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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-01-06 TOSHIRO PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAII HEARING TRANSCRIPT JANUARY 6, 2005 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of JANICE OSHIRO (REZ 05-016)was called to order at 9:04 a.m. in the County Building, Councilroom - Room 201, 25 Aupuni Street, Hilo, Hawaii, with Chairman C. Kimo Alameda presiding. PRESENT:C. Kimo AlamedaABSENT & EXCUSED: Allen Salavea Fred Galdones Hannah Springer Bill Graham Rodney Watanabe Andrew Iwashita Jeffrey McCall Rene€ Siracusa Ivan Torigoe, Deputy Corporation Counsel Christopher J. Yuen, Planning Director NormanHayashi,PlanningProgramManager Phyllis Fujimoto, Staff Planner Jeff Darrow, Staff Planner And approximately 16 people from the public in attendance. APPLICANT: JANICE OSHIRO (REZ 05-016) Action on an application for a Change of Zone for 28,002 square feet of land from a Single Family Residential ƒ 10,000 square foot (RS-10) to a General Commercial ƒ 10,000 square foot (CG-10) district. The property is located along the east side of Kilauea Avenue and approximately 120 feet north of the Kilauea Avenue ƒ Lanikaula Street intersection, Waiakea, South Hilo, Hawaii, TMK: 2-2-28:30, 32 & 33. ALAMEDA:Application No. 1, Unfinished Business, this is Janice Oshiro (REZ 05-016). And this is action on an application for a Change of Zone for 28,002 square feet of land from a Single Family Residential ƒ 10,000 square foot (RS-10) to a General Commercial ƒ 10,000 square foot (CG-10) district. The property is located along the east side of Kilauea Avenue and approximately 120 feet north of the Kilauea Avenue ƒ Lanikaula Street intersection. This is a continuance. And if the staff could share a little bit of review again on the background and, also, if you could share kind of like timeline restrictions on this one. Thank you, Jeff. Go ahead. DARROW:Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Planning Commission. Good morning. If I can direct your attention to the location map, just for orientation. This is our third hearing on this matter. The area of this application is within the South Hilo District of EXHIBIT A Hawaii. More specifically,we€re looking at east Lanikaula on this white line moving in a west- east direction, and we have Kilauea Avenue moving in a north-south direction. The location of the application is identified in blue. For zoning identification, the colors identified in the area, the yellow represents Single Family Residential - 10,000 square feet. The darker shaded areas are General Commercial. We have General Commercial - 10,000 square feet located to the north of the application; and across the street to the west we have General Commercial - 20,000 and 10,000 square feet. The applicant in this case, Janice Oshiro, is requesting a change of zone from Single Family Residential - 10,000 square feet to General Commercial - 10,000 square feet for 28,002 square feet of land. This is comprised of three separate properties identified on the plot plan submitted by the applicant, Lots A, B, and C, C being a road lot. The applicant proposes to convert the existing structures into office space. This is our third meeting on this application. At our first th meeting, October 7, a motion was made for a favorable recommendation; the motion did not nd pass with four ayes and three nays. We had our second hearing on December 2, a motion was made for a favorable recommendation; and, again, the motion did not pass with four ayes and two nays. This is our third hearing on this matter and the 90 days will expire as of tomorrow. The Planning Director is recommending that the Planning Commission send a favorable recommendation to the Hawaii County Council. Are there any questions? ALAMEDA:Commissioners? Mr. Darrow, I do notice revised conditions. DARROW:Thank you for bringing that to my attention. The Planning Department has submitted a revised set of conditions. It will be our second revised. And this is implementing the conditions that were referred at our last meeting. Also we€ve received a correspondence this morning from Mark Allan Goldman; and this is in response to this application. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. ALAMEDA:Commissioners, any questions for staff? Okay, will the applicant or representativepleasecomeforward. FUKE:Goodmorning. ALAMEDA:Goodmorning.Willyoupleaseraiseyourrighthand. FUKE:Sure. ALAMEDA:DoyouswearoraffirmtotellthetruthnowbeforetheHawaiiCounty Planning Commission? FUKE:I do. ALAMEDA:Could you please state your name and address for the record. 