Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-03-05 Exh A Silent Owl, LLC SMA 20-075WINDWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAII HEARING TRANSCRIPT MARCH 5, 2020 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of SILENT OWL, LLC (SMA 20-000075) was called to order at 9:05 a.m. in the County of Hawaii Aupuni Center Conference Room, 101 Pauahi Street, Hilo, Hawaii with Chairman Thomas Raffipiy presiding. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Gilbert Aguinaldo, Dean Au, Joseph Clarkson, Donn Dela Cruz, Thomas Raffipiy, John Replogle. ALSO PRESENT: Michael Yee (Planning Director), Malia Hall (Deputy Corporation Counsel for the Windward Planning Commission), Jeff Darrow (Planning Program Manager), Maija Jackson (Planner), Alex Roy (Planner), Jessica Andrews (Planner), and Sarah Hata-Finley (Commission Secretary). And 14 members from the public in attendance. APPLICANT: SILENT OWL, LLC (SMA 20-000075) Application for a Special Management Area Use Permit to construct a 2 -story office building with parking and related drainage, utility, and access improvements on 16,582 square feet of land within the Special Management Area. The subject property is located across from the intersection of Mohouli Street and Kilauea Avenue at Waiakea, South Hilo, Hawaii, TMK: (3) 2-2-053:006. RAFFIPIY: With that, let's proceed to the first item on today's agenda, Agenda Item No. 1, Applicant Silent Owl, LLC, application for a Special Management Area Use Permit to construct a 2 -story office building with parking and related drainage, utility, and access improvements on 16,582 square feet of land within the SMA area. The presentation will be done by Alex. ROY: Okay, good morning, Commission. Thank you, Chair. Today, I'm going to presenting a Special Management Area Use Permit application for Silent Owl, LLC, SMA -20-000075. Here's the project location, there's a small, red—let's see if I can locate it. Right here, you can see the project area, right here. It's just down the street adjacent to Maile Street, which is right adjacent to Caf6 100. The Applicant is requesting a Special Management Area Use Permit. They intend to construct a 2 -story office building and associated development including parking areas and landscaping. The objective is to create an office facility for primarily non-profit child and family service organizations, necessary support areas and facilities to meet the broad needs of a service organization serving East Hawaii. Here's the current County zoning of the project area, that's outlined in red. We have, the majority of the area surrounding the project site is CG, which is General Commercial, 7,500 square feet. You can also see it would be kind of makai and to the east. There's a section of EXHIBIT A Resort -Hotel – 7,500 square feet, and then across Kilauea Avenue, which runs north to south in this picture, you have a Single -Family Residential –10,000 square feet. Just for reference, here is the Cafe 100 lot right there, so it's directly across the grassy area and Maile Street from Cafe 100. The State Land Use Boundary Map shows the entire area in the Urban State Land Use District with a pond being in the Conservation State Land Use District. Here's the General Plan LUPAG Map showing the General Plan for the area. The majority is High Density Urban, and then the pond area shows Conservation and Open area, some remnants there. I'm not sure why the line is drawn like that, but it appears trying to take in the park and the pond area also, but the majority of the area as we see surrounding the project site is that High Density Urban. Here is an aerial photograph of the project area. You can see, just referenced again, Cafe 100, Maile Street, Kilauea Avenue, and there is the project site outlined in yellow. This is a 2013 aerial photograph showing the extent of overgrowth that was on the project site prior to them turning into a parking area. I guess it was heavily infested with rats and, you know, junk, and so the current applicant cleaned it, removed that, and turned it into a parking area for the buildings next door. For reference, on the left is a tmk map; on the right is the easement that afforded this property to use Maile Street to access. So, access will not come from Kilauea; it will come from Maile Street as you'll see in the site plan coming up, but, I just wanted to show that they did have deeded, a deeded easement across the State property that affords them unimpeded access down Maile Street to the property. Here's a site plan. As you can see, Maile Street on the top, and the entrance, and then the building kind of in the center of the project site. This is a landscaping plan. They've done a good job of trying to use landscaping to help mitigate any view plane impacts, and because its in the SMA, they'll be using native species following the rules and regarding that landscaping in the Special Management Area. So, they have a extensive landscaping plan showing the different types of plants and locations. Here is the property entrance, the current property entrance at Maile Street looking west toward Kilauea. So, you can see, everybody I think, knows this area but here it is, standing at the current entrance looking towards Kilauea. This is the property entrance looking down Maile Street towards Waiakea pond, and you can see the grassy area of the park and the pond in the background there. So, you can see that this view plane from Maile Street is unaffected by anything going on at the project site. Here standing in the middle of the project parcel where they have turned it into—it's not paved, but it is a sealed parking area with drainage structures that are already installed, but the site has