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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-10-07 Windward Exh D Arts and Sciences Center SPP 21-000228 WINDWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAII HEARING TRANSCRIPT OCTOBER 7, 2021 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of ARTS AND SCIENCES CENTER (SPP 21-000228) was called to order at 10:32 a.m. via live-stream online meeting, with Chairman John Replogle presiding. COMMISSIONERS IN ATTENDANCE: Gilbert Aguinaldo, Dean Au, Joseph Clarkson, Michelle Galimba, Dennis Lin, Thomas Raffipiy and John Replogle ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: Malia Hall, Esq. (Counsel for the Commission), Jeffrey Darrow, (Deputy Planning Director), Jean Campbell, Esq. (Counsel for the Planning Department), Jessica Andrews (Planner), Maija Jackson (Program Manager), and Melissa Dacayanan-Salvador (Windward Planning Commission Secretary) APPLICANT: ARTS AND SCIENCES CENTER (SPP 21-000228) Application for a Special Permit to allow the construction and operation of an elementary school campus for approximately 300 students on approximately 2.31 acres of land within the State Land Use Agricultural district. The subject property is located at 16-1678 34h Avenue, on the northwest corner of the Orchidland Drive–34h Avenue intersection, Orchid Land Estates, Puna, Hawaii, TMK: 1-6-010:083. Secretary's Note: "—" indicates that there were technical and/or internet difficulties, which made the conversation inaudible. REPLOGLE: Our next applicant is Arts and Sciences Center (SPP 21-000228). The application for a Special Permit to allow the construction and operation of an elementary school campus for approximately 300 students on approximately 2.31 acres of land within the State Land Use Agricultural district. The subject property is located at 16-1678 34th Avenue on the northwest corner of Orchidland Drive - 34th Avenue intersection, Orchid Land Estates, Puna, Hawaii, TMK 1-6-10:083. Staff presentation will be made by Ms. Jessica Andrews, one of our planners. Jessica, take it away. ANDREWS: Thank you Chair. I just want to make sure everybody can hear me. Thumbs up? Alright, I'm going to share my screen give me a minute here. Okay, as mentioned this application is for Arts and Sciences Center for a Special Permit. The location map shows the subject property in red is located on Orchidland Drive just about two blocks off of the intersection with Highway 130. Sorry looks like I hope that this isn't interfering with your view, but I'll charge ahead here. The applicant is requesting a Special Permit to construct and operate in elementary school campus on an approximately 2.331-acre parcel located in the State Land Use Agricultural district. To develop the property in two phases. Phase one (1), including to obtain a Change of Use building permits for two existing warehouse structures, to allow school occupancy for up to 175 students and 20 faculty. Also included in Phase 1 is to provide County 1 EXHIBIT D water to the property, to construct access driveway, parking, playgrounds, athletic fields, and a water storage tank. Phase two (2)would include permitting and constructing a third building to allow a maximum student body of 300, with 28 faculty. Also, requesting to operate the school from Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., including pickup and drop off times, and to whole community meetings and events, no more than twice a week to conclude by 9:00 p.m. The zoning map shows the property outlined in red. It is zoned Agricultural-3 acres and nearby properties are zoned similarly and to the east is Agricultural-1 acre. The entire area around the subject property is Agricultural State Land Use designation. According to the General Plan the subject property is designated Rural and just across Orchidland Drive is an area that's designated Medium Density Urban. This image shows a diagram from the Orchidland, sorry, from the General Plan, sorry, excuse me, this is from the CDP, and it shows the Orchidland Neighborhood Village Center outlined with dashed lines and the subject property is outlined in red, and you can see that it's located within the Village Center. The applicants proposed site plan. This site plan shows the existing buildings which are designated which are labeled as Building B and Building C and the new building, Building A would be the Phase 2 building. You can see that they've included their concept for Phase 1 and for Phase 2. Phase 1 being building two being Building B, Building C, the parking, the access drive, the play fields which are on the left of your screen and the water storage tank which is just above Building A and Building A itself would be included in Phase 2 and that's per the applicant's request. This aerial photograph shows the site outlined in red and you can see the roof, the roofs of the two existing warehouse structures, Orchidland