2EXHIBIT A FUKE:Sure. My name is Sidney Fuke. I€m a planning consultant. I€m assiting the applicant Janice Oshiro on this matter. My business address is 100 Pauahi Street, Hilo, Hawaii. ALAMEDA:Mr. Fuke, have you received the second revised conditions? FUKE:No, I have not. But I would assume that those were pretty much along the lines of what were discussed at the last meeting, kind of like construction time limitation and setback, and the height being consistent with the residential zone, existing residential zone. ALAMEDA:Okay. You have anything to add or any further thoughts? FUKE:Well, I think that this matter has been discussed like at a couple of meetings and has been well articulated, you know, both by the Commissioners and the public; and,youknow,we€vetriedtorespondtothem.AtthelastCommissionmeeting,ofcourse,in response to concerns raised by a neighbor, you know, I think Ms. Black is over here, we did try to ameliorate those kinds of concerns by making those suggestions and, you know, to address viewplane, the issue about like compatibility, you know, visual compatibility with some of the adjoining residential areas. So, I think, if there are any questions that the Commissioners may have, then, you know, I€d be open to them. Otherwise I think it has been said, and asked, and answered. ALAMEDA:Fellow Commissioners, you have any questions for Mr. Fuke? IWASHITA:I have. ALAMEDA:Sure, Commissioner Iwashita. IWASHITA:Mr. Fuke, we received this morning from Dr. Mark A. Goldman, Ph.D. expressing concerns about taking residential property out of the, or the reduction of residential lands by virtue of this application. I€d like your, I don€t know, if you feel appropriate, any comments on that concern. FUKE:Yeah. I think that, you know, one of the basic tenants that, you know, the County has in terms of guiding the growth of any area, like whether it€s the City of Hilo, the whole island, you know, you do have your General Plan; and within the structure of the General Plan framework you try to direct where these growths should occur, where your commercial activity should be, where your residential, industrial, agricultural, so on and so forth. And I think that if you, and that€s a public policy document that has had extensive public review, participation and ultimately adopted by the policy makers, you know, which is the County Council and ratified or, excuse me, signed into law by the Mayor. And so in this particular area, the General Plan suggests that this area should be commercial, and so I think by having this, and at the same time the General Plan suggested that this area be commercial. It also suggested other areas be set aside for residential expansion. And so you do have, what you may potentially lose in this area, you€ll potentially gain in other areas. 3EXHIBIT A The other thing to bear in mind is that byhaving the, a commercial zone does not preclude any residential activity. The present residential zone allows only for basically two dwellings, you know, what you see on that property. By having the property rezoned to commercial,if there is a strong market demand for commercial, excuse me, residential activity then what you do is you create the potential for apartments, or condominiums, or whatever to be constructed on the property. So I don€t think you necessarily foreclose a residential option, actually you enhance it, provided that, of course, there is a residential demand or that market demand for it. ALAMEDA:Commissioner Iwashita, any follow up? IWASHITA:On another area, one of the things that€s of interest to me is that there€s, there has been really relatively limited community kind of input on this development as compared to what I€m told happened with the extension application for the Takase property which adjoins it, and there was quite a bit of input there, and other Commissioners have expressedconcerninothermattersaboutneedingtogetmorecommunityinput.AndIwould, you know, because in my view this is another one of these encroaching kind of applications in this houselot area along the, you know, this is on the opposite side of where we€ve had other applications. And I really would like to see a lot more community input, and I know the rules don€t require the applicant to make such efforts to get community input. I don€t know, any comments you have on how we can get, you know, maybe not in this particular application cause now we€re right up against the deadline, but I really see the community€s input, especially those in the houselot area, some active involvement in developers coming in and making these kind of applications, how we can get more input? Because it€s really interesting to me that there was interest in the extension of the Takase project when that came up and got quite a bit of opposition from what I understand and then in this one, you know, right next door basically nothing or very little. FUKE:Well, initially in terms of the, like the public participation process, of course, you know, this is one means; and there is a requirement that notices be sent out to surrounding property owners and, you know, that€s a technical requirement. And in addition to that the Council recently adopted a provision that requires signs actually be physically posted, you know, on the respective properties for the zone change. So you do have that opportunity for the public to be informed of any pending projects within an area. In addition to that, I think that what, you know, based on the last public hearing on this matter, as a result of that process, you know, there were concerns raised about the potential visual and other related type of impact to some of the residences not adjoining the property along, you know, on both side