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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPD Recommendation Report (Amend REZ 938)wnommaAm.maez-Coed Edoc i 1/17/20 COUNTY OF HAWAII PLANNING DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATION MOANIALA HOLDINGS,LLC (FORMERLY HILO HILLSIDE CORP) DELETE CONDITION E CHANGE OF ZONE ORDINANCE NO. 15 50 (REZ 738) Upon careful review of the request against the guidelines for granting an amendment, the Planning Director recommends that an unfavorable recommendation be forwarded to the County Council to delete Condition E of Ordinance No. 15 50. Since this recommendation is being made without the benefit of public testimony,the Director reserves the right to modify and/or alter this position based upon additional information presented at the public hearing. The unfavorable recommendation is based on the following findings: The applicant requests to delete Condition E of Change of Zone Ordinance 15 50, which required the applicant to secure and dedicate land area for the future extension of Kukuau Street from the Sunrise Estates Subdivision to the Puainako Street Extension. Ordinance No. 15 50 amended Ordinance No. 08 115,which amended Ordinance No. 93 36, which rezoned lands from Agricultural-20 acres(A-20a), Agricultural-10 acres(A- 10a), and Agricultural-3 acres(A-3a) to a Residential and Agricultural-1 acre(RA-1a) zoning district. Condition E currently states: As represented by the applicant,the applicant shall secure and dedicate the land area within TMK 2-4-082:061 for that undeveloped portion of the Kukuau Street extension between Sunrise Estates Subdivision and the Puainako Street Extension to the County at no cost, when required by the Department of Public Works." In 2015, the applicant represented that they could acquire the land area needed for extension of Kukuau Street to Puainako Street. They thought it would be relatively easy to do since the property owner at the time and the applicant were friends and a 60-foot wide utility easement(Easement 255)already existed. Since then, the property sold in 2016 and the property owner did not grant an easement for road purposes to the applicant before selling the property. Over the past year,the applicant has been unsuccessful in securing the current landowner's consent in either purchasing this easement outright or 1 amending to include its use for roadway purposes at fair market value. It even had an appraisal done to help establish the fair value. While the applicant is willing to purchase this easement at a fair price for eventual conveyance to the County, it does not appear that it will be successful. Unlike government, the applicant does not have the power of condemnation to compel a landowner to sell a property or portion thereof. The primary reason for the Planning Director's unfavorable recommendation is the need to provide a road connection between Sunrise Estates and Puainako Street to improve connectivity for the convenience ofresidents and emergency responders. While this may seem unrelated to the applicant's Hilo Hillside subdivision, the property(TMK 2-4-082:061)north of Puainako Street that is needed to provide this road connection was previously owned by the original developer,previously owned by the applicant from 2002 to 2004, and is subject to change of zone Ordinance No. 15 050. The request to delete Condition E of Ordinance 15 50 would not result in a more appropriate land use pattern and would not be consistent with the goals, policies, and standards of the General Plan for this area.The applicant has completed Hilo Hillside Subdivision Phase I and recently received Final Subdivision Approval for Phase II. The applicant wishes to secure Final Subdivision Approval for Phase III but cannot until Condition E is resolved, either by the applicant fulfilling the condition or its deletion. The General Plan recognizes that except for Komohana Street below the mauka residential sections,the majority ofthe traffic flow in Hilo is forced through the downtown area because of the lack of arterial connection. The General Plan designates Kupulau Street as the collector road for this area of Hilo. The road is proposed to extend from the end of the existing Kupulau Street, over State property, through Hilo Hillside and Sunrise Estates to Mohouli Street where it would connect across from the future Ponahawai Street extension. When built,this would allow travel between downtown Hilo and the upper Waiakea area as an alternative to using Komohana Street. Currently the right-of-way in Sunrise Estates for the Kupulau Street extension has been subdivided but has not been developed. The right-of-way is owned by Sunrise Estates Joint Ventures. Thus, although Kupulau Street is designated as the collector road by the General Plan, the only segment currently constructed is within Hilo Hillside, Phase Ill, except for where Kupulau Street crosses the drainage easement just south of Puainako Street. 2 In 2008, the County Council added a condition to the Hilo Hillside zoning ordinance requiring the applicant to construct the entire Kupulau Street extension within Phase III from Puainako Street to the southern property boundary. In 2015, the applicant requested relief from constructing a bridge over the drainage easement just south of Puainako Street. The County Council approved the request. Therefore, any future connection of Kupulau Street to Puainako Street will require the County to construct the bridge over the drainage easement. So,while the Kupulau Street Extension is designated as the cross-town connector for this area,it will require significant investment and time by the County before the roadway is constructed on the ground. On the other hand,the Knkuau Street connection that is the subject of Condition E, can be constructed relatively quickly by the County once the applicant dedicates the needed land area to the County because the Kukuau Street is already built from downtown Hilo to the southern property boundary within Hilo Hillside, Phase II. While the applicant has indicated it is not ideal to place two intersections(KUknau Street and Kupulau Street)in close proximity to one another on Puainako Street, the Department of Public Works can limit the Kukuau Street access to right-in/right-out, if warranted. When communities lack connectivity, all traffic funnels to the arterials and conditions deteriorate to the degree that resident's quality of life suffers from being stuck in traffic and overall public safety suffers due to an increase in emergency response times. Although local streets, such as Kukuau Street, are not designed for through or heavy traffic, the connectivity of these streets with each other and with collectors is crucial to ensure residents can easily reach destinations within the community. In their memo dated September 22, 2020,the Department ofPublic Works indicated they also do not support the applicant's request to delete Condition E for the same reasons as stated above. DPW recommends that should the applicant's request be approved, the applicant should be required to construct the Kupulau Street connection to Puainako Street(over the existing drainage easement) as was required in Condition D of Ord. No. 08 115, and subsequently close the current Kukuau Street entrance into the Hilo Hillside subdivision at Puainako Street and use the Kupulau Street entrance instead. Should the Planning Commission and County Council agree to the deletion of Condition E, the only way to provide a connection from Kukuau Street to Puainako Street 3 would be for the County to secure an easement from the current landowner or condemn the required right-of-way. The Planning Director does not believe it is reasonable to place the burden on the County of securing the right-of-way in addition to making the road improvements for this connection, particularly when the representation made when the property was rezoned in 1993 was that Kukuau Street would connect to Puainako Street, and the applicant already received relief from building a bridge over the drainage easement to connect Kupulau Street to Puainako Street. Additionally,the applicant received credit towards the road fair share contribution requirement for the cost of improvements for future Kupulau Street and Kawailani Street extensions within their property, so there is no fair share contribution for traffic impacts generated by the Hilo Hillside subdivision that can be used for future regional road improvements. Based on the above findings, the Planning Director recommends that the Planning Commission send an unfavorable recommendation to the County Council for the request to delete Condition E of Ordinance No. 15 050. 4