Drive being just to the south of the property. So, I'm going to show a few different site photographs showing both dry weather conditions and rainy weather conditions. These two slides show the site in non-rainy conditions and looking west on the left, looking east on the right back towards the highway. And these slides show the site and Orchidland Drive on a rainy day. Again, looking west on the left and looking east on the right back towards the highway. This photograph shows the existing structures and Orchidland Drive heading to the west. This would be a view straight on across Orchidland Drive to the property and the existing warehouse structures. Looking east across the property towards the existing structures. And again, on a rainy day and rainy conditions looking across the entire property from the far west side of the property line which you can see designated by the fence and the existing structures off in the distance. So, the Deputy Planning Director's recommendation is approval with conditions, and I also wanted to address the recommendation to revise Condition No. 7. In order to clarify road improvements for the recommendation, Condition No. 7 is recommended to be revised as follows. I'll just go ahead and read it, and then I'll itemize or highlight what was changed from the original recommended condition. So, the applicant shall provide pavement improvements to the northern half of Orchidland Drive along the subject property's entire Orchidland Drive frontage, consisting of a 12-foot-wide travel lane, 8-foot-wide shoulder and a10-foot wide Swale, meeting with the Department of Public Works Standard Detail R-19 for half section of street with shoulder within the existing 60-foot wide right of way prior to the issuance of a certificate 2 EXHIBIT D of occupancy for any portion of the proposed project. And the underlined sections there are new and anything that's bracketed and crossed out was removed from the condition. So, I'll end my presentation there and I will hand it back over to the Chair. JACKSON: Chair Replogle if I may, this is Maija Jackson. REPLOGLE: Okay. JACKSON: I want to mention a couple things related to that revised condition. So, the revised condition that Jessica just showed you differs from the revised condition that was emailed to you I believe yesterday. What happened was we thought there was a 40-foot right of way, but we discovered early this morning that it was a 60-foot right of way, so we adjusted the road improvements based on that additional right of way. So, the condition that Jessica just showed you is the current one that the Department supports, and we did email it to Mr. Pipan, and he agreed to the condition. And we have one more condition we'd like to bring up related to traffic management. Throughout the applicant submittals it mentions that they will do strategies to reduce traffic impacts. Some of those are carpooling, managing pickup and drop off times, and staggering school start times. Those are standard practices that are usually put into place for schools to reduce traffic impacts on nearby roads, and so we would like to add that as a condition. I'm going to screen share what the condition would say, this is a standard condition we use for schools, and we forgot to add it to this permit. So, I'd like to screen share to show you and then I would also like to just verify that the applicant is agreeable to it. We just sent this also to Mr. Pipan less than an hour ago, so I want to give him time to review it and let us know if he has any issues with it. Can you all read my screen? LIN: Yes, Maija, I just had a question regarding procedures. Does this additional condition have to be public notification beforehand, or like the parties have to be notified before and in a certain amount of days? I just feel it's, yeah, I'm just curious. JACKSON: No, it's not uncommon for conditions to either be recommended for change by the Department the same day of the hearing, at the hearing. It's also not uncommon for the Commission to change conditions or add conditions. So, we don't have to give any type of notice that conditions may change it's all part of the deliberation. But that is why I'm asking that the Commission make sure and see if the applicant is agreeable because they weren't provided much notice on this condition. Although they did represent that they will implement these strategies throughout their application so it shouldn't really come as a surprise. AU: Mr. Chair, I have a question. REPLOGLE: Yes, Mr. Au. AU: Maija, a question for you. So, what would this condition, is this the next letter condition and what is the prior condition number? The prior amended condition that Jessica was talking about. What number is that? 3 EXHIBIT D JACKSON: So. ANDREWS: Seven is the revised condition. JACKSON: So, this is the old Condition 7, so we will ask to revise this one, and then we would probably add