of the property, but in the back, which is presently residential zoned. And so, as a result of that process, then, you know, you come up with conditions that try to address those kinds of concerns. I think there is a market distinction between this site versus like other sites that the Commission or the County may have considered for commercial or other type of zoning within the houselot area largely because this is, although technically part of the historical Waiakea House Lot area, fronts a major thoroughfare that leads into and out of the City of Hilo. You know, we all travel in that area, and maybe two or three times a day, and you can readily see that Kilauea Avenue is really like your commercial heart in that area. But nonetheless because of the concerns raised by some of the surrounding property owners on the, I guess what would be on the north, south-east side then, you know, we came up with, at the 4EXHIBIT A last Commission meeting, came up with a proposalto say, fine, you know, we€ll try to restrict all structures to have more of a residential flavor; and then to that extent you would limit the height of structures to a residential height zone, which is 35 feet. You would respect single family residential setbacks and not allow this property owner to develop fully as allowed by the requested commercial zoning. Because if you have the requested commercial zoning, theoretically you could go up to 10 stories; and theoretically also you could have zero yard setback provided that you have a firewall. But that may not be visually compatible with an area in transition. And so to help address those kinds of concerns then you try to come forth with some ameliorative type of conditions as, I think, I believe, what the Director is suggesting. The proposed Condition C requires like all of the structures comply with the height and setback restrictions for the RS district. So, in a sense, in so doing you try to achieve some amount of the visual transition between residential and commercial areas. The other suggestion that was brought up, but it€s not incorporated here, is the possibility that, whichwasabsentintheotherprojectthatyoureferredtoCommissionerIwashita,isthe possibility of having, you know, prior to the submittal of any new structures on the property that the owner confer with the adjoining single family residential zoned areas, you know, the landowners or their occupants. And it doesn€t mean that the single family residential adjoining property owner would have veto power over a person€s project, but it€s more just conveying a sense as far as like this is what we€re proposing, what do you think, you know, can we make some minor adjustments to, you know, to help both sides basically; and indirectly it instills a sense of communication, informal communication between the adjoining property owners. And I€ve had the discussion with the owner to see whether she would be receptive to being subjected to such a condition if and when there€s a new structure being constructed on the property and, you know, she didn€t have any problems with that. ALAMEDA:Other Commissioners? Commissioner Siracusa. SIRACUSA:Good morning, Sidney, Happy New Year. FUKE:Good morning. Happy New Year to you, too. SIRACUSA:You might want to rescind that at the end of today. FUKE:Rescind what, oh, the Happy New Year? SIRACUSA:The Happy New Year. FUKE:Oh, no, it will still be happy. SIRACUSA:I had a question last time and staff wasn€t exactly sure about the answer, but that was when you weren€t here. And so I€ll ask, I€ve been holding on to it. And the question was whether either of these houses are presently occupied, and if not, then how long ago was it that they were last occupied, and why haven€t they been rented in the interim? Is it because of this pending application or are there other reasons? 5EXHIBIT A FUKE:Thank you very much. Actually I was going to bring it up. I had it in my notes and I forgot. So subsequent to the last meeting, I did talk to the owner and then she did mentionto me that both of the homes are being rented on a month-to-month basis since September or October of last year, you know, because of the time that it is taking for this application to go through. So it€s on a month-to-month basis. SIRACUSA:And would you happen to know if the rental on these homes, if these would qualify as affordable housing? They don€t look fancy so I assume, but better to ask you. FUKE:I wouldn€t have an answer to that question no, not really, no. GRAHAM:Mr. Chairman? ALAMEDA:Sure, Commissioner Graham. GRAHAM:One question for Jeff or the Planning Director. Basically our understandingisontheGeneralPlanLUPGmapthisishighdensityurban.Solikethe commercial development would, you know, if this is approved will kind of run out to Lanikaula Street and just be, you know, essentially one lot in from Kilauea there. And I€m just wondering does that map, the boundary of the General Plan land use high density urban or is it in fact the General Plan high density urban actually exceed that so that there might be adjoining parcels coming up for similar rezonings in the future? DARROW:Unfortunately, I had a copy of the General Plan LUPAG Map