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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-01-20 Leeward Planning Commission Minutes LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAII MINUTES JANUARY 20, 2022 The Leeward Planning Commission met in regular session at 9:32 a.m., with Chairman Michael Vitousek presiding. Pursuant to Act 220, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, which amended the Sunshine Law to allow meetings to be remotely conducted online, effective January 1, 2022, along with the Governor's Emergency Proclamation Related to Sunshine Law In-Person Meetings dated December 29, 2021, this meeting was held online, with live stream video for the public to observe the meeting and no in-person meeting site. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Michael Vitousek, Barbara DeFranco, Clement"CJ" Kanuha III (until 10:38 a.m.), Mahina Paishon-Duarte, and Faith "Faye" Yates ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: Dalilah Schlueter, Esq. (Counsel for the Commission), Diana Mellon-Lacey, Esq. (Counsel for the Planning Department), Jean Campbell, Esq. (Counsel for the Planning Department, from 11:28 a.m.), Zendo Kern (Planning Director, from 10:32 a.m.), April Surprenant(Planning Program Manager, on behalf of the Deputy Planning Director for Agenda Items 1 and 2), Christian Kay (Planner), Alex Roy (Planner), and Noriko Sauer(Commission Secretary) A quorum was present. Chairman Vitousek called the meeting to order. He described the public accessibility to this meeting and the protocol for the participants to follow. Chairman Vitousek called the roll of the Commissioners, and as required by the aforementioned Act 220, each Commissioner stated that no one else was with them at their locations. Chairman Vitousek also introduced the staff. Chairman Vitousek announced that the Commission would reorder the agenda items and take up the State Sunshine Law Change Update by Corporation Counsel after the New Business items 1 and 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES At 9:39 a.m. the Commission took up the minutes of the December 16, 2021, Leeward Planning Commission meeting. No corrections were offered. It was moved by Commissioner DeFranco and seconded by Commissioner Kanuha that the minutes be approved as submitted. A vote was taken by show of hands, and the motion carried by unanimous vote of those present. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS At 9:40 a.m. Chairman Vitousek confirmed with staff that there were no members of the public who wished to provide verbal testimony. 1 It was moved by Commissioner Paishon-Duarte and seconded by Commissioner DeFranco that public testimony be closed. A vote was taken by show of hands, and the motion carried by unanimous vote of those present. NEW BUSINESS 1. APPLICANT: AARON KAHANANUI (PL-SLU-2021-000002) Application for a