nothing other than the parking area and some fencing and some drainage structures. EXHIBIT A 2 I just wanted to start with some amended conditions first off. We forgot to include the construction completion time condition that's common to these types of projects, so we've added that in so you don't have that, so when we got to vote, we'll be including this as an additional condition. This is very standard. It just was not included, and that requires us to rename Conditions 3 through 14, and then one to amend Condition 8 to read, really to include that the connection of the proposed office building to the public sewer shall be done prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy. So, in your handouts, you'll see that that last line is not included, so we've included that. Again, that's a standard condition that just was left out. So, at this time, the Planning Director recommends approval with amended conditions for Special Management Area Use Permit, SMA -20-75. Thank you. RAFFIPIY: Thank you very much, Alex. Is there any questions from the Commission? CLARKSON: I have a question about the parking. RAFFIPIY: Go ahead. CLARKSON: Is there any—is there any contractual obligation between whoever is parking or whatever business is now using that parking area and the property owner? ROY: I had spoken to the Applicant's agent about that, and I think they are probably better off talking about that. CLARKSON: Okay. ROY: There were some plans to possibly join uses, but I'm not sure. I'd like them to maybe touch on that, that question for sure. CLARKSON: I'll ask the Applicant. RAFFIPIY: Thank you. Are there any other questions? All right, thank you. Can we have the Applicant please come forth? Can you please, raise your right hand, please? Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Commission? LEONARD: Yes, I do. STONER: I do. RAFFIPIY: Okay, can you go ahead, can go ahead and introduce yourself and your relationship to the project— LEONARD: Yes RAFFIPIY: —and proceed with your testimony. EXHIBIT A 3 LEONARD: My name is James Leonard. I'm the agent for Silent Owl. With me is Earl Stoner, who is the managing principal of Silent Owl, the owner of the property, and is going to be the developer of this project, and we're here to answer any questions that you have. RAFFIPIY: Are there any questions from the Commission? CLARKSON: You may have heard my question about the parking. Where are all the cars going to go? STONER: I can answer that question. We are presently using the parking lot. We, as noted— RAFFIPIY: Excuse me, excuse me, can you please introduce yourself for the record? STONER: Oh, I'm Earl Stoner, the owner of the property through Silent Owl, LLC. RAFFIPIY: Thank you. STONER: We are presently using the parking for Child & Family Services, who is exclusive, who is a tenant in the adjacent building which I have leased for the past 30 years. My lease ends in February of next year on that property, and consequently, I am building this property to accommodate that tenant. We—when I did the parking lot because of the continuing problems with the adjacent property which was overgrown and had a lot of animals and related problems, homeless people, etcetera, we decided to go ahead and do this as a temporary parking area to, to expand their parking capability. However, on the adjacent property, we have adequate parking to accommodate them instead of parking on one side, but it has accommodated for 28 for the past 30 years, so I think it will be satisfactory during the construction period. If and when we are able to open any area of the existing or the proposed new parking will, of course, allow them to use it, but I think we are going to have to probably have to close it down during the construction period. RAFFIPIY: Thank you. AU: Mr. Chair, I have a question. RAFFIPIY: Go ahead, sir. AU: Mr. Stoner? STONER: Yes? AU: Do you have an estimated cost for your project? STONER: We're estimating about a million, two hundred thousand. The property cost me a little over $200,000 when I acquired it from Motor Supply, so the total project will be about a million five. AU: Okay, I'm just curious. Have you selected a contractor yet? EXHIBIT A 4 STONER: I have a contractor that I work with. I'm a general contractor myself I have a general manager that can oversee the project and will be doing the cost estimating, etcetera in more detail. We thought we should clear the SMA before we really put a tied number to it because depending on the time the SMA clears and we get ready to file for the building permit, we'll pull the numbers together, but I'm quite comfortable that those numbers are safe, and I have the wherewithal to do the project even if it runs beyond that. AU: Okay, well, you know, just looking at your plans and reviewing your plans, they look pretty complete, so it seems like you're well on your way with this project, assuming you get this SMA permit. STONER: Yes, I I'm very comfortable with the numbers that we have so far. I don't think there is a problem there. We've got a satisfactory contingency in there. We've gone through it with both my general manager and our architect quite extensively, and I think we will be in that range. It's not going to be a problem. It incidentally, it's my intention to make a general contribution of that building once it's completed to Child & Family Services, the present tenant in the adjacent building. AU: All right, thank you. CLARKSON: One more quick clarification. Are you planning to have this new project done by the time your lease expires on the building next door? STONER: No, I worked withI worked with the owner of the property who I've leased the property from for the past 30 years, and he has agreed