the new one that I just showed you as Condition 8 and then renumber everything from there down. Mr. Pipan did you have enough time to review this? I also emailed it to you. PIPAN: Yeah, I think this is basically representative of what the traffic demand management strategies that we were proposing. So, I haven't had a chance to confer with the applicant about this language. So, I'm sure they're taking a look at it now and can weigh in themselves. I think it is largely representative, although this last sentence I'm kind of a stickler for language, you know that, sorry. Carpooling, bus, and van services. So, as it stands, the shuttles are vans and not buses so it'd be maybe "or"vans instead of"and". That would be my only suggestion. Thanks. JACKSON: Thank you John. Do you feel like you need some time with your client to confer? Would you want like a break, I mean I don't want to that would just be an option? PIPAN: We can let them, they are online, so they can I guess state whether or not they'd like to confer with me. Like I said I feel like this is basically what they're planning anyway, so it isn't a surprise, but I'll defer to them. Gail? Steve? HIRAKAML Yeah, we are we already have those strategies in place, it wouldn't be a problem to put that condition in. We currently are in subdivisions, HPP for one so some of the roads that we use are gravel and not paved and so we have cooperated with the neighbors to put speed limits in and add to carpool to already limit the amount of traffic. So, this is not out of our expectations for running a school. We want to be good neighbors of course and those are good suggestions. Unless somebody gives us millions of dollars, we're not going to be using a bus anyway. We have a fleet of vans that we find very convenient, and we use them now in shuttling our students to and from a classroom. So, the capacity of these vans is normally 14. So, but recently because of the pandemic, we have limited them to 7. So, we use more vans now, but when this under normal times, we should have a lesser number of vans on the road so anyway. CLARKE: Aloha kakou, this is Gail Clarke, the only thing I would add is that already "—"that intersection because Kamehameha School, and I believe another Charter School already use the Wiki Gas Station area for drop off and pickup so, I believe we will be less impact than what already is going on there. I concur with the addition of the language. REPLOGLE: Thank you. Mr. Gadd? GADD: I agree, it's fine with us. REPLOGLE: Okay, so Ms. Andrews, is it okay to go on with the applicant's presentation? ANDREWS: Yes, please. 4 EXHIBIT D REPLOGLE: You are done then? ANDREWS: Yes. REPLOGLE: Okay, thank you very much. So, John Pipan, Gail Clarke, Steve Hirakami, and Greg Gadd, please raise your right hand, so I can swear you in. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Windward Planning Commission? GADD: I do. PIPAN: Yes. HIRAKAML Yes. REPLOGLE: Okay, please state your name and the town you live in, and you may proceed with your presentation. PIPAN: John Pipan, I live just outside of Honoka`a. I'll kick it off and then we'll kind of pass the floor around. Aloha Chair Replogle, Planning Commissioners thank you very much for your service to your communities and dedication to this process. It's been a great meeting so far. I expected to be talking to you in the afternoon so it's always a nice surprise when things go smoothly and quickly. Big mahalo to the Planning Department's staff and Deputy Director Darrow. We really appreciate the favorable recommendation and respectfully request your consideration to approve this Special Permit. We also appreciate Chair Replogle you made it clear at the outset that the public testimony today was relating to Item 44 on the agenda and not this application. The Special Permit that we're talking about is proposed by the Arts and Sciences Center, which is a private nonprofit organization established in 2003. And this group has been a great pleasure to work with over the last couple years. I've been constantly impressed by their vision and commitment to serving Puna. This Special Permit is proposing to operate an elementary school on approximately 2.3 acres of land in Orchidland Estates. The application is fairly straightforward and was covered well by Ms. Andrews. We feel that we've thoroughly pressed out any wrinkles and left this one in the oven for ample time to ensure it isn't under done. The proposed school will be served by the County water system and permitted septic systems with adequate capacity for the proposed use. And the State Department of Transportation (DOT) confirm the results of our traffic study prepared for the project and is not requiring any improvements to be made to the intersection at Orchidland Drive and Kea`au-Pahoa Road. This is largely due to the planned construction of a roundabout at that intersection. So, even though the DOT is not