for this area printed out but I think it€s still at the office. What I can do is run back and grab it. But if I recall correctly, this particular area over here and this area is all high density urban; but I need to verify that. But this area here actually is high density urban in the General Plan. But let me verify that; and I€ll bring that information to you. GRAHAM:Thank you. I€m not sure how key that is, but it does feel like it€s relevant to what we€re doing here today, anyway. ALAMEDA:Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Yeah. This leads into one of my concerns that -. I mean, a while back that property next door to the blue dot was approved and then now we€re looking at the Oshiro property. And I could see where then the next one will, you know, come up, and the one after that will come up, or one a few lots away, and then there will be people applying for the parcels in between. And pretty soon, you know, we€re closing in, it€s like we€re closing in the circle on this residential area until there€s nothing left. I know that the General Plan recommends that this area be zoned commercial. But we€ve also been told many times that the General Plan is recommendation, it€s not a mandate. That€s number one. And Sidney referred to that and he also said that the County can open up other areas to residential development. Is that correct, Sidney? You did say that just a little while ago. 6EXHIBIT A FUKE:Yeah, I think my comment was that when you look at the General Plan where you had additional commercial areas reflected on the revised or the current General Plan, at the same time they also expanded residential areas in other areas. SIRACUSA:Right. But, however, that doesn€t address this neighborhood or the impacts of development on these particular neighbors. And I want to point out that you do have a push-me pull-me here because the General Plan also encourages affordable housing. And it seems to me that the two buildings on this Oshiro parcel, they don€t look fancy enough to be anything other than affordable. So I, you know, stated before that I didn€t feel comfortable taking affordable housing out of the market when we have such a tremendous need. And as I keep going around Hilo, I keep seeing more and more office space available. And so it doesn€t seem to me that there is really a lack thereof. Meanwhile I look at, you know, the way the dark colors are encroaching on the yellow here; and I feel like it€s just going to keep up a little at a time, and it€s like the incredible green blob, you know, slowly creeping along. And Kilauea may beamajorartery,anditis,andthetrafficisterribleonit.Andeverytimeyouopenupanother commercial zoning, it increases the traffic problem. There€s more driveways going out from parking lots onto Kilauea. It slows down the traffic and it€s already bad. If we keep bringing it more and more in the direction it€s going, we€re not going to be able to fix the problem at all. So I really have some major problems on a number of levels with this and I have voted against it in the past and I am going to be consistent. ALAMEDA:Thank you, Commissioner Siracusa. Other Commissioners before we entertain testimony from the public? Mr. Fuke, any other comments? FUKE:Well, just one comment, I guess. Like I think that we have to understand that the City of Hilo is growing; and so if there€s a demand for affordable housing, then conversely there€s also going to be a demand for commercial areas. So, ultimately, you€ll have to ask yourself if not here where. And, you know, one of the things that provide the direction, you know, in terms of like where your commercial growth should be, is your General Plan. And so if the General Plan is wrong, then so be it; and, you know, there needs to be like effort taken to address that, and maybe amend the General Plan. But at the same time we need to figure out like where you€re going to put your commercial areas. Cause any city is a dynamic city; it€s going to grow whether you like it or not. I mean, you know, we have our personal reservations about whether we want more people coming in from the mainland and from the rest of the world into Hawaii and all that stuff; but I can€t really see any legal ways that you can prevent that. And so as long as you have, you know, we€re living in this western democracy. I mean, like how you€re going to be able to say that€s no more? And if so, like where, you know, where you€re going to be able to direct that? And I think that the whole premise behind planning is that you recognize that growth is going to occur. But the question is how do you and where do you direct it to? SIRACUSA:I would like to clarify that I was not suggesting that we limit immigration into the state or ask our people to stop making babies. What I am concerned about is that, you know, we look at some of the outside areas and we talk about putting some commercial development inside the subdivision so that people don€t have to go out on the highway, drive to Hilo or drive a long distance and spew carbon monoxide into the air because they can get things within a short distance from home. And here we have a whole residential area where