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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-06-20 KCDP Minutes.v02oSNcr or x!h• Harry Kim Michael Yee b,6t y Mayor D1P2CiOP iJ•*` Duane Kanuha *i oF•N�ar D2IPI(ly D1P2CiOP County of Hawaii PLANNING DEPARTMENT KONA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE Aupuni Center • 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 • Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Phone(808)961-8288 • Fa (808)961-8742 Thursday, June 20, 2019 Draft DRAFT. Meeting Minutes CALLTO ORDER BYTHE LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION Leeward Planning Commission Chair Keith Unger called the Leeward Planning Commission hearing to order at 11:01 am in the West Hawai'i Civic Center, Community Hale, Building G. The following persons were present: ROLL CALL Action Committee Members Present: Shirley David (Vice -Chair), David Huerta, Franz Weber, Hiram Rivera, Janice Palma-Glennie, and Shane Palacat-Nelsen. Action Committee Members Absent -Excused: Charles Young (Chair), Barbara DeFranco, and Kari Kimura Staff: Bethany Morrison, Christian Kay, Jeff Darrow, Duane Kanuha, Heather Bartlett, Kamuela Plunkett, Maija Jackson, Malia Hall, Noriko Sauer, and Ron Kim. Members of the public: approximately 20 A complete transcript of this hearing [Communication Number 2019-22] is available to view and download at the following website: http://records.hawaiicounty.gov/Weblink/1/doc/100971/Pagel.aspx PUBLIC TESTIMONY AT PLANNING COMMISSION HEARING: 1. Michael Matsukawa, representing himself, testified in opposition to the proposed amendments. Mr. Matsukawa shared his experience participating in the drafting of the CDP. He expressed his desire to resolve the legal conflicts through better implementation of the plan rather than removing the legally binding language. 2. Shirley David, representing herself, testified in support of the proposed amendments. Ms. David introduced herself as the vice -chair of the Action Committee and previous member of the CDP Amendments subcommittee. She shared that while there will always be disagreements about some of the amendments, she felt it important to continue moving forward with the amendments. 3. Shannon Rudolf, representing Chuck Flaherty, testified in opposition to the proposed amendments. Mr. Flaherty wrote that the County was mistaken in its early interpretation that Hawai `i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer Page I the Kona CDP did not have mandatory implications. Ms. Rudolf shared Mr. Flaherty's concern that removing the "shalls° from the plan would undermine the community's intentions. 4. Shannon Rudolf, representing herself, testified in opposition to the proposed amendments. Ms. Rudolf expressed feeling that the hearing was poorly advertised. She shared that with the depth of work that members of the community put into drafting the plan, weakening the language would go against the intention of having a plan the County is mandated to follow. 5. Clare Loprinzi, representing herself, testified in opposition to the proposed amendments. She described how hard the community worked in putting together the plan and expressed her concern of yielding power away from the community in favor of developers or the County. 6. Janice Palma-Glennie, representing herself, testified on the proposed amendments. Ms. Palma- Glennie introduced herself as a member of the Action Committee, and the only member to vote kanalua on the amendment package at the May 141h Action Committee meeting. She expressed that while she has her reservations about some of the changes, she trusts that as long as the original commitment to community-driven regional planning remains the priority, the plan will be successful moving forward. She urged commissioners to take their time through the process and to be scrupulous in their decision-making. 7. Ken Melrose, representing himself, testified in support of the proposed amendments. Mr. Melrose introduced himself as the former chair of the Steering Committee from 2005 to 2008 then chair for the first term of the Action Committee. He felt that the vision and guiding principles which shaped the plan remain unchanged by the proposed amendments. He asked for a favorable recommendation for the amendments which he believes will go a long way toward helping to unlock the conflicts in the code which have held up progress. 8. Cristy Logan, representing herself, testified in support of the proposed amendments. Ms. Logan introduced herself as a Kailua-Kona resident. She shared her thoughts on the unintended consequences that the plan has brought forward including creating a development moratorium in Kona. She expressed concern that the plan was unintentionally causing development to happen outside of the urban area. She urged commissioners to forward a favorable recommendation of the amendments and to encourage amending this document as something that was supposed to be experimental from the beginning. 9. Franz Weber, representing himself, testified in support of the proposed amendments. Mr. Weber introduced himself as a member of the Kona Action Committee. He shared his belief that the plan would have been drafted differently if the legal consequences of the plan were better understood from the beginning. He expressed that an effort to revise the code as a means to implement the CDP would have been more desirable in some instances but agreed that amending the plan is necessary for liability and legal reasons. 10. Shane Palacat-Nelsen, representing himself, testified in support of the proposed amendments. Mr. Palacat-Nelsen introduced himself as a member of the Kona Action Committee and chair of the previous Kona CDP Amendments Subcommittee. He shared his effort to ensure the subcommittee look thoroughly at the whole plan. He urged commissioners to take their time in reviewing the document. www. hip Ian ningdept.com konana,hawaiicounty.gov Page 2 -ie- Business: 1. Leeward Planning Commission Public Meeting Regarding the Kona CDP Amendments. A complete transcript of this hearing [Communication Number 2019-22] is available to view and download at the following website: http://records.hawaiicounty.gov/Weblink/1/doc/100971/Pagel.aspx This meeting was a concurrent Leeward Planning Commission meeting and a Kona Community Development Plan Action Committee meeting to abide by the Sunshine Law (HRS Chapter 92) and enable the CDP Action Committee members to attend and provide comments to the commissioners. The