requiring any improvements, the applicants intend to contribute to the roadway improvements and ongoing maintenance along this important and heavily use section of lower Orchidland Drive. This site has been designed for smooth traffic flow and the school will implement as we just recently discussed these traffic demand management strategies, sorry kind of a mouthful. Including shuttles, after school programs, offsetting school hours from 5 EXHIBIT D peak traffic times and encouraging carpooling. This area as Ms. Andrews pointed out was identified as a location suitable for development into a Village Center by the Puna CDP and school uses are appropriate in that area. Nevertheless, some concern has been expressed by neighbors of the project regarding potential impacts on their farming operations or vice versa. Basically, the neighbors farming operations are protected under the Right to Farm Act, and this is reflected in the proposed Conditions No.13 and 14. And further the potential for adverse impacts to the school from nearby farming operations are easily mitigated by employing Best Management Practices and following established rules for environmental, health and safety. Greg Gadd is here representing the landowner, Gail Clarke is here representing Arts and Sciences Center (ASC), Steve Hirakami is here representing Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science (HAAS). I can confirm we've all reviewed the conditions and the revisions and will comply with those going forward. I'll hand the floor to Ms. Clarke, to say a few words and I think Mr. Hirakami would like to say a few words as well, thank you very much. CLARKE: Mahalo John. Is my volume, okay? REPLOGLE: I can hear you, yes. CLARKE: "—" little loud the first time. Anybody "—" okay, good. Aloha kakou, I am Gail Clarke and I have voluntarily served as the President of the Arts & Sciences Center for ASC since 2003. It was formed to provide outstanding support and infrastructure for community- based learning rooted in Puna. ASC is honored to facilitate public school education in our growing community. Our main campus in Pahoa is the home of HAAS Public Charter School is now 20 years old. Orchidland has the potential to be a vibrant, well-located campus serving elementary students in Puna. Like our main campus in Pahoa it has the potential to provide community support for small meetings or food drops as conditions call for. I'd like to note that in Jessica's presentation and thank you for that presentation, I believe it said that community or after school meetings wouldn't happen more than twice a month. I believe she said twice a week would not be "—"I'd like to just say another couple sentences. Additionally, ASC is honored to support economic forces in our community keeping money flowing close to the community in the forms of payroll and supports for services and vendors. Multi-million-dollar HAAS Public Charter School payrolls have been happening for nearly two decades. ASC is also currently serving on the Hawaii County Committees for Economic, Resilience and Cultural Resiliency. We support Hawaiian language and culture classes, business classes for entrepreneurs and we are launching a program called Growing Artists to help them thrive and make a living from their passions. Almost everything is virtual right now and we are always working to support connectivity in our community. "—" Student at"—"this Orchidland campus will be an addition to our main campus in Pahoa where larger gatherings can occur as needed when time allows for that. As a small mostly classrooms campus, it will most conveniently serve students and ohana that live in our large and over- growing subdivisions between Kea`au and Pahoa. Mahalo for your serious consideration of our application. I think this is good work and pleased to be working with all the partners that we are to pull it off. Mahalo. 6 EXHIBIT D I'm sorry to read in the comments that distortions out there "—" Hopefully I can answer questions if you have any. Back to you Chair or John. REPLOGLE: "—" Ms. Clarke. PIPAN: Yeah, thanks. "—"time for Steve? Thanks. HIRAKAML Yeah, we're questioned your audio. Aloha, my name is Steve Hirakami. I've been Director of HAAS for the past 20 years and in partnership with Arts and Sciences Center. We've been serving about 700 kids in the Pahoa-Kea`au district. This is really an exciting project we have developed a beautiful 24-acre campus in Pahoa that serves our Middle and High School students. Our Elementary students have been spread all over the communities, because of the lack of facilities in our area. When we came to the Planning Commission to get the Special Permit on the 24-acre property we were limited because of traffic to 350 students. So, that's why we are seeking instead of developing it all in one piece we're moving it. There's a lot of talk earlier in the testimony about impacts of charter schools