from changes and reprioritization as administrations change, as well as
to streamline working efforts and collaborative efforts across CDP planning areas. Director Yee
addressed the expectations moving forward for the CDP Action Committees. He explained that
ideally he would like to spend a year or two just building community capacity, going out and
working with communities, encouraging facilitation, and building a trust between the
community and government processes.
3. Climate-Smart Conservation Planning in South Kohala: Chad Wiggins and Julia Rose with the
Nature Conservancy and the South Kohala Coastal Partnership provided presentations outlining
their organization’s visions and action plans for the conservation of coastal resources in South
Kohala.
Chad Wiggins of the Nature Conservancy provided a presentation outlining the conservation
action planning process and its implications for the South Kohala community and how it can
align with the update cycle of the CDP to respond and proactively plan for climate change.
Julia Rose of the South Kohala Coastal Partnership provided a presentation outlining the vision
and goals of the South Kohala Coastal Partnership. In her presentation Ms. Rose provided and
outline of the 6 strategies the group is focusing on to implement their goals. The strategies are
as follows:
1. Resilient ocean policies
2. Soil and watershed management
3. Clean water management
4. County and community conservation planning
5. Community connectivity and stewardship
6. Climate-smart threat assessment and response
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Ms. Rose explained that there has been an active team organized around each one of the 6
strategies for implementation, and that these teams work and partner with other groups and
organizations that align with the goals of each strategy.
Mr. Wiggins also shared the work being done to develop an interactive sea level rise application
for the public to better understand sea level rise implications and how that will affect
anchialine pool ecosystems. He also shared information form the anchialine pools vulnerability
assessment that was conducted.
The Nature Conservancy presentation slides, Communication Number 2019-09, may be viewed
and downloaded from the following website:
http://records.hawaiicounty.gov/Weblink/1/doc/99964/Page1.aspx
CDP Planner, Kamuela Plunkett, suggested that Chad and Julia return to the next South Kohala
CDP Action Committee meeting to provide a more in depth explanation on some of the
strategies for implementation.
4. Update regarding the Kawaihae, Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway Intersection: James Hustace, Chair
of the South Kohala Traffic Safety Committee, provided an update on the Kawaihae, Queen
Ka‘ahumanu Highway Intersection. He shared that there have been some changes to the
intersection. There is no longer an auxiliary right turn lane coming from Kawaihae onto Queen
Kaahumanu Highway. This intersection falls under State jurisdiction. He shared that the South
Kohala Traffic safety committee submitted a letter to D.O.T. Deputy Director – Highways, Edwin
Sniffen, regarding intersection issues such as congestion and lingering concerns about
intersection safety, and suggestions on methods for how to increase safety.
5. Election of Action Committee officers:
The meeting ran over the scheduled time and CDP planner, Kamuela Plunkett, suggested to
postpone the election of officers until the next meeting on June 3, 2019.
Committee Member McLaughlin made a motion to postpone the election of officers until the
next meeting on June 3, 2019. Seconded by Committee Member Alos.
The motion to postpone the election of officers until the June 3, 2019 meeting passed with 7
votes aye and 0 votes nay.
PROPOSED AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: (June 3, 2019)
1. Election of Officers.
ADJOURNMENT: The Chair, without objection, adjourned the meeting at 7:22 p.m.
All Action Committee information can be viewed and downloaded from our website:
http://www.hawaiicountycdp.info/south-kohala-cdp
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