purpose was to determine passage of the Kona Community Development Plan Amendments to go before County Council's Planning Committee. Members of the Kona CDP Action Committee attended this meeting and were able to testify and answer questions from the Leeward Planning Commission. Planner Plunkett gave a brief presentation that gave some background of the process to amend the CDP so far and the reason for its initiation. He explained that after the Action Committee had submitted their recommended changes, the Planning Department had discovered additional items that required amending such as the plan's narrative and actions. Planning Department staff had cross- referenced the language of the plan with the Hawai'i County Code and Hawai'i Revised Statutes, and had additionally sought consultation from other County departments and agencies. Planner Plunkett additionally explained that they had received additional suggestions from the Department of Public Works and the Department of Water Supply that were included in the amendment package [Communication Number 2019-19]. These agency comments may be viewed or downloaded at the following website: http://records.hawaiicounty.gov/Weblink/1/doc/100705/Pagel.aspx Commissioners engaged in discussion and asked clarifying questions about the amendments with Planning staff and Corporation Counsel. Commissioners shared some reservations about several policies and questioned the reasoning behind the amendments. Commissioner Vitousek asked how this interim review would fit into the plans for a future comprehensive review of the CDP. Planning Staff responded that General Plan lays out the comprehensive review process, that the comprehensive review of the CDP might take some time and that it is important to fix the legal ambiguity and contradictions that exist in the plan in the meantime. Commissioner Vitousek brought up his concerns for replacing or strengthening the mandatory language in several policies. For TRAN-3.4 Retrofit Existing Streets and TRAN-3.5 Safe Routes to School, Mr. Vitousek felt that taking away the mandatory language would diminish the County's impetus to fund and complete such projects. For the TRAN-3.5 he argued that not having safe routes to school is also a major safety concern for keiki. Commissioner Vitousek also shared his concern for policy LU -3.8 Rezoning Outside of Urban and Rural TODs, where he felt the mandatory language could be loosened to avoid blocking a development which may be beneficial for the community but that would be located outside of a Rural TOD area. He further suggested strengthening the language for policy ENV -1.1 Central Environmental Resources and loosening the mandatory language for policy CR -2.2 Regulatory System. Commissioner Perry shared a concern that the amendments to PUB -4.3 Agricultural Water changed the intention of the CDP to uphold agriculture as an important aspect of the rural character of Kona. Planning Staff responded that the mandatory language of many of the policies were found to commit the County to spending money which may not be available. They shared that having mandatory www.hiplannin,-dept.com konana,hawaiicounty.gov Page 3 budgetary priorities in the document inhibits the budgetary process which relies on weighing island - wide issues and priorities in a timely and flexible way. They also stated that some of these policies limit the flexibility for the County to respond to different circumstances, which can lead to unintended consequences. An example of that includes the future roadway alignments laid out in the Kona CDP which gives the County no flexibility in the event of archeological or environmental factors which could necessitate a realignment. Commissioner Carr -Smith moved that the commission enter into executive session to consult with its attorney regarding questions and issues pertaining to the Commission's powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and liabilities pursuant to HRS 92-5. Second by CommissionerShimaoka. Upon the motion a vote was taken, the motion passed unanimously. At 12:30 the room was cleared. At 12:41 Commissioner Church moved to go out of executive session. Second by Commissioner Vitousek. Upon the motion a vote was taken, the motion passed unanimously. The discussion about the policies referenced above continued. Commissioner Vitousek asked if the Kona Action Committee was okay with the last minute amendments by other agencies [as in Communication Number 2019-19]. Committee Member Palacat-Nelsen, being the only remaining Action Committee member in the room responded that he was not prepared to speak for the whole Committee. He added that he felt there would be opportunities to share their thoughts in future but that he wouldn't deny their recommendation if they wanted to send it back to the Action Committee for approval. Commissioner Vitousek moved that the additional proposed amendments to the Kona Community Development Plan has detailed in Communication Number 2019-19] be reviewed by the Kona Community Development Plan Action Committee and that they provide their recommendation based on the most current suggested revisions at a future Planning Commission hearing. Second by Commissioner Kealoha. Upon the motion a vote was taken, the motion failed with 1 vote aye, and 4 votes nay. Commissioner Church moved that a favorable recommendation be forwarded to the County Council on the Ordinance amending the Kona Community Development Plan, Ordinance No. 08-131, based on the Planning Director's recommendation, which shall be adopted. Second by Commissioner Carr -Smith. A discussion followed regarding whether or not the additional comments from agencies [Communication Number 2019-19] needs to be included in the motion. The commissioners were advised that they would not need to include the letter since it had already been added to the amendment package. Commissioner Church considered amending his motion to include Commissioner Vitousek's suggestions. The commissioners discussed their respect for Commissioner Vitousek's suggestions but that they disagreed about the urgency of his suggested amendments and shared a desire to move the process forward. Upon the motion, a vote was taken. The motion passed with 4 votes aye, and 1 vote nay ADJOURNMENT: The hearing was adjourned at 1:17 pm. All Action Committee information can be viewed and downloaded from our website: http://www.hawaiicountvcdp.info/north-and-south-kona-cdp www. hip Ian ningdept.com konana hawaiicounty.zov Page 4