and I want to say we've made a lot of impacts in our community, but they've all been positive. We're more than just education. We're about community service, we're about community engagement, we're about sustainability and environmental awareness and teaching kids their civic responsibility. So, we form many good partnerships and we've had zero complaints on our existence in our area and rather than working against our neighbors we have always worked with our neighbors. So, I see a great opportunity being surrounded by existing partners to show our kids that, hey, maybe you don't have to go to college, maybe there's a viable occupation right here in Puna where you live. So, it's an exciting opportunity to explore what we already doing in agriculture and sustainability, food security and all of that, so I really thank you for this opportunity and I thank you a head of time for a favorable consideration. Thank you very much. REPLOGLE: Thank you Mr. Hirakami. Commissioners, do you have any questions for the applicant? Mr. Lin? LIN: Thank you Chair. My question is maybe if Jessica if she's still on can show the map with the location of the school's property. ANDREWS: Are you looking for the aerial photographs? LIN: Yeah, if you go to the aerial photograph. I understand from Mr. Hirakami that there's multiple farmers and farmland around that area but I'm just curious on what that structure that building next to it would be this one right here. The blue, bluish roof? That looks like a commercial property. Can you clarify what that property is? ANDREWS: I'm not sure exactly which one you're talking about but— LIN: The one right, so at the other corner of your red square or rectangle. 7 EXHIBIT D ANDREWS: Okay, so. over here? LIN: Yes. ANDREWS: That's yeah that's correct that those are commercial properties. There is a gas station, there's like a fast-food restaurant, a drive thru. LIN: Oh, is that Blane's? ANDREWS: Yeah, correct. LIN: Is that Orchidland Blane's? ANDREWS: Correct. LIN: Okay. ANDREWS: There's Orchidland Blane's, there's a hardware store and just above that with the brown roof is a church. LIN: Okay and my other question, oh, go ahead Jeff. DARROW: Sorry about that. Just for background information, all of the uses that you see that aren't agricultural in nature, the church, there's an office across the church, the commercial center that you are referring to, as well as this property. All were approved through a Special Permits in the past. LIN: And my last question, and maybe for other Commissioners can help me out here, because I'm not familiar with Orchidland site but I'm familiar with HPP. But are there arterial roads that connect from further up so if you're going up like Shower Drive on Pohaku side that connect down to 34h. So, if you had students who are living up Shower Drive side or having to go from HPP over to this side. Are there roads that connect those the 34h, 35h or those roads? REPLOGLE: Mr. Aguinaldo? AGUINALDO: I can answer that for Dennis. Yes, so Dennis for that there on 34h when you guys talking about agricultural if you go further on the corner that's where the Special Use is planning to put HAAS. Right next to it used to be sort of agricultural. Agricultural where they use to do I think anthurium and so forth. But when you say surrounding neighbors' agriculture, a lot of them on that main corridor Orchidland Drive do have some sort of nursery and so forth. But connectivity to what you're speaking about, yes, there are, but not on 34h because it dead ends there and it backs up to "—" and Sure Foundation. But if you go on to Pohaku Drive or Shower Drive there's always other streets, if you look under the blue section. There are connecting roads and also to Aulii. There's means of getting to that subject Special Use. LIN: Thank you Mr. Aguinaldo. That's all my questions, thank you for the clarification. 8 EXHIBIT D REPLOGLE: Okay, thank you. Anything further from any other Commissioners? AU: Yes, Mr. Chair. This is Commissioner Au. REPLOGLE: Mr. Au? AU: Can everybody hear me, okay? I hear a lot of people cutting out. AGUINALDO: Yep. AU: Okay question to Mr. Pipan and Mr. Hirakami. I'm getting mixed messages, Mr. Pipan said there was some opposition from some farmers and then Mr. Hirakami said that there is no opposition. Can you just clarify that and just want to be fair to the people that live around the area, we always take that into consideration? So please, please clarify. PIPAN: Yes, thank you Commissioner Au for the question and opportunity to clarify. I believe and Mr. Hirakami can speak to this but he's referring to their existing operations and the lack of any complaints or friction with the surrounding community on their existing main ASC site in Pahoa versus the testimony which isn't necessarily a complaint. It's more of an opinion about this proposal that was received and responded to in this application process. So, we