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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-12-17 Leeward Exh A (Public Testimony re AMEND SMA 388) LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAII TESTIMONY TRANSCRIPT DECEMBER 17, 2020 Public testimony regarding the application of DPM ACQUISITION LLC DBA DIAMOND RESORTS INTERNATIONAL (FORMERLY PACIFIC MONARCH RESORTS, INC.) (AMEND SMA 388) was called to order at 9:40 a.m. via live-stream online meeting, with Chairperson Nancy Carr Smith presiding. COMMISSIONERS IN ATTENDANCE: Nancy Carr Smith, Barbara DeFranco, Perry Kealoha, Max Newberg, Mark Van Pernis, and Michael Vitousek ABSENT AND EXCUSED: Faith"Faye" Yates ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: Malia Hall, Esq. (Counsel for the Commission), Zendo Kern (Planning Director), John Mukai, Esq. (Counsel for the Planning Director), Jeff Darrow (Planning Program Manager), Jessica Andrews (Planner), Tracie-Lee Camero (Planner), Rachelle Ley (Secretary to the Planning Director), and Noriko Sauer(Leeward Planning Commission Secretary) APPLICANT: DPM ACQUISITION LLC DBA DIAMOND RESORTS INTERNATIONAL (FORMERLY PACIFIC MONARCH RESORTS, INC.) (AMEND SMA 388) Application to amend Condition No. 2 (Time to Complete Construction) of Special Management Area Use Permit No. 388, which was issued in 1998 to allow the development of a commercial/condominium complex and related improvements on 76,739 square feet of land. The property is located on the makai side of Alii Drive bounded by Alii Drive and Kahakai Road, south of Royal Kona Resort and north of Kona Reef Condominium, Pua`a 3rd, North Kona, Hawaii, TMK: (3) 7-5-018:011. Secretary's Note: "- - -" indicates indiscernible speech due to internet/technical difficulties or simultaneous talk. CARR SMITH: We have the following people registered to testify—and they are here for agenda item number 2, DPM Acquisition LLC dba Diamond Resorts International, this is to amend SMA 388—so we have Judith Ruffner and Alex Duncan. Can you two please raise your right hand? Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter before the Leeward Planning Commission? RUFFNER: Yes. DUNCAN: (Inaudible response) 1 EXHIBIT A CARR SMITH: Thank you. Let's begin with you, Judith. Go ahead and, as I stated, please keep to three minutes. Go ahead. Thank you. RUFFNER: My husband and I are in a condo located directly across Kahakai Road from the property described in SMA388. I'm here to request that you deny DRI's request for a fourth five-year time extension on this permit. DRI should be required to apply for a new SMA permit for several reasons. First, DRI clearly intends to change the proposed use of the land from a commercial building with middle-income residential housing to a timeshare development. The original SMA was approved in 1998 for a commercial space with 48 residential units, which would house approximately 192 residents. The approval specifically stated that the proposed use would compliment several goals of the General Plan, including providing suitable living environments for island residents, attaining safe, sanitary and livable housing for residents of Hawaii County, and creating viable communities for our people. DRI now intends to build timeshares at Grand Kona Resort as indicated on its most recent plans submitted in 2017. Given that the Hawai i County Planning Department recently required all short-term vacation rental owners to pay $500 and spend numerous hours of applying for an STVR permit, purportedly to free up more long-term rental housing for local residents, I'd like to ask why DRI should deserve an extension to build timeshares instead of middle-income housing as originally approved on the SMA permit. Second, DRI's proposed plans include 46 three-bedroom timeshare units, with sitting rooms and living rooms that could accommodate up to 10 guests per unit for a total of 460 guests. This dramatic increase in the number of occupants from 192 to 460 should be CAMERO: One minute left. RUFFNER: evaluated for its environmental impact on this sensitive coastal zone area, as well as its potential safety implications in a tsunami evacuation zone. Finally, I'm greatly disturbed by DRI's lack of transparency. Nearby property owners have received four letters in the past two years from DRI's planning consultant that included a description and floorplan for Alii Gardens, the commercial and residential structure originally approved in 