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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-06-18 Leeward Exh A (AMEND USE 05-001) LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAII HEARING TRANSCRIPT JUNE 18, 2020 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of PARKER SCHOOL (AMEND USE 05-001) was called to order at 9:37 a.m. via live-stream meeting, with Chairperson Nancy Carr Smith presiding. COMMISSIONERS IN ATTENDANCE: Nancy Carr Smith, Perry Kealoha, Max Newberg, Mark Van Pernis, Michael Vitousek and Faith "Faye" Yates ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: J Yoshimoto, Esq. (Counsel for the Commission), Michael Yee (Planning Director), John Mukai, Esq. (Counsel for the Planning Director), Maija Jackson (Planner), Jeff Darrow (Planning Program Manager), Christian Kay (Planner), Jessica Andrews (Planner), Alex Roy (Planner), Rachelle Ley (Secretary to the Planning Director) and Noriko Sauer(Commission Secretary) APPLICANT: PARKER SCHOOL (AMEND USE 05-001) Application to amend Condition No. 6 (Time to Complete Construction) of Use Permit No. 05-001, which was approved in December 2005 and amended in February 2010 to allow the establishment of an elementary school (grades K-6) and expansion of the Parker School complex to 14.32 acres situated within the Agricultural-1 acre (A-la) and Single-Family Residential-7,500 square feet(RS-7.5) zoned district. The subject property is located between Kapi`olani Road and Waikoloa Stream, Waimea, South Kohala, Hawaii, TMK: (3) 6-5-004:025, 026, 028 and 063. Secretary's Note: "- - -" indicates that there were technical and/or internet difficulties, which made the conversation inaudible. CARR SMITH: Agenda Item No. 1 is Applicant Parker School. It's AMEND USE 05-001. It's an application to amend Condition No. 6, which is time to complete construction, of Use Permit No. 05-001, which was approved in December 2005 and amended in February 2010 to allow the establishment of an elementary school, grades K through 6, and expansion of the Parker School complex to 14.32 acres situated within the Agricultural-1 acre, A-la, and Single-Family Residential-7,500 square feet, which is RS-5., or 7.5, zone district. The subject property is located between Kapi`olani and Waikoloa Stream, Waimea, South Kohala, Hawaii. TMK is (3) 6-5-004: Parcels 025, 026, 028 and 063. Prior to the staff's presentation, I'd like to give J Yoshimoto an opportunity to make a disclosure on this agenda item. YOSHIMOTO: Thank you, Madam Chair. Commission Members, as you note in the packet before you, there's a Memorandum of Agreement as part of the exhibits, and you'll see there that my name appears as to Deputy Corp. Counsel. That situation involves my other assignment, which is to advise the Department of Parks and Recreation, and I wanted to disclose to the Commission members that I have been involved in the drafting of the Memorandum of Agreement with regards to this matter. I don't have any conflict of interest, there's no financial interest, no other interest other than to, basically, advise Parks in this matter. So I wanted to put 1 EXHIBIT A that out there. However, if any of the Commissioners have any questions they want to ask me, I'd be happy to answer them, or if anyone has any concerns about my advising the Leeward Planning Commission in this matter,please let me know and I would be happy to recuse myself. CARR SMITH: Commissioners, do you have any questions or concerns about this? No? Okay, seeing none, we'll move on to the staff presentation. Thank you for that though, J. Maija Jackson, I think you're going to present this one. Please proceed. JACKSON: Thank you, Chair Carr Smith. I'm going to pull up the presentation right now. Please let me know, if you cannot see it. Okay, are you all able to see this presentation? Great, thank you. Okay, so the first item on the agenda is a request from Parker School to amend their Use Permit No. 05-001. This is a location map showing the subject property's outline in black. The property is located in the South Kohala district in Waimea Town Center. You can see Lindsay Road running in a general north-south direction on the left side of the slide, and then off of Lindsay Road is Kapi`olani Road, which fronts the property on the north side. The subject properties are zoned Agricultural-1 acre, which is shown in a light green color, as well as Single-Family Residential, which is shown in the yellow color. The General Plan designation for the property is Medium Density Urban, which is shown in the orange color, and schools are a permitted use in the Medium Density Urban designation. So, Use Permit No. 05-001 was issued on December 7, 2005, to allow the establishment of an elementary school on approximately two acres of a portion of TMK 6-5-004:025. Construction of the elementary school