definitely respect their opinions and hope to address their concerns and I think we've done that in the conditions. Does that answer your question? AU: Yes. HIRAKAML And Mr. Au, I can clarify that too. When we originally moved into our Pahoa property, our only neighbor was a 10-acre anthurium farm and we actually form partnerships. I mean we had students doing volunteer work in his nursery there and he donated a lot of flowers to us when we had any kind of graduation events or anything. So, what I was saying earlier is not the opposition, but the opportunity to introduce some of our students to the possibilities of making a living from agriculture because we steered our whole society away from agriculture. And it's like, it's hard work and so I think that presenting the opportunities and being surrounded by neighbors it's like making lemonade out of lemons, so I think that forming partnerships like we've always done will be a benefit for both them and us too. REPLOGLE: Ms. Galimba? GALIMBA: Thank you Chair. So, of course I have to kind of jump in there and make John laugh just by saying anything. Well, I just wanted to say that I really appreciate Mr. Hirakami your background of working with farmers and having students learn from them, and I think that's a really great approach. I would just sort of take issue with one of your comments, which is that kids can there's no sort of dichotomy of going to college versus working in agriculture. As a super overeducated rancher, I would say that that is not a dichotomy in fact you have to be very educated and very smart nowadays to make it in agriculture. I mean you could potentially not go to college and do really well in agriculture, but it would probably not hurt to learn some 9 EXHIBIT D economics or accounting or natural resource management. So,just a little quibble and thanks for your presentation. HIRAKAML Of course, of course, you know as a principal I'm supposed to, and you know the modern thing is send everybody to college and everything like that. But in our community, we got to look at all opportunities, colleges isn't for anybody, everybody and nowadays with the huge student loans and the student debt. There're other opportunities and so I'm not saying don't go to college. Our kids go to outstanding colleges all over the United States. We promote college scholarships. Our students won $780,000 worth of scholarships last year, so it's a daunting thing to say, but what I was trying to say is that were trying to create a whole range of opportunities, in other words I don't as a Principal I don't steer people into college is the only way and that's what I meant. I said it kind of wrong, but I was just, look at our community see what opportunities are, and Army is a good choice for students or going into the service doing service. So, I'm sorry I said that in that way, but what I meant is that I want our students to look at all the opportunities within our community. So that they can be a viable citizen because Hawaii has had a severe brain lost from decades now where we send our brightest off to the mainland to good colleges and they don't return, because the job opportunities aren't here. So, it's kind of like a brain drain. So, it's kind of like I think we got to look at it more modern ways right now, so that's what I meant. Sorry if I was misunderstood. GALIMBA: Sorry to make to trouble to you, I get it. REPLOGLE: We all can't be brain surgeons. GALIMBA: There's many ways to be very, very smart and to contribute to the community and sometimes that's pig hunting for a while, you know till you get that out of your system. So, you're a legend in the Charter School community so thanks for all that you do. REPLOGLE: Fellow Commissioners is there, yes Mr. Clarkson? CLARKSON: Yes, I just have a, I'm curious about a couple of things. The 24-acre campus for your existing middle and high school sounds like it would be plenty of room to accommodate these younger kids. But you mentioned that there were traffic issues or traffic limitations with that site. Is it actually easier and better to develop a whole new campus rather than figure out some way of mitigating the traffic complications and moving the kids onto a much larger site and just hold that thought that question, please? And this brings me to my second concern really is that in looking at the site plan I don't see a whole lot of playgrounds or running around room for 300 potentially 300 elementary kids seem like an awfully small campus. Could you please address those issues? HIRAKAML Sure, different age kids need different needs so when you get up into high school, you need the courts, the full soccer fields, and football field. In the elementary, especially in the early elementary grades, you need a place and there is a field set off behind on that proposed Building A for a half a soccer field. But more importantly is what children get off