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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-10-21 Leeward Exh B (Item 2 AMEND SPP 1247 PL-SPP-2021-000001) LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAI’I HEARING TRANSCRIPT OCTOBER 21, 2021 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of RT’S SERVICE, LLC (AMEND SPP 1247/PL-SPP-2021-000001) was called to order at 10:02 a.m. via live stream online meeting, with Chairman Michael Vitousek presiding. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Michael Vitousek, Shani Armbruster, Barbara DeFranco, Mahina Paishon-Duarte, and Faith “Faye” Yates ABSENT AND EXCUSED: Clement “CJ” Kanuha III ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: Dalilah Schlueter, Esq. (Counsel for the Commission), Jean Campbell, Esq. (Counsel for the Planning Department), Zendo Kern (Planning Director), Maija Jackson (Planning Program Manager), Eric Cook (Planner), Jessica Andrews (Planner), and Noriko Sauer (Commission Secretary) APPLICANT: RT’S SERVICE, LLC (AMEND SPP 1247/PL-SPP-2021-000001) Application for an amendments to Condition No. 3 (life of permit), Condition No. 6 (secure and finalize building permits) and Condition No. 7 (hours of operation for inspection station) of Special Permit No. 1247, which was issued in 2004 to allow office space and storage uses for investigative/collection services, a towing service, and short-term parking for repossessed or disabled vehicles on approximately 14,273 square feet of land situated within the State Land Use Agricultural District. The property is located at 64-5223 Kauakea Road, approximately 400 feet north of its intersection with Māmalahoa Highway, Pu’ukapu Homesteads, South Kohala, Hawai’i, TMK: (3) 6-4-017:064 (por). VITOUSEK: Moving onto Item number 2. Applicant is RT’S Service, LLC to amend SPP 1247/PL-SPP-2021-000001. Application for an amendment to condition number 3, life of permit, condition number 6, secure and finalize building permits, and condition number 7, hours of operation for inspection station, of Special Permit number 1247, which was issued in 2004 to allow office space and storage uses for investigative/collection services, towing service, short-term parking for repossessed or disabled vehicles on approximately 14,273 square feet of land situated within the State Land Use Agricultural District. The property is located at 64-5223 Kauakea Road, approximately 400 feet north of its intersection with Māmalahoa and Pu’ukapu Homesteads, intersection with Māmalahoa Highway, Pu’ukapu Homesteads, South Kohala, Hawai’i, TMK: (3) 6-4-017:064. At this time staff presentation will be by Jessica Andrews, and then again there will be an applicant presentation, and we can have questions and answers by commission. Jessica, please go ahead, thank you. ANDREWS: Thank you, Chair Vitousek. I’m going to, I’m going to go ahead and share my screen, get started here. Okay. So, as previously stated, this is an amendment to Special Permit number 1247. 1 EXHIBIT B The location map that you’re seeing shows the subject property outlined in red. It’s located just, just off of Māmalahoa Highway, just to the east of Waimea. Permit history is: Special Permit number 1247 was first issued in 2004 to allow office and storage uses for investigative and collection services, towing service, short-term parking for repossessed or disabled vehicles on 14,273 square foot portion of 5.006-acre parcel; the permit was amended by the Planning Commission in 2010 to allow them to—sorry—to extend the five-year permit life; the permit was amended again in 2017 by the Planning Commission to remove the permit life and to have the permit run with the current owner, to increase the hours of operation, to increase the number of stored vehicles from 20 to 135, and to increase the permit area from 14,273 square feet to 1.67 acres: the permit was amended again in 2018 by the Planning Commission to allow the after-fact operation of motor vehicle and motorcycle inspection station, to delete condition number 4, water usage calculations, and condition number 7, solid waste management plan, and to allow a time extension to complete condition number 5, to secure final plan approval, and condition number 6, to secure and finalized permits to convert the barn to a vehicle repair shop. So, currently the applicant is requesting the following amendments to Special Permit number 1247: to amend condition number 3 to change the owner’s name from David McCullough Trust to David