HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-09-03 Kailua Village Design Commission Minutes KAILUA VILLAGE DESIGN COMMISSION
COUNTY OF HAWAII
MINUTES
Meeting Date: September 3, 2019
Time: 5:16 p.m.
Place: West Hawaii Civic Center
Planning Department Conference Room—Building E, 2nd Floor
74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, 96740
CALL TO ORDER
Commissioners Present: Shaun Roth, Bryant Ching, Jasmine Crusat, John Hetherington,
Michaela Ikeuchi, Ann Kern, Riley Smith, Zon Sullenberger and
Arne Werchick
Planning Department: Rosalind Newlon (Planner) and Noriko Sauer(Commission
Secretary)
Applicants/Representatives: Stan Haanio (New Business Item No. 1)
Public: None
A quorum was present. Chairman Roth called the meeting to order and the Commissioners
introduced themselves.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Minutes of the Meetings of June 18, 2019, July 9, 2019 and July 23, 2019
Chairman Roth asked if there were any corrections to the minutes. No corrections were offered,
and the minutes were approved as circulated.
STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS
None.
NEW BUSINESS
1. The applicant, David Pfeifer, is proposing a revision to St. Michael's Church, which was
previously reviewed by the KVDC at its June 10, 2010 meeting. This submission is
proposing a revised design for the new Parish Hall with a revised one-story design at a
building height of approximately 30 feet. On May 6, 2015, amendments to the Plan
Approval included the replacement of the Parish Hall with a Parish Hall pad in its place
and it was approved as a future phase.
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Landowner: Roman Catholic Church in the State of Hawaii
TMK: (3) 7-5-008:006
Location: 75-5769 AIN Drive, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
Ms. Newlon began her presentation by making a correction to the description of this item on the
agenda; it should read, "... a revision to St. Michael's Church, which was previously reviewed by
the KVDC at its June 15, 2010 meeting."
Ms. Newlon said that the main difference between the original two-story design and the revised
one-story design was that the roofline was now broken up and the front facade was redesigned
with a single row of windows instead of two rows. She said that their church building had been
reconstructed after the October 2016 earthquake, and that they were ready to move forward with
the proposed parish hall. She said that there was no change to the building footprint, as the lava
rock building pad had already been put up according to the original plan. She mentioned that an
existing rectory was taken down to provide more parking stalls. She noted that with the exception
of the blank area above the front windows and the rear blank walls, the design elements, such as
the pitched roof with the added rooflines, the windows, the use of lava rocks and the coloration,
appeared to be consistent with the Master Plan for Kailua-Kona. She added that the reason for the
revision was not provided in the application.
In response to Commissioner Ikeuchi's question, Ms. Newlon clarified that the proposed building
would be placed on the existing lava rock platform, and that the applicant had determined the
height of the building from the base of the platform.
Chairman Roth called upon the applicant. The applicant was not present. Mr. Stan Haanio stated
that he was representing St. Michael's Church ("Church") as the chairman of the repair,
maintenance and construction committee for this project. He stated that Church had decided that
based on its projection of the parish, a single-story hall would be more suitable and cost-efficient
as opposed to the previously approved two-story building with an elevator shaft. He further stated
that the hall would mimic the appearance of the church building, with the same color scheme,
texture of the exterior and lava rock wall on the base, and that no change to the landscaping was
proposed, which was already in place according to the previous plan. He mentioned that the
administration office that was presently located in the back of the church would be moved to the
front of the hall, with additional storage area, and that the kitchen would be a warm-and-serve type
with no actual cooking intended.
Chairman Roth asked if the flat roof areas were for the purpose of storing equipment. Mr. Haanio
stated in response that it was intended for the condensers for air-conditioning units, and that their
plan was to install split units on the inside because the current system with big chillers had run
into problems with the weather and salt air. Chairman Roth further asked if the reason why the
roof was broken up was to create the flat area. Mr. Haanio said that David Pfeifer who was the
architect and the applicant in this case thought that the broken-up rooflines would look more
appealing, and that the two flat areas would be sufficient for all the condensers. In response to
Commissioner Ikeuchi's question about the remarkably high ceiling, Mr. Haanio also said that it
was to keep the same pitch as the church roof.
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Commissioner Crusat pointed out that she only counted four ADA parking stalls on the site plan
while to her knowledge the requirement would be five. She added, however, that the No. 6 site
photograph on Sheet A1.2 showed a different configuration of ADA stalls than the site plan, so
there appeared to have been some change and there might be a fifth stall somewhere. Ms. Newlon
concurred and said that there should be at least five ADA stalls based on the total number, and that
staff would be looking into the applicant's compliance with ADA requirements during the Plan
Approval process. Mr. Haanio remarked that there would not be two functions occurring at the
same time also.