was completed in 2007. Then in 2010 the Use Permit was amended by the Planning Commission to allow expansion of the Parker School complex to include new athletic fields, a new gymnasium, renovation of two residences and warehouse, and elementary school addition, and then new middle school on the remainder of Parcel 025 and TMK 6-5-004:026, 028 and 063. This is an aerial view of the site. You can see the Lindsay Road on the left side of the slide and Kapi`olani Road generally on the north side of the slide. The existing Parker School campus that was built in 1975 was just off of Lindsay Road. And I'm going to try to use my pointer; you let me know if you see that. Can you see the pointer? Great. So this is the campus that was built in 1975, and then in 2005, the Use Permit was granted on this property to build this elementary school, which is located here. That was constructed in 2007, and then in 2010 Parker School came back in to amend the permit to expand the campus. Part of that expansion was reuse of this warehouse off of Kapi`olani Road, adding a middle school generally in this location here, and then a new gymnasium and athletic fields on this property, as well as reuse of two dwellings: One on this property, one here, for classrooms. So the applicant is currently requesting a time extension to Condition No. 6 in order to complete construction of the school complex. Condition No. 6 states in part, "Construction of the athletic fields, gymnasium, and related improvements and renovation of the two existing residences and warehouse for school use shall be completed within five years from the effective date of the 2 EXHIBIT A amended permit. Construction of the middle school, elementary school addition, and related improvements shall be completed within ten years from the effective date of the amended permit." Sothis is the condition that was included in the 2010 amendment. Then in 2015 the Planning Director issued an administrative time extension that granted the applicant until March 16'h of this year to comply with Condition No. 6. So the applicant is currently requesting an additional five years to complete construction of the athletic fields, gym and related improvements and renovation of the two existing residences and warehouse for school use. They are also requesting an additional ten years to complete construction of the middle school, elementary school addition and related improvements. And the reasons for that request is that the economic recession in 2008 had a negative impact on the fundraising for the project, and the school had to focus their efforts on sustaining the financial integrity of the school during that time. Subsequent fundraising efforts with the improved economy have been very successful for the school, and they're now proceeding with planning, design and construction of the improvements proposed in the original application. So this is a site plan that was provided in 2010, and I did check with the applicant and they said that they have not made any significant changes to the site plan since then. So you have Lindsay Road on the left side of the slide. You can see the existing campus that was built in 1975. You have Kapi`olani Road running on the top edge of the slide. This is the elementary school that was built in 2007, and then just east of that you have the future gymnasium, the athletic play fields. The future middle school is between the gym and Kapi`olani Road, and then the existing warehouse that will be reused is on the far east end of the property. The Planning Director is recommending approval of the amendment, to Use Permit 05-001. And, with that, I would be happy to answer any questions the Commissioners may have. CARR SMITH: Thank you, Maija. Commissioners have any questions? I can't see everybody—let's see. Max, go ahead NEWBERG: - - - CARR - -CARR SMITH: Unmute. NEWBERG: Yes, thank you. I just wanted to ask, as with a lot of these requests being made on this particular amendment, were there letters sent out to the neighborhood adjoining the space that would be impacted? JACKSON: Yes, it's standard to have the applicant send out letters. In this case it was within 300 feet of the property. NEWBERG: I see. I just wanted to confirm. Thank you. JACKSON: Yes. And they're also, they're also required to post a sign on the property, and they did that as well. 3 EXHIBIT A CARR SMITH: Thank you, Maija. Any other questions? Go ahead, Mike. VITOUSEK: Okay, I guess just couple of things. Page 4 of the background report indicates that there is no evidence of any traditional or customary Native Hawaiian rights being practiced or existence of any known valued or native resources in the area. And I'd just point out that I think it was 2011 or 12, there was inadvertent discovery on Parker School campus of a, you know, pre-contact burial site. So I don't