McCullough and John Roth, partners under the Hawai‘i Civil Union Act, and Mark and Diana Farias, a married couple; to amend condition number 6 to require that building, plumbing, and electrical permits to convert the barn into a vehicle repair shop basically to finalize within two years from the effective date of this amended permit; and finally, to amend condition number 7 to allow hours of operation for the inspection station from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, inspections will still be conducted by appointment only. So, the county zoning for the subject property is Ag-5 acres, and you can see on this map there’s primarily Ag of various sizes surrounding the subject property, Ag-1 acre in green, Ag-40 acres in lighter blue or medium blue, Ag-10 acres. There is a Family Agricultural-3 acres on just opposite this subject property on the opposite side of the highway. State Land Use is all Agricultural designation in this entire surrounding area. And the General Plan designates this property Important Agricultural Lands. Nearby is Rural and also Extensive Agriculture. This is the applicant’s site plan, and it shows, it’s perhaps a little hard to read, but if you can see the dash, the larger building with dashes, that’s the existing shop building, and just to the right of that is the existing modular building with the offices. And just about that collection of structures is the existing two-story farm dwelling with its garage and carport. And there is landscape buffering that you can see designated all around the surrounding, or the property boundaries. This is an aerial photograph of the subject property. You can see again on the lower bottom side of the property is the project area that we are addressing, and just north of that, above that, is the Farm dwelling. 2 EXHIBIT B These site photos here show the access to Kauakea Road from Māmalahoa Highway. And the site photos show the views on Kauakea Road looking back to the highway on the left and looking towards the access to the subject property on the right. Site photos of the subject property, these were taken in 2019, and they show the shop on the left and the mobile office on the right. And the planning director’s recommendation is approval with conditions for this amendment to the Special Permit. And I’ll turn the floor back to the Chair. VITOUSEK: Thank you. If we can, you can stop sharing your screen, and then we can move onto the applicant’s presentation. Appreciate it. Okay, from the applicant, we have Mr. David McCullough, the applicant, and Mr. Patrick Wong as counsel. Would you please raise your right hand so I can swear you in? Thank you. And, Mr. McCullough, if you don’t mind turning on your camera. MCCOLLOUGH: Did that work? VITOUSEK: We can hear you but still can’t see you. MCCOLLOUGH: How do I turn my camera on? VITOUSEK: It should be the bottom left; there should be a little camera logo that you click on that. Just to the right of the little microphone that you just hit. MCCOLLOUGH: There is the microphone. VITOUSEK: Yeah, and it should be just to the right of that, there should be a video camera logo, should say start video. MCCOLLOUGH: Did that work? VITOUSEK: No. JACKSON: David, are you on a phone or a computer? You are on mute again, David. MCCOLLOUGH: I hit a button to speak. VITOUSEK: Yeah, we can hear you now. MCCOLLOUGH: But I don’t see where my camera is. 3 EXHIBIT B VITOUSEK: Are you on a computer or a mobile device? Phone or? MCCOLLOUGH: Should I try and get on a computer and get back on? ARMBRUSTER: If you are on a phone, you just have to scroll a couple screens to the right, and then you have the option to add it. If you are on the first screen, it’s like a car version or something. MCCOLLOUGH: Let me click on me, start video. I think I found it. VITOUSEK: There it is. MCCOLLOUGH: There it is. VITOUSEK: Okay. MCCOLLOUGH: The volume got really low, though. VITOUSEK: We can hear you really well. MCCOLLOUGH: OK, I can barely hear you guys. It used to be really loud. VITOUSEK: (Indiscernible – simultaneous speech) let’s, you can, please raise your right hand, and I can swear you in. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Leeward Planning Commission? MCCOLLOUGH: I do. VITOUSEK: Thank you. Please state your name and the town you live in. MCCOLLOUGH: David McCullough—and I’m sorry I didn’t hear the second part. VITOUSEK: What town do you live in? MCCOLLOUGH: Kamuela, Hawai‘i. VITOUSEK: Okay. And Mr. Wong? WONG: I’m Patrick Wong, and I currently live in Kona. VITOUSEK: Okay, thank you. Have you received the background and recommendation reports from the Planning Department? WONG: Yes, we have. 4 EXHIBIT B VITOUSEK: Okay. Do you agree with the planning director’s recommendation, including the proposed conditions? WONG: Yes, we do. VITOUSEK: Okay, and do you have any presentation you’d like to add today? WONG: Aside from what was presented, no. In reference to, I wanted to just make one reference to the compliance with the notice and posting obligations under the statute, we have complied with that, and from what I understand, there is no objections and/or testimony lodged with the Planning Commission. And so we appreciate the opportunity to be available and respond to any questions that you may have. VITOUSEK: Thank you. Are there any questions from the commissioners of either the Planning Department or the applicant? Anybody? (No audible response) Okay. I have a question, and I think it might be for the applicant, but the changing the hours of operation, is that—it seems like that was done out of compliance with the state Department of Transportation requirements. Would you mind telling us a little bit more about that? WONG: David, you need to unmute yourself. MCCOLLOUGH: Okay, can you hear me now? VITOUSEK: Yes. MCCOLLOUGH: Okay. Yes, so when we got our permit acquired and you requested that we get something from the Safety Check saying that my license was reinstated, Richard from that department looked at the special use permit and says you cannot have 8:00 to 10:00 on there, it needs to be an eight-hour day, so you need to amend that to show an eight-hour day. VITOUSEK: And that’s the requirement of DOT. MCCOLLOUGH: Yes, that is correct. VITOUSEK: Okay, that answers my question. Anybody else—oh, Commissioner Armbruster. ARMBRUSTER: Just a quick question about the building permit. Am I correct in understanding that that has been the as-built change of use permit that has been submitted and it’s in process for issuance? Is that correct? MCCOLLOUGH: So, the building permit, I submitted it for permit, and because I have a time constraint on my special use permit, it didn’t allow enough time for them to issue the permit. So, that’s why they wanted me to amend it again for an extension so that they could, I could resubmit it for the permit. 5 EXHIBIT B ARMBRUSTER: So it’s not currently in for review. It’s been, it’s back with you until this gets sorted out? MCCOLLOUGH: It was in for review until they realized that there was a timeline on it, so they handed it back to me and said extend your time limit so that we can review it. ARMBRUSTER: Okay, but the documents are all prepared and ready to go. It’s just a matter of sorting out the paperwork? MCCOLLOUGH: That is correct, they are ready. ARMBRUSTER: Okay, thank you. VITOUSEK: Okay, any further questions from the commissioners? (No audible response) If not, we can seek a motion. Commissioner DeFranco, thank you. DEFRANCO: All right. I move that the application for the amendment to Special Permit docket number 2021-000001 be approved, based on the deputy planning director’s recommendation. VITOUSEK: It’s the planning director’s recommendation in this case, right? ANDREWS: Yes, that’s correct, yes. VITOUSEK: Okay, is there a second? PAISHON-DUARTE: (Raises hand to second the motion) VITOUSEK: Second by Commissioner Paishon-Duarte. And we’ll proceed with a roll call— oh, actually, excuse me, is there any discussion, Commissioners? (No audible response) Seeing none, we can proceed with a roll call vote. ANDREWS: Okay, so the motion has been moved by Commission DeFranco and seconded by Commissioner Paishon-Duarte. I’ll take a roll call now. Commissioner DeFranco? DEFRANCO: Aye. ANDREWS: Commissioner Paishon-Duarte? PAISHON-DUARTE: Aye. ANDREWS: Commissioner Armbruster? ARMBRUSTER: Aye. ANDREWS: Commissioner Yates? 6 EXHIBIT B YATES: Aye. ANDREWS: And Chair Vitousek? VITOUSEK: Aye. ANDREWS: And motion passes, five to zero. VITOUSEK: Thank you. To the applicant, you’ll be notified of the decision in writing. Thank you for taking the time to come in today. MCCOLLOUGH: Thank you. WONG: Thank you. I’d like to thank the commission members and the Planning Department and the deputies from Corp. Counsel. Really appreciate your time. Have a great day. VITOUSEK: Thank you. Take care. The hearing was adjourned at 10:20 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Noriko Sauer, Secretary Leeward Planning Commission 7 EXHIBIT B