is the newly constructed and they are really expensive those children playground. So, we intend to have a 10 EXHIBIT D playground for the real young first to third grade, and then a little more climbing and active. But we are planning a lot of recreation and open space and absolutely a room to garden and to get their hands dirty to experience on agriculture. And there's field trips to our main campus which is the 24-acres. Most of that is, if you ever saw that we got 3 aquacultural farms, a large pond, we got organic gardens, we have an area for expansion and opportunities for kids to come to our main campus to share and they already do. We have a running track around our elementary students come every Tuesday and Thursday for a Running Club. So, we're using our bigger campus as a goal for real agriculture, because I agree with you, you can't do that kind of scale on a small property on 2 an acre. So definitely we have the area for them to come to. Does that answer your question? CLARKSON: Well, I'm just still curious a little bit about why it was so difficult to mitigate whatever traffic restrictions and we're going to be on the big campus. HIRAKAML We've spent a lot of energy and we had a grant and aid at one time that wasn't funded, but the requirements of the State recommendation on our main campus there is to put in a stoplight. As far as the State goals were kind of like the last on the chopping block. First, they wanted to mitigate the Shower Drive and then Ainaloa was there and the Pahoa roundabout. So, asking for a stoplight to be put in at our intersection is like we sing our wishes. So, we have to work within our confines of what is possible and when we have, it wasn't always 24 acres, we started with 3.7 acres that was our campus for 10 years. And then we acquired 6.7 acres and then three years ago, the Catholic Church because they had a fragment of their land, when the bypass came through, they sold us they sold us the 14, they sold ASC I'm sorry that 14 acres, so now it grew to that. But HAAS started out with 3.7 acres and that's where our main high school campus is located. Our middle school is on the acquisition of our 6.7 acres and the 14 acres is new and we just got it, so it wasn't always 24 acres because it wasn't like here's 24 acres go design a school. It would have been much different if we started off at 24 acres. CLARKSON: Thank you. REPLOGLE: Mr. Pipan did you have something you wished to add? PIPAN: Yes, thanks for the opportunity. So far with full build out with the third building there would still be three quarters of an acre for recreational playground, run around use for the kids. In this earlier just Phase 1 there's going to be more than an acre without that additional building if it ever does get built. So, it is a lot of kids for the full use if it ever reaches that level. REPLOGLE: Thank you. Mr. Clarkson? Are you a happy camper? CLARKSON: Yeah, I understand now why they are asking for a permit for a new facility instead of moving on consolidating everything in Pahoa. REPLOGLE: Okay, thank you. Mr. Raffipiy? 11 EXHIBIT D RAFFIPIY: Yeah Mr. Chairman, thank you. Just to bring into perspective as far as the cost and I think I know why HAAS is proposing this new campus instead of what Joe was asking about expanding. And Mr. Hirakami talked about the traffic signal, as far as propitious cost a traffic signal can be from a quarter million dollars up to half a million dollars just for one intersection. So, I can see why they can put a good use of the half a million dollars to building a new building for the kids instead of building a traffic signal. So, I can understand their reason. REPLOGLE: Thank you. PIPAN: If I may? REPLOGLE: Yes. PIPAN: Briefly, Chair? REPLOGLE: Please go ahead. PIPAN: Thank you. I meant to say also we've already got the shells of 2 sizable commercial buildings on this site. It's been fully cleared. There are the septic systems, very substantial septic systems adequate to support the use in place including grease traps for the kitchen, the cafeteria that's going to go in there, so there's a considerable amount of expense and time and work that's already been done. This can get the elementary school up and running very quickly, instead of starting from scratch planning,permitting, building brand new. Thanks. REPLOGLE: Thank you. Anything else from the Commissioners? AU: Chair, this is Commissioner Au, I have a comment. REPLOGLE: Go ahead, please. AU: So, I'm prepared to make motion. But since this is our Commissioner Aguinaldo's area. Does he have anything to share? If not, I'm ready to make a motion. AGUINALDO: Yeah, I'd like to share. First of all, I'd like to thank Steve. Steve and I know each other very well. I grew up in lower Puna, the Puna community and as well as Gail and Gregg. HAAS been a very go get them kind of school. They've been around for over 20 years. Their students also came up with