know if that's included in the plan, if it happened after, I don't know what the treatment ended up being, but there was a burial discovered and should be there on the plans somewhere. Do you have any idea- - - CARR - -CARR SMITH: Maija, - - -respond? JACKSON: - - - Commissioner Vitousek. I was not aware of that inadvertent find, so perhaps the applicant can speak to it and we can get some more information about that. Thank you. VITOUSEK: And then, I guess the next question's probably also more of a question for the applicant. I can say it now, or wait, whatever you prefer. CARR SMITH: If you feel that it is, then let's wait. VITOUSEK: Okay. CARR SMITH: Anybody else? No? Okay, then let's move onto the applicant. Greg Mooers, I need to swear you in. Could you please raise your right hand? Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Leeward Planning Commission? MOOERS: I do. CARR SMITH: Okay, thank you. Please state your name and where you reside. MOOERS: My name is - - - CARR - -CARR SMITH: That wasn't very clear to me. Was it clear to no. Can you repeat that? MOOERS: My name is Greg Mooers, and I reside in Kamuela, Hawaii. CARR SMITH: Very good, thank you. Did you receive the Planning Director's background and recommendation reports? MOOERS: I did. I reviewed it with the client, and they agreed with all the recommendations. CARR SMITH: Okay, very good. Do you have any further presentation you want to give before we get into questions from the commissioners? MOOERS: Just to, I would note that the applicant submitted the request for time extension in January, and since that time, obviously, things have changed, not just here in Hawaii but worldwide. I think it's a strong possibility at some point Parker School will have to revisit their 4 EXHIBIT A plans as to what they may be in the future. Frankly, I think the idea of expanding the student enrollment, those numbers that were anticipated in the Use Permit is probably very unrealistic at this time. But for the purpose of this meeting, we're simply asking for a time extension. The school has raised a significant amount of money to begin to make these improvements, but I think they need now to reassess what they anticipate will be their student body enrollment going forward. And that has not been done at this time. But I just want to kind of put the Commission on notice that there's a strong possibility that the applicant will come back and revisit this Use Permit in the future. CARR SMITH: Are you suggesting that we consider it at a later date, or not? MOOERS: That would be, yes, but all we're looking at today is a time extension CARR SMITH: Okay. Anything else, Greg? MOOERS: No, I'm just prepared to answer any questions that you may have. CARR SMITH: Okay. Okay, go ahead, Mike. VITOUSEK: Yeah, that kind of goes to my question. You know, the nature of school development is much different than the nature of, like, you know, for a profit housing or commercial development and, you know, trying to put a school on the same time frame as you would one of those types of projects, to me, doesn't necessarily make sense. My question is, is that amount of time enough? MOOERS: I believe it is. The applicants have raised a significant amount of money and are ready to construct. So the financial burden has been relieved, but the question really is, I think over the next few months they're going to have to re-envision what they want that school to be, what they seethe student enrollment being going forward. And I think just being pretty knowledgeable about independent schools is that they're going to take a far more conservative approach, as far as the number of students that they can anticipate. We don't know what's going to happen with school this year; if they're going to be face-to-face or if it's going to be online instructions. And, clearly, those decisions will impact people's ability to and interest in enrolling in independent schools. So I think there's just a number of factors that we don't know yet, but fortunately, for the Parker - - -position financially now, that they are prepared to proceed. So I think that the time limit that we're asking for is certainly adequate, and in all likelihood, Commissioner, we'll probably be back at some point with an updated master plan that we anticipate going forward. VITOUSEK: Okay. CARR SMITH: Greg, can you address Mike's previous comment about a possible discovery in 2011 or 12? MOOERS: I am not aware of, of such a discovery but, obviously, if a discovery was made, then we would certainly have to comply with whatever the treatment plan approved by State Historic Preservation Division is, and that would have to be reflected in any plans and, with the 5 EXHIBIT A appropriate buffers and mitigations that are outlined. I'm not familiar with that right now, but I can tell you that, clearly, the