to extend the Child & Family Services lease in that building for a satisfactory time to get us to complete it. CLARKSON: Thank you. RAFFIPIY: Mr. Stoner, did you receive the conditions from the Planning Department? STONER: Yes, I did, and I am comfortable with them. RAFFIPIY: You're comfortable with it? STONER: Yes. RAFFIPIY: Do you have any questions about those? STONER: I didn't have any problems with it at all. RAFFIPIY: Alright, thank you very much. Alright, appreciate it. Any other, any other words you want to say? EXHIBIT A 5 LEONARD: No, I just wanted to thank Alex for a great presentation on that. He really covered it very well. As you can see, the project is in compliance with all the County General Plan and community development plans, zoning, and—and seems to be very appropriately situated for this type of development. RAFFIPIY: Thank you very much. You can go back to your seat, please. At this time, we have one testifier. Mr. Dwight Vicente, can you please come forward? Mr. Vicente, can you raise your right hand, please? Do you swear— HALL: —He's not going to swear in. You can just take just note that it's going to be unsworn. RAFFIPIY: Yeah, let it be noted that Mr. Vicente is not sworn in. Please, Mr. Vicente, go ahead, proceed. VICENTE: Good morning. My name is Dwight Vicente representing the Hawaiian Kingdom. It appears that these lands are not the ceded lands of 1898 by the joint resolution which relies on the 1875 Reciprocity Treaty which King Kalakaua and the US President did not do the treaty under Article II, Section 2 of the US Constitution. You are limited to the ceded lands which is 1,750,000 acres that was illegally ceded in 1898 and in 1900 became the Territory of Hawaii, and [in] 1920, they rebranded it under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 to be the Hawaiian Homes Commission. And, in 1959, by compact which is an illegal compact, because the United States cannot do compacts. It's reserved to the individual states. The State of Hawaii became the 1,750,000 acres called Hawaiian Homes Lands. Under Hawaiian Homes, there's under the 5(f), there is limited jurisdiction, and limited purpose. Planned development—and apparently, the County of Hawaii is going beyond the Hawaiian Homes. They're dealing with lands that was not ceded in 1898 or I should say illegally ceded. So, this Commission is in the wrong location. This hearing is held on the lands that are still under the, belong to and under the jurisdiction of the Hawaiian Kingdom. You gotta relocate to Prince Kuhio Plaza to be on the safe side. So, this hearing is illegally held in the Hawaiian Kingdom, and claiming jurisdiction over lands that was not ceded in 1898 by the banana Republic of Hawaii. With this, I reserve the rights of this Kingdom under the Queen's Protest of January 17, 1893, against US Minister Stevens. It has yet to make its way to the US Supreme Court, Article III, Section 2, Clause 2, original but limited jurisdiction. The other one is the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875. It's not an Article II, Section 2 treaty. They had three United States citizens doing it in Washington DC which is not authorized under Article II, Section 2, and that's why you have the Joint Resolution of 1898, and going all the way back, two hundred years now to the 1820 where President Monroe appointed John C. Jones as the agent for the US, and he was in charge of the missionary family and the US Navy that was sent here without treaty. Thank you. RAFFIPIY: Thank you, Mr. Vicente. Do you have any questions for this testifier? Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Okay, Commissioners, I need a motion to close the public hearing. EXHIBIT A 6 DELA CRUZ: So moved. CLARKSON: Second. RAFFIPIY: It's been moved and seconded that we close the public hearing. All those in favor, say, "aye." COMMISSIONERS: Aye. RAFFIPIY: You oppose, say, "nay." Okay AU: Mr. Chair, I'm ready to make a motion. RAFFIPIY: Go ahead, Mr. Au. AU: I move to approve SMA Permit, Silent Owl, LLC, 20-[0]00075 with the added three conditions. REPLOGLE: I second. RAFFIPIY: It's been moved and seconded. All thoseoh, well, go ahead into the roll call. AU: Actually, can we do RAFFIPIY: Any questions on that? AU: discussion? Yes. I'd just like to make a comment. It's nice to see that this project is shovel ready, and it's definitely going to serve the community well, but I would like to see as this project moves forward, is I would like to see it to continue to serve the community. I would like to see the contractor hire local workers. You know, this proposed project is helping out our children and it's helping out and providing services, so let's take itI would like to see it, take it further and hire all local for not only the construction aspect of it, but the maintenance and, you know, every part of it, you know, because that's what's really going to serve the community. So, that's just the comment that I want to make. RAFFIPIY: Thank you, Commissioner Au. Any other comments? Questions? Thank you very much. I need a motion for action HALL: No, roll call vote. RAFFIPIY: Roll call? Go ahead, staff. ROY: Commissioner Au? AU: Aye. EXHIBIT A 7 ROY: Commissioner Replogle? REPLOGLE: Aye. ROY: Commissioner Aguinaldo? AGUINALDO: Aye. ROY: Commissioner Dela Cruz? DELA CRUZ: Aye. ROY: Commissioner Clarkson? CLARKSON: Aye. ROY: And, Chair Raffipiy? RAFFIPIY: Aye. ROY: Motion passes six, zero. RAFFIPIY: All right. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. You will, so you'll get something from the Department. The discussion ended at 9:26 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Sarah Y. Hata-Finley, Secretary Windward Planning Commission EXHIBIT A 8