a brilliant idea during our 2014 lava flow. So, these kids are very entrepreneur kind of kids. As far as their expansion, Joe as far as what you guys talked about and what Tom talked about is traffic signal. Tom and I know we are in that field it gets very costly and where they're looking at, if you look at it that way, I think it's more broad, it's serving the general area of what you're trying to achieve. HAAS also does a lot of agriculture kind of stuff. They even have aquaponics I mean you name it and what they've achieved thus far will sustain what we need for we got to look at it guys growth. Like what Dean said, if I had something to say I only have a lot of positive no negative everything is positive what this school is moving forward to and trying to achieve. I have friends that have their kids graduate from this school with top honors as well as other friends that have their young ones going to this school. 12 EXHIBIT D So, I only have good things to say how they operate, they manage it well, they operate well. So that's kind of my conclusion for Dean's question. REPLOGLE: Thank you Mr. Aguinaldo. I will now, oh, Mr. Au would you like to make a motion? AU: Yes, I'd love to make a motion just a quick comment. Yes Mr. Hirakami you're a strong education advocate for our keiki's. So, thank you very much. I'm happy to make this motion. I move that the application for Special Permit Docket No. 21-000228, be approved based on the Planning Director's recommendation, which shall be adopted and the revised Condition No. 7 and the additional condition regarding traffic as Maija stated. AGUINALDO: I second. REPLOGLE: Seconded by Mr. Aguinaldo. Staff, oh, first is there any discussion? RAFFIPIY: Yes. REPLOGLE: Yes, Mr. Raffipiy? RAFFIPIY: Mr. Chairman, thank you. I live in the area; I live not too far away from Orchidland from where the proposed school is going to be. I know there's going to have some people that they may see it's going to add to the traffic on the road, but in the broader spectrum of things how we look at it. It's for the kids, this is for children, this is for our future. So, sometimes we have to sacrifice a little inconvenience for the good of the bigger things. Children future leader of our island and for our state, for our country. I've had some opportunity to associate myself with charter schools and I have some things some real positive things that I get out of charter schools. The curriculum that they develop, they develop curriculum that is intended to help the community itself. They are free to develop the curriculum and modified the curriculum to satisfy to meet the needs of the community. Not unlike the cookie cutters you could get from a typical standard school. You have to do it this way because that's how it is meant to be all these times. Curriculum that is developed by these charter schools they can really hold it there that will take care of the needs of the community in which there existed. I appreciate the Charter school talking about teaching more children farming. You know we used to have the Future Farmers of America(FFA), where is it right now, it's gone. Or at least I don't see it anymore, I don't hear about it anymore, as much as we used to hear about it in the past. We are on an island in the middle of the ocean. We have to be able to develop our agricultural needs. So, whatever that we can do today, our decision that we make today will affect this island not only affect the school but affect the island and the food security. So, I'll be glad to vote to support this school, their ambition, their plan to develop this school for and any other school for our children. Thank you very much Mr. Chair. REPLOGLE: Thank you, Mr. Raffipiy. Staff, would you do a roll call vote, please. 13 EXHIBIT D ANDREWS: Yes, I'd be glad to. So, the motion is to approve the Special Permit as recommended by the Planning Director, including revised Condition No. 7 and the additional condition regarding traffic management. RAFFIPIY: Question, you said the Planning Director or is it Deputy Planning Director recommendation? ANDREWS: : I'm sorry, thanks for correcting me it's the Deputy Planning Director. RAFFIPIY: Thank you, thank you. ANDREWS: Commissioner Au? AU: Aye. ANDREWS: Commissioner Aguinaldo? AGUINALDO: Aye. ANDREWS: Commissioner Clarkson? CLARKSON: (no answer) ANDREWS: Was that an aye? Yes. Commissioner Galimba? GALIMBA: Aye. ANDREWS: Commissioner Lin? LIN: Aye. ANDREWS: Commissioner Raffipiy? RAFFIPIY: Aye. ANDREWS: And Chair Replogle? REPLOGLE: Aye. ANDREWS: Okay the motion passes seven (7) to zero (0). REPLOGLE: Okay, thank you. PIPAN: Thank you very much. 14 EXHIBIT D REPLOGLE: You will be notified of the decision in writing. Thank you for answering all of our questions. The item ended at 11:29 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Melissa Dacayanan-Salvador Secretary Windward Planning Commission 15 EXHIBIT D