applicant will comply with whatever conditions that were applied by SHPD. CARR SMITH: - - - Mike, did you have anything else? VITOUSEK: There you go. So, yeah, I mean, the reason for mentioning it is that, you know, that's correct, of course, you know, they want to comply, but the fact that it's not here makes me wonder if they're aware of it, and that they're able to comply with it. So, I mean, you know, whether we put a condition in there just making sure they're in compliance with any existing mitigation plans or something like that, that might kind of solve it so that they're aware of it. MOOERS: Yeah, no, I think that's a, that's a very valid point, and we certainly wouldn't have any opposition to including the condition that states we comply with this and any other conditions applied by SHPD. VITOUSEK: Yeah, okay. Sounds, that sounds good to me. CARR SMITH: Could staff share, Maija, could you, is there anything in the conditions that would relate to that? JACKSON: Well, Condition 26 in the permit, which used to be Condition 29, currently is our standard inadvertent find condition. So that already would have required that they notified SHPD, and if, if the Commission would like, as Commissioner Vitousek suggested, we could add a sentence before that to just say that the applicant shall notify SHPD of any existing inadvertent finds, or, and resolve those with SHPD. VITOUSEK: Well, I mean, Condition 25 has language stating the application shall implement any mitigation required by DLNR SHPD relating to this historic resource, that's applying specifically to JACKSON: To the warehouse. VITOUSEK: Warehouse. So I think if we can broaden that so it's not specifically to the warehouse, but to any historic properties on the project area, that the applicant will comply with any mitigation plans relating to any historic properties on the project area, that, that should cover it. JACKSON: Okay. So just change the end of Condition 25 to say, "The applicant shall implement any mitigation required by DLNR SHPD related to historic resources on the property." Does that sound good, Mike? VITOUSEK: Yeah, I think that sounds good. I mean, the other option is, you know, "Prior to adaptive reuse, alteration or demolition of the warehouse,"blah, blah, blah, I guess you could add another indication just so the applicant shall implement any mitigation plans required by the DLNR SHPD, yeah, to any historic resources in the project area. 6 EXHIBIT A JACKSON: Okay, good. CARR SMITH: Thank you, Mike. Anything else from you? VITOUSEK: No. CARR SMITH: Any other Commissioners have questions or comments? None? All right, very good. Then we will move on togenerally, this would be public testimony. Staff, can you confirm,please, that there was no public testimony submitted on this agenda item? JACKSON: Yes, there was no timely public testimony submitted on this item. CARR SMITH: Thank you. So with that, I'd likeI'm sorry, Greg, did you have any issue with the change on that condition? MOOERS: Absolutely not. That's fine. CARR SMITH: Okay. Anyone else have comments on that? No? Okay. Commissioners, I need a motion for action, please. KEALOHA: I move that— CARR hatCARR SMITH: Perry, go ahead. KEALOHA: I move that the request for a time extension to comply with Condition No. 6 of Use Permit No. 5-001 be approved based on the Planning Director's recommendation, which shall be adopted, with the addition of the amendments added by Mike. CARR SMITH: Very good. Is there a second? Mike? VITOUSEK: Second. Yep. CARR SMITH: All right. So we have a, it was moved by Commissioner Perry Kealoha, and seconded by Commissioner Mike Vitousek, to approve as stated with the change in the condition. Commissioners, any discussion? Comments on this? I see none. Staff, can we go for a roll call vote,please? JACKSON: Yes. Commissioner Kealoha? KEALOHA: Aye. JACKSON: Commissioner Vitousek? VITOUSEK: Aye. JACKSON: Commissioner Newberg? 7 EXHIBIT A NEWBERG: Aye. JACKSON: Commissioner Van Pernis? VAN PERNIS: Aye. JACKSON: Commissioner Yates? YATES: Aye. JACKSON: And Chair Carr Smith? CARR SMITH: Aye. JACKSON: All right, the motion passes, six to zero. CARR SMITH: Very good. Greg, you will be notified of the Commission's decision in writing. MOOERS: Thank you very much - - - CARR - -CARR SMITH: Thank you. MOOERS: - - - everything that you folks are doing, as far as serving during this very difficult time. So thank you very much for your service. CARR SMITH: Thank you. VITOUSEK: - - - Greg, Bob Rechtman did the archaeological work on the inadvertent discovery. So you can get that information from him. MOOERS: Great, thank you. Thanks very much, Mike. Yeah, I'll do that. Aloha. Thank you, guys. The discussion ended at 10:00 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Noriko Sauer, Secretary Leeward Planning Commission 8 EXHIBIT A