Upon inquiry by Commissioner Kern, Mr. Haanio stated that Church had a parking agreement
with the adjacent State Library that said Church was allowed to use the library parking lot on
weekends as long as there was no library function going on. Commissioner Kern, making
reference to Mr. Haanio's earlier comment about only one function on the church property at a
time, asked him if a Sunday school type of program was held during service. Mr. Haanio said that
Church currently held religious educations after the 9:00 a.m. Mass in the covered lanai area, and
that they intended to have some in the hall as well.
Commissioner Werchick expressed his concern about the mass of the proposed building. He said
that while he understood it was a lawful use of the property, he would question if it was necessary
to have such height and mass just so it could be matched to the church building, which in his
opinion would dominate Alii Drive. Mr. Haanio explained that airflow was also being considered
where they were trying to lift up the air and circulate it out. Commissioner Werchick pointed out
that the building was going to be air-conditioned. Mr. Haanio responded that they were trying to
use less air-conditioning by getting hot air vented high on the top.
Asked by Commissioner Ikeuchi, Mr. Haanio clarified that the walkway between the church
building and the parish hall would be covered except for the middle portion.
Commissioner Hetherington, acknowledging that it was not related to design review, suggested
that Church consider hanging banners or the like to alleviate acoustic issues due to the high
ceiling. Mr. Haanio said that Church already had someone who was taking care of the matter, as
they had had the same problem with the church building.
Chairman Roth opened the floor for discussion. He began by addressing Commissioner
Werchick's concern about the massing of the building, and said that the Commission should give
some consideration for the fact that the applicant had actually brought it down in scale, as the
original two-story design seemed to have been taller and more massive. As he pointed to the
apparent air vents depicted on the section drawing, Chairman Roth expressed his agreement that
the high ceiling would to a degree reduce the need for air-conditioning. He also spoke in favor of
the space between the two buildings. With respect to the new rooflines, Chairman Roth said that
he was not fond of the appearance, but that it was acceptable especially because it would hide the
equipment and keep the noise down. Commissioner Hetherington said that he was supportive of
the rooflines mostly because the three-dimensional aspect would help to break up the building
mass. He also opined that it would not be as visible as it appeared to be, especially to the
northbound traffic. Chairman Roth noted that while the elevation drawing gave the impression of
a mass, the top right rendering on Sheet A5.0 presented more of a perspective view where the top
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mass of the roof was diminished significantly. Commissioner Ikeuchi, agreeing that the building
appeared to be really massive from a certain perspective, commented that her only concern would
be the height of the building, which made it look like a whole new church rather than a parish hall;
however, she opined that the project would directly benefit the community, and that, as noted by
Chairman Roth, the building looked very different in the rendering on Sheet A5.0, if it was true to
what it would actually look like. She added that in the same rendering there seemed to be a lot of
space as well. Commissioner Werchick was of the opinion that it was not at all going to look like
the rendering, and that from Alii Drive it would look ginormous. He said that even though the
proposal conformed to the existing set of rules, his wish would be relief to the eye, with such
things as trees. Commissioner Crusat pointed out that trees had been planted, which were just
growing more slowly than one might wish.
Commissioner Crusat commented she was aware that the condominium complex behind the
church property had a lot of issues with the noise from church functions, and that the hall would
bring some resolution. She expressed her support for the proposal, specifically mentioning the
color scheme.
Upon inquiry by Commissioner Werchick, Mr. Haanio said that there was access from the church
property to the library parking on the makai side of the cemetery. Mentioning that he was on the
Friends of the Library board, Commissioner Werchick commented that the Library did a lot of
programs on Saturdays and so the parking would not be available for Church on those days.
Ms. Newlon noted that the only parking agreement that she was aware of said that the church and
the parish hall be not used at the same time, and that parking remain on site.
It was moved by Commissioner Crusat and seconded by Commissioner Ikeuchi that the
Commission forward to the Planning Director a recommendation for approval of the proposed
project as submitted. There being no discussion on the motion, a roll call vote was taken and the
motion carried with eight ayes (Crusat, Ikeuchi, Ching, Hetherington, Kern, Smith, Sullenberger
and Werchick) and no noes.
ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS
Ms. Newlon said that due to oversight she had not included in this meeting agenda a discussion
item that the Commission had requested at the previous meeting, regarding communication to the
Department of Public Works about the need for consistency in calculating sign area. She said that
the discussion would be placed on the next meeting agenda. Commissioner Hetherington
mentioned that he had met with Mr. Neal Tanaka from Public Works on the subject matter, on
which he would report to the Commission when agendized, and that he would prepare a draft letter
for the Commission to review.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Next meeting tentatively scheduled for September 17, 2019.
Ms. Newlon stated that to her knowledge the next meeting would be on September 17, 2019,
which staff would confirm at a later date.
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ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, Chairman Roth adjourned the meeting at 5:46 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Noriko Sauer, Secretary
ATTEST:
Shaun Roth, Chairman
Kailua Village Design Commission
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