people can walk to, say, the Hilo Shopping Center and get what they need. And if you slowly change that 7EXHIBIT A area a bite at a time, then all those people would have to move into outlying areas and they would be using the cars and we would have the increased traffic from that. And so, definitely, you know, we have to plan where we want the development; and I agree with you on that. I€m just disagreeing with you on where. Thank you. ALAMEDA:Very well. Thank you. Mr. Fuke, you may be seated. DARROW:Mr. Chairman, if I could -. ALAMEDA:Sure. DARROW:Answer Commissioner Graham€s question earlier. ALAMEDA:Okay. DARROW:According to the General Plan, Members of the Planning Commission,the highdensityurbanfortheGeneralPlanextendsinthisareadowntoKawili,whichisKawiliis coming across here. This particular area is medium density urban. This is open. The high density urban is located all in this area, across the street and down to Kawili. In this particular area is medium density urban, and then we have industrial in this particular area. Thank you. ALAMEDA:Thank you. Okay, we do have a testifier from the public today. We have Ms. Robin Black. Please come forward. Aloha, Ms. Black. BLACK:Hi. ALAMEDA:Could you please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth now before the Hawaii County Planning Commission? BLACK:I do. ALAMEDA:Thank you. You may pro -. Could you please, again, state your name and address for the record. Okay? BLACK:Robin Black, 43 East Lanikaula Street, Hilo, Hawaii. Hi. Back, again. I have this letter, I€m supposed to read this letter. It€s probably going to be a little, I€m going to read it after. Couple things I want to address. First of all, we have noted, and when I say we I€m speaking collectively of my neighbors -. And you€re a new face to me. I haven€t seen you before so hi. And I really appreciated your comments about community input because that€s kind of exactly where; we are and we€re really between the rock and the hard place. And we need that, and we need it like last year. So thank you for that. And, Rene€ the blob is not green. It is a big blob, but it€s not a green blob. It€s an asphalt blob. So let€s just be clear on that one part of it. 8EXHIBIT A SIRACUSA:I was speaking metaphorically. I know it€s not green. BLACK:I understand but it spoke to my heart. And green is the furthest color from the whole equation. So having said that -. And Mr. Graham, in your comments just now you had it kind of reversed. What you said was that it goes on to Lanikaula Street and it€s one property away from Kilauea. It€s the opposite. The property is actually on Kilauea and it€s one lot away from Lanikaula. So that€s just a clarification to your comments when Jeff was up there. And the other question -. Jeff, I was kind of sitting in the back. Can you show me where it goes to Kawili Street, please, on that map, as far as you were saying that the high -. I€m just confused. Actually the real crux of my question is how exactly is the State Department of Agriculture Tree Nursery zoned? DARROW:As I mentioned earlier, it€s zoned Open. BLACK:It€s zoned Open? DARROW:Correct. BLACK:Meaning it stays put, so it€s exempt from that?? DARROW:It€s zoned, under the General Plan as well as zoning, it is designated as Open. BLACK:Okay, okay, that€s a relief to us. That will stay green is what you€re saying? DARROW:Yes. BLACK:Okay. My other concern is that, I don€t know, and nobody seems to talk about it ƒ but, you know, we€re in the inundation zone. We€re actually in the You Must Evacuate Zone‚ if there€s a tidal wave warning. And nobody ever mentions that or how we keep putting things in that area that make it harder to get out of that area. So that is a concern. And I realize that there€s no way of actually predicting where water goes. I think we all saw that. But it€s just a bit of a concern. I think it was a little bit more of a concern after that last year€s tsunami kind of got the neighbors going. Okay. So I addressed those things. You did mention that there had been kind of a hornet€s nest about the rezoning issue for the Takase property. And we had banded together, and fought long and hard, and done our homework, and dotted our i€s‚, and crossed our t€s‚, and exhausted ourselves. And it came to one minor concession, which is that they move the dumpster away from our corner and put it out on the street. I saw them building the little dumpster cage the other day, so that€s a relief that the dumpsters are being moved away from our yards. We were grateful for that. All the other little concessions that were discussed with the neighbors prior to that rezoning failed to come to pass. 9EXHIBIT A So we have a little bit of a if somebody is going to tell us anything, we really want to see it in writing,‚ kind of thing going on. The neighbors are tired. They€re older, they don€t have the stomach to come to these meetings. Quite truthfully, I don€t know how much stomach I have for any more of these meetings. But I was grateful to receive the letter which at least meant that it wasn€t over when I walked out the door last time. So does anybody have anything they want to ask me before I read by dad€s letter? Okay, here we go. County of Hawaii Planning Commission regarding Rezoning request for Jan Oshiro. Dear Commissioners: My name is Dr. Mark Allan Goldman. Our family has owned the property at 43 East Lanikaula St. for close to 50 years. My youngest daughter was born there, in the back bedroom, overlooking the property of the rezoning in front of you. Your vote on the matter will represent not only how you feel individually, but as appointeesofMayorKim,howhisadministrationstandsontheseissues.Becausethis rezoning is more than the rezoning of a parcel or two, it will show the people of this island, and those on other islands, how you and Harry Kim stand on two very important issues. 