1998; however, new building plans for timeshares at Grand Kona were submitted and approved in 2017. I don't know if repeatedly providing this outdated information is deliberate or an oversight. Regardless, the information is misleading and fails to alert the community about the proposed use and potential impact of DRI's most recent development plans. Please deny this request. Thank you. CARR SMITH: Thank you very much, Judith, appreciate your testimony. RUFFNER: Thank you. CARR SMITH: Alex, go ahead, three minutes. DUNCAN: - - - 2 EXHIBIT A CARR SMITH: I can't hear you, Alex. DUNCAN: Here we go. CARR SMITH: Okay, thank you. DUNCAN: Good morning, Commissioners. I last testified October 15�'regarding the no on-island representative person to take care of problems at this property, such as graffiti, drug deals, dealings, the vagrants that are living in the underground parking structure the only thing that's been built on this property—still nothing has transitioned since that time. There still is no on-island person to take care of problems. Second, we have uncovered that the DPM Acquisition who is asking for this extension, according to the State of Nevada Secretary, it expired, their LLC expired 1-1 of 2011. It is no longer active, and the status is considered inactive and revoked. So I'm kind of wondering who is really requesting this, and what kind of dance around are we getting. I would personally like to suggest and recommend that we no longer, that the Commission no longer extends another five-year extension until we really find out what's going on, and they have a plan to build something. Thank you. CARR SMITH: Thank you very much, Alex. Commissioners, do you have any questions for Judith or Alex? Max, go ahead. NEWBERG: Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to thank- - -testifiers, Alex and Judith, for being here today, and it seems to myself you have a lot of concerns about this property, in particular with a lot of the written testimony. Because where I'm located at work down here on Alii Drive, I was able to go by this morning to see the property next to Royal Kona Resort. And while I'm not able to see anywhere past the chain-link fence, the barbwire, I did see one piece of graffiti. And to my knowledge I'm not sure if it's accessible to get through that chain-link fence. Again, only taking about 20 minutes this morning to make sure I see it currently—it was great to see folks enjoying Honl's Beach, there was a yoga group there. I just want to say as a commissioner I do appreciate everybody coming forth. I know it can be troublesome in our community with homelessness, vagrancy, and other issues that certainly need to be dealt with as far as safety. And I just wanted to speak to that because I don't quite see what's been spoken to as far as anyone being able to access the actual property. What I did notice is that to the north of the property there seems to be a buffer zone between the tennis courts at Royal Kona Resort that is in between the said property for DPM, and it seems that there may have been activity in there at some time of homelessness or what have you, but it almost seems like there is a buffer lot between that. Not on anybody spied on this, I do want to speak to the concerns of the testifiers that are here today and also those that wrote in testimony. And, again, not spending a lot of time, only during the day this morning and once prior about the same time in the morning, looking at it and trying to see, you know, these concerns that are being brought up, if they are there. Not saying that anyone isn't being earnest and that these aren't definite concerns,just wanted to speak to that, being able to see for myself what situation is there; didn't notice really any litter or a lot of the unfortunate signs we see in our neighborhoods these days with homelessness, but 3 EXHIBIT A several attempts—except for one needing to be done covering up the graffiti in that place. So I just wanted to speak to that, if maybe Alex or Judith could elaborate more on perhaps what they've seen CARR SMITH: Thank you NEWBERG: Thank you. CARR SMITH: Thank you, Commissioner Newberg. Judith, do you have a response? RUFFNER: Yes, please. I really appreciate your driving by there, first of all; I think that's, that's really key to understanding what we are living with. Those of us in Kona Reef live directly across Kahakai Road from the current structure, and I can see it easily from the front of my condo. So, you