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Home My WebLink AboutPD RECOMMENDATION REPORT (PL-PDI-2021-002) RPDlnitiatedHesterRepealREZ.crk.2.7.2022 COUNTY OF HAWAII PLANNING DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATION PLANNING DIRECTOR INITIATED REQUEST TO REPEAL CHANGE OF ZONE ORDINANCE NO. 04 120 (REZ 1052) Upon careful review of the request,the Planning Director recommends that the Planning Commission forward a favorable recommendation to the Hawaii County Council on this action to repeal Ordinance No. 04 120, which will revert the current zoning of the subject properties from Agricultural Project District(APD) to their original Agricultural 20-acres (A-20a) zoning district for 171.782 acres of land. Since this recommendation is made without the benefit of public testimony, the Director reserves the right to modify and/or alter the recommendation. This favorable recommendation is based on the following findings: The Planning Director is initiating a request to repeal Ordinance No. 04 120 in response to a written request submitted by Gregory Pile September 22, 2021,who is the successor trustee of the Ellis Jacob Hester Trust and owner of the subject parcels,to satisfy the requirements of the Trust upon the passing of Mr. Hester. The repeal would revert the zoning of the two (2)parcels totaling 171.782 acres of land to their original A-20a zoning designation from the current APD zoning designation. According to the request, Mr. Hester died on August 8, 2020, at which time his Trust became irrevocable. In the course of administering the Trust,Mr. Pile discovered the subject change of zone Ordinance No. 04 120 to APD for the purposes of subdividing the property into twenty-five (25)lots, from five (5) to twelve (12) acres in size and allow for deviations from standard roadway and water infrastructure requirements related to the development. According to the request, conditions of the ordinance and a subsequent subdivision request have been largely incomplete,with the deadline to secure Final Subdivision Approval by November 8, 2014. Moreover, other than the real properties, the Trust has no assets and is financially unable to complete conditions of the entitlements. Finally, the legal terms of the Trust require the parcels to be consolidated and resubdivided into two (2)lots,to provide a forty (40) acre parcel to Mr. Hester's surviving spouse, which would include the 1 residence, with the remaining acreage as one parcel. Based on the preceding, the Planning Director has agreed to initiate the repeal of the subject ordinance in its entirety,which will revert the zoning of the parcels to A-20a, pursuant to Condition Q of the subject ordinance, which allows the Director to initiate reversion of land to its original zoning or rezoning to a more appropriate designation should conditions of approval not be met or substantially complied with in a timely fashion. This will facilitate the proposed consolidation/resubdivision action required by the Trust. A review of Planning Department records indicates that the applicant worked diligently to complete conditions of approval and requirements of the tentative subdivision approval, however,the project ultimately stalled after the last time extension to complete subdivision requirements passed in 2015 and no further time extensions were sought. The proposed reversion to the original A-20a zoning would be consistent with the General Plan's Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide (LUPAG) map Important Agricultural Lands (ial) designation, which are lands, "with better potential for sustained high agricultural yields because of soil type, climate, topography, or other factors. " Furthermore, since the subject parcel was rezoned the Ka`u Community Development Plan (CDP)was adopted. This long-range planning document articulates several goals, policies and actions related to conservation/preservation and protection of important/prime agricultural lands in Ka`u. Finally, the official Ka`u CDP Land Use Policy Map designates the subject rezone area as Important Agricultural Lands. Based on the preceding, the reversion to A-20a zoning will conform to the overall agricultural character of the surrounding area and will conform to the General Plan and Ka`u CDP. As required by the APD ordinance, the applicant retained Haun & Associates to conduct an Archaeological Inventory Survey (AIS) for the entire project area. The AIS found that the area had been heavily impacted by historic and modern sugar cane cultivation and no remains of the former Meyer Camp and associated cemetery were identified by the survey. The AIS found a single archaeological site (remnants of a historic flume) and determined that the site was, "only significant for its information contend and the inventory-level documentation will be sufficient to warrant a 2 recommendation of no further work or preservation." By letter dated August 12, 2004, SHPD confirmed receipt of the final AIS and found that, "no historic properties will be affected by the development of the property."As such, the requested reversion and consolidation/resubdivision action required by the Trust should not have any impact on historic resources. As the subject parcels are located over six (6) miles from the nearest shoreline, they are not situated within the Special Management area. There is no known public access to the shoreline or mountains that traverses the subject properties and no known cultural resources/practices associated with the subject properties. Finally, given the extensive agricultural history of the properties, it is unlikely that any protected/endangered floral or faunal resources would be found on the subject parcels. While the requested reversion will extinguish any conditions related to the APD, the Trust will be required to consolidate and resubdivide the property in accordance with the Subdivision Code and the applicant or any subsequent owners will be responsible for developing the parcels in compliance with all other applicable governmental requirements in connection with any use permitted in the Agricultural zoning district. Failure to comply with such requirements will be considered a violation that may result in enforcement action by the Planning Department and/or the affected agencies. Based on the preceding findings, a favorable recommendation of the Planning Director's initiated action to repeal Change of Zone Ordinance 04 120 and reclassify lands from Agricultural Project District(APD) to Agricultural 20 Acres (A-20a)would result in an appropriate land use pattern and would be in the best interest of the general public. The accompanying draft bill to amend Section 25-8-28 (Ka`u District Zone Map), Chapter 25, Article 8, of the Hawaii County Code 1983 (2016 edition, as amended) is provided for your favorable consideration. Please note as this draft ordinance repeals Ordinance No. 04 120 and reverts the subject properties back to their original A-20a zoning district, there are no proposed conditions to be attached to this draft bill. 3 4�M�V`OF h{`�pi COUNTY OF HAWAII +_ STATE OF HAWAII ri�•oF•rr.M� BILL NO. ORDINANCE NO. (Planning Dept.) AN ORDINANCE REPEALING ORDINANCE NO. 04 120, WHICH AMENDED SECTION 25-8-28 (KAT DISTRICT ZONE MAP), ARTICLE 8, CHAPTER 25 (ZONING CODE) OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE, BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT CLASSIFICATION FROM AGRICULTURAL—20 ACRES (A-20a) TO AGRICULTURAL PROJECT DISTRICT (APD)AT PALIMA AND PA`AU`AU, KAT, HAWAII, COVERED BY TAX MAP KEY: 9- 6-005:018 AND 9-6-006:004. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAIL SECTION 1. Ordinance No. 04 120 which amended Section 25-8-28 (Ka`u District Map), Article 8, Chapter 25 (Zoning Code) of the Hawaii County Code, is hereby repealed in its entirety and the subject property shall be classified back to its original zoning district. SECTION 2. Section 25-8-28, Article 8, Chapter 25 (Zoning Code) of the Hawaii County Code,is amended to change the district classification of property described hereinafter as follows: The district classification of the following area situated at Palima and Pd'au`au, Ka`u, Hawaii, shall be Agricultural—20 Acres (A-20a): Beginning at the west corner of this parcel of land, also being the south corner of Grant 2655 to Nahala,the coordinates of said point of beginning referred to Government Survey Triangulation Station "MILL FLAG"being 6,637.62 feet North and 6,604.23 feet West and thence running by azimuths measured clockwise from true South: 1. 2130 39' 00" 1,591.69 feet along Grant 2655 to Nahala; 2. 2970 10' 00" 389.40 feet along Grant 3533 to B. P. Bishop Estate; -1- 3. 3090 10' 00" 367.62 feet along same; 4. 3110 10' 00" 1,812.36 feet along same; 5. 3290 36' 00" 1,533.46 feet along same; 6. 110 01' 00" 712.42 feet along Grant 2727,Apana 2; 7. 270 33' 00" 952.45 feet along Grant 1374,Apana 2 to M. Keawe; 8. 450 03' 00" 76.56 feet across Meyer Road; 9. 1360 37' 00" 4,400.92 feet along L. C. Aw. 9971, R.P. 7709,Ap. 12 to W. P. Leleiohoku to the point of beginning and containing a gross area of 171.782 Acres,more or less. All as shown on the map attached hereto, marked Exhibit"A" and by reference made a part hereof. SECTION 3. Severability. If any provision of this ordinance, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this ordinance are severable. -2- SECTION 4. This ordinance shall take effect upon approval. INTRODUCED BY: COUNCIL MEMBER, COUNTY OF HAWAII Hawai`i Date of Introduction: Date of 1st Reading: Date of 2nd Reading: Effective Date: -3- A-20a A-20a A-20a AGRICULTURAL PROJECT DISTRICT(APD)TO AGRICULTURAL(A-20a) AREA:171.66 ACRES -2 A-20a 6,63 7.62 N 6,604.23 W "MILL FLAG" A-20a A-20 • A- Oa RS-7.5 A-20aA-20a s' '0 R5 Z G S .O I R5-15 R5-7.5 RS-1 Q7 A-20a ' -10 5"10 m OPEN -2 i / { Z PEN me-l 5-10 a r OP A-20a _ _� A- A-2 a Rp A-20a Feet 0 2,500 5,000 7,500 10,000 12,500 AMENDMENT TO THE ZONING CODE. AMENDING SECTION 25-8-28 (KAU DISTRICT ZONE MAP ARTICLE 8, CHAPTER 25 (ZONING) OF THE HAWAI'I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), BY CHANGING THE DISTRICT CLASSIFICATION FROM AGRICULTURAL PROJECT DISTRICT (APD) TO AGRICULTURAL (A-20a) AT PALIMA& PAAUAU, KAU, HAWAII MAP PREPARED BY: TMK:(3)-9-6-005:018&9-6-006:004 COUNTY OF HAWAI'I, PLANNING DEPARTMENT DATE:February 16,2022 EXHIBIT"A" Planning Director Initiated Map: 1439