1. One is whether you favor the preservation of residential land as opposed to replacing residential land with commercial land. 2. And the other is how you, and by your vote, Mayor Kim, stand on the issue of land speculation. Affordable housing is mostly a function of land availability. When you take residential land out of availability, you drive up the price of residential land. Are you and Mayor Kim for low or high priced residential land? On the second point. This land was obviously purchased with speculation in mind. Buy, and turn over fast with rezoning. The time line tells you so. Do you as individual commission members, and as Mayor Harry Kim€s appointees, support speculation? And I think you should answer these questions before Harry runs for Governor. And that€s why I€ve sent copies of this letter to the various newspaper in the State of Hawaii. And I€m sure they will await a follow up to your vote on this speculative rezoning. Now these are my dad€s comments; and he feels pretty strongly although I think he would have preferred to be here and read this to you himself. He was unable to do so. I do want to say separate from this letter that it€s not lost on us that there was a willingness on the part of the applicant to make some concessions. For that we are grateful. We just feel like we€re in the box. 10EXHIBIT A And I know that this other matter is not before you right now because they haven€t actually filed any of their paperwork yet to the best of our knowledge. But we€re fighting the fight on the other side. Right now as we speak the grading is taking place on Iolani Street for the proposed warehouse which also isn€t in the General Plan. And that zoning request hasn€t yet hit you; but it€s coming. So I appreciate the fact that you see that we€re in the middle of a box and that we are slowly being boxed in and, effectively, forced out. But when it comes to our neighborhood, we€ve been there a long time. We like it there. We like walking where we€re going. It€s convenient, it€s familiar. It€s home. And I€d really like to stay. And when you say that the next two lots that are probably going to come up, when your remarks about, oh, then it€ll be this one and it will be that one, it will be that one - Well, let me tell you, it won€t be any of my three. Okay? Those will stay green. I€m done. ALAMEDA:Thank you, Ms. Black. Any questions, Commissioners? Thank you. You maybeseated. BLACK:Thanks. ALAMEDA:Mr.Fuke,youcanreturntothetable.Anyotherfollow-upcomments? FUKE:No,notreally.Youknow,asMs.Blackhadindicated,atthelastmeeting we, you know, she had raised essentially the same concerns; and at that time we tried to address them through the various conditions that the Director is now suggesting, to which the applicant is also receptive to. So the only addition, of course, is like, you know, kind of following up with what Commissioner Iwashita was asking about added participation ƒ is that, you know, I kind of like drafted something up not knowing that there was going to be a revised condition. But, you know, there could conceivably be like a condition that would say something like Further, prior to submittal of plans for plan approval for any new structure on the subject property, the applicant shall confer with owners or occupants of all adjoining single family residential zoned lots.‚ And, again, you know, this is to give the adjoining property owners like Ms. Black an opportunity to comment on the proposed plan. And the Planning Director does have the approval through the plan approval process to require additional setbacks, additional design or, you know, related type of mitigative conditions. So I think this provides an opportunity for the neighbors to get involved in the design aspect; and provided that you can convince the Planning Director that the suggested mitigations are reasonable, then I think they can be accommodated. The only other comment I had to the staff€s amended recommendation is that under Condition C, you know, it says like setback requirements for the RS district,‚ I would like to suggest that it be RS-10 district. Because within the single family residential zone, you know, your setback requirements vary whether your property is RS-7.5 or RS-20 zone. You know, so I think what we€re trying to achieve here is that the landowner would be given no additional rights over and beyond what the current setback and height requirements are, which is an RS-10 zone. ALAMEDA:Thank you. Director Yuen? 11EXHIBIT A YUEN:That last one is fine. ALAMEDA:Thank you. Fellow Commissioners, before we go into our own deliberation, do you have any final questions for Mr. Fuke before I entertain a motion? Okay, this is our third hearing on this matter. So, fellow Commissioners, anybody would like to make a motion either way? Commissioner Siracusa. SIRACUSA:If we€re going into deliberation, shouldn€t Mr. Fuke sit back? FUKE:Sure. ALAMEDA:Sure. Thank you, Commissioner Siracusa. Commissioner Galdones? GALDONES:Mr. Chair, I€d like, if it€s proper at this time, I would like to make a motion. ALAMEDA:Sure. GALDONES:IwouldliketomakeamotionthattheChangeofZoneApplication REZ 05-016 be given a favorable recommendation and forwarded to the County Council, along with the revised conditions of approval, and also the amendment to Condition C. ALAMEDA:Motion was made by Commissioner Fred Galdones. Is there a second? MCCALL:Second. ALAMEDA:Seconded was made by Commissioner McCall. Discussion? Commissioner Iwashita. IWASHITA:I just want to make couple of things on the record, noted on the record. First of all I want to acknowledge all the work of the staff and the Planning Director in this and all the other matters that come before us. You know, it is a lot of work. My, how many months, tenure now? I€m one of the members with the least experience on the Commission. And, but, in that time I€ve observed, and my present perspective is that this application is an example of essentially spot zoning, spot development process that our laws established. And, you know, these laws are the same laws that they have on Maui and the same laws that we have on Oahu; and, you know, we can keep going down this road. And as Mr. Fuke says if not, where? And, you know, that question will be answered continuously by this body and the County Council and we€ll end up with Kihei, Maui, Waikiki, all those wonderful developments that, you know, that we see in our State, not to mention across the country. And so my impression, and for the record, the driving concern that I have that is going to guide my vote on this is that we really need to have more community input, more direct community input in how this and all the other development on this island is going to take. And the County Council early last year established the community development plan process which is being partially implemented at this time, but not in this area. And I think it€s important enough, and I€ll 12EXHIBIT A say for the record, that the community development plan process should be implemented island- wide immediately. And I understand the Director and the Department basically don€t have the resources to do that at this time. But until that€s done, we will continue on this road of spot development and not having any kind of cohesive plan. Multiple references have been made to our zoning ordinance and the land use planning guides, you know; and those are just that, guides. And, actually, if you just start thinking about all the development that could occur under those zoning laws and so forth, if we made all of those changes, I don€t see a good picture for this island€s future. So the community development plan process, getting all the neighbors involved -- and I know lots of people are tired by this process, but hopefully the community development plan process will be more engaging and empowering for the people to determine, you know, whether or not this kind of development should occur in their neighborhood -- that is, to me, a lot better process than what we€re doing here today. So,Mr.Fukemadethecommentthatthisisanareaintransition,we€reagrowingcommunity; and I think that€s all rather obvious. The only question is how we€re going to handle it. And in this particular instance I think that it€s better to hold off on this application, not allow it to go through, to have the community development plan process worked on, get it done in a couple of years like they did for Downtown Hilo, and then we€ll have a comprehensive plan that hopefully most of the people in the community, and especially in this neighborhood for this project, will be able to agree on what the houselot is going to look like, what the area around the University is going to look like, you know, as they have done with Downtown Hilo in the Envision Plan which took about two years to do. I don€t think our economy is going to suffer for us going down that road. Thank you. ALAMEDA:Thank you, Commissioner Iwashita. Commissioner Graham. GRAHAM:I want to respectfully disagree with Commissioner Iwashita on one point, that being the spot development. I think spot development has been an issue in this County for a long time, and I€m sort of proud of this Commission in general where I think this Commission has not been willing to do spot developments. And I think just recently a Puna application for a large commercial venture where it wasn€t planned was turned down by this Commission in my absence. I too was worried that this might be spot development. But at the first meeting we had on this hearing not only do we have the Takase property on one side not in residential use but I was informed that the property immediately adjacent on the other side through special permit is being used as an office facility, I believe. So, to me, because this conforms with the General Plan, because the properties across the street and the properties on both sides are not being used residentially, to turn this property into other than residential use is not spot development at all. It€s really conforming with what adjoins. And I feel that the applicant by agreeing to reduce whatever footprint and size this project has to being no more than what a residential property would have has really addressed the issue of unduly intruding on the adjacent properties which will remain residential. So, to me, I can support this application on those bases. And I just, with my question to Mr. Darrow about the General Plan because there is such an interest in residential in this area and there is such a value to the residential we have, I don€t feel like I would want to extend the nonresidential uses father 13EXHIBIT A away from Kilauea Ave. than what we already have here now. But I feel like this particular rezoning falls within the spectrum of good planning, so I will support it. ALAMEDA:Other Commissioners before we go into voting? Commissioner Iwashita. IWASHITA:I just want to make clear on the record that my use of that term spot development is not as to this particular parcel. It refers to, if you look at the map that€s up there, basically the creep that has gone on from what used to be the urban core or the commercial core as being, you know, basically creeping out. And that is essentially what happened in Kihei, essentially what resulted in what you see on Oahu today. All of that is planned. Everything you see on Oahu is planned. And there are not too many people over there that are very happy about how that worked out. We have all the same laws, we are involved in the same process that ended up with, I€ll for the record say mess. And that is why, my point is that the process has to be different, that if you continue this process before this Commission using our current laws that we don€thaveanythingotherthanthattolookforwardto;andsoweneedtotakeastand.I€m taking a stand that the community development plan process needed to be implemented immediately for the whole island. And in a couple of years, hopefully, we will have a more comprehensive specific document for each community, including houselots and all the other communities on this island, that will spell out what kind of residential development we want, what kind of commercial development, what kind of industrial, where is it going to be, where is the prison going to be, where is the mental health treatment facility going to be, where all these things are going to be, very specific. And it will be embodied in law, and the Commission will have much less to do. It€s the Commissioner Iwashita€s work reduction position. ALAMEDA:Thank you, Commissioner Iwasahita. All righty. Looks like we€re there already. There was, again, just to remind you, a motion by Commissioner Galdones, seconded by Commissioner McCall, to go forward and approve this application Staff? DARROW:Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Commissioner Graham. GRAHAM:Usually you start with the maker of the motion. DARROW:Oh, I€m sorry. Commissioner Galdones? GALDONES:Aye. DARROW:Thank you. Commissioner McCall? MCCALL:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Graham? GRAHAM:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Iwashita? IWASHITA:Nay. 14EXHIBIT A DARROW:Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Nay. DARROW:And Mr. Chairman? ALAMEDA:Aye. DARROW:The motion does not pass four to two. ALAMEDA:Mr. Torigoe, could you just explain for the public what€s the next step for this particular application. TORIGOE:Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Under your Rule 11-3(b)(2), it says In the event that theCommissionfailstoactontheapplicationwithintheninety-dayperiod,theapplicationshall be considered an unfavorable recommendation by the Commission, and the application shall be transmitted through the Mayor to the Council with such recommendation.‚ And evidently judging by the vote that was just taken there are not five votes to make a favorable recommendation unless there€s some substantial change in the motion and some other, you know, version of it that might pass. But that does not sound like that is likely at this point. ALAMEDA:Thank you, Mr. Torigoe. All right. Next on our agenda, moving forward. TORIGOE:So essentially that would be the end of this agenda item unless someone wants to make another motion and have some other deliberation on it. ALAMEDA:Commissioner Iwashita? IWASHITA:Just a comment -. ALAMEDA:Sure. IWASHITA:To Ms. Black. Did she leave? PUBLIC:She has left. IWASHITA:That€s okay. TORIGOE:All right. So I guess in the absence of any further action by the Commission, that would be the end of the hearings on this matter; and it will go up to the Council with a default negative recommendation, along with the record. ALAMEDA:Thank you, Mr. Torigoe. 15EXHIBIT A The discussion ended at 9:55 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Sharon M. Nomura East Hawaii Secretary 16EXHIBIT A