know, there isreally, it's only the street that is separating us from that property. There are two entrances that's had chain-link gates, and both of those are open; they are still locked, but they are open far enough so that people can get in and out. And I was just there last month. I checked there is one along Alii Drive, which is jimmied open. Again, there is a lock around it, a chain and a lock, but it's been separated so that, you know,people can squeeze in there, and then the same for the big gates along Kahakai Road. So it's—and it's not just the trash, it's the weeds. A lot of the graffiti has already been painted over by people who live at Kona Reef just as an attempt to, you know, keep it to a minimum. Graffiti generally gets more graffiti. So I know my neighbors have been very active in trying to keep it clean. But the weeds are out of control, you know, the,just that the chain-link fence, the rust, the peeling paint, it's, it's very unsightly. CARR SMITH: Thank you very much. Alex, did you want to respond? DUNCAN: Yes, please, thank you. Thank you, Commissioner, for going by - - -. The graffiti that's on there currently is new. You can see, if you come down Kahakai Road, you'll see a different color gray, which has been painted over the old graffiti, right, gray cement-color paint. Yes, there isn't much trash around there right now because the local community picks up the trash just to make it look a little cleaner and neater. So you came by at a good time to see all the trash picked up. In regards to the gate on Kahakai Road that is chain-linked, you can pull it apart, and we see skinny vagrants squeeze right between the gates to get in. And they are able to jump over the barbwire fence, which is next on the right-hand side of the entrance; you'll see the barbwires are already pushed down to where they just step over the barbwire to go into the underground parking. So, once again, it, it's just kind of a mess, you know, something just needs to be done. Thank you very much. CARR SMITH: Thank you, appreciate it. Any other questions? Max, go ahead. NEWBERG: Thank you both, Alex and Judith, for sharing further. Chair or possibly anybody that has further knowledge on this project I don't know if I have the name of the realty company correct, is it C. J. Kimberly that's kind of surrounding by this U-shape property, they are on the makai side of there—has there been any, any testimony or communications with those folks if they've noticed or can validate or add to this conversation at all? 4 EXHIBIT A CARR SMITH: Can one of you, Judith or Alex, respond to that? Raise your hand, if you wish to. Mark, I'm talking to the testifiers at the moment; I'll get to you in a second. Judith or Alex, can you respond to Max's comment or not? RUFFNER: No, I haven't heard anything from C. J. CARR SMITH: Okay. DUNCAN: And nor have L This is VAN PERNIS: respond to Max. CARR SMITH: Mark, can you VAN PERNIS: I have, I have an answer for Max's question. CARR SMITH: Okay, go ahead. VAN PERNIS: I have spoken with C. J. Kimberly. She's opposed to the, she's opposed to the extension, and the homelessness is a problem for her property as well, which is surrounded on three sides by the subject parcel. So, she is at the moment somewhat physical disabled, but she is opposed to the extension. CARR SMITH: Thank you very much. Any further questions or comments? (No audible response) All right, thank you both for your testimony. You can drop off the call now and join the YouTube channel, if you'd like to continue watching. RUFFNER: Thank you all CARR SMITH: Thank you very much. RUFFNER: Thank you all for your service. CARR SMITH: Thank you. All right, Commissioners, can I have a motion to close public testimony, please? VAN PERNIS: - - - include the recently received letters? They are included in the public testimony? These letters I've recently received copies of. CARR SMITH: What about them? VAN PERNIS: I move to close the public testimony, provided those items are included. CARR SMITH: They are, they are included. Is there a second? 5 EXHIBIT A VITOUSEK: Second. CARR SMITH: Okay, a motion by Mark and a second by Mike. All in favor? COMMISSIONERS: Aye. (No one opposed.) CARR SMITH: Okay, thank you very much. Public testimony is closed now, so we'll move on to, on through the agenda. The public testimony ended at 9:56 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Noriko Sauer, Secretary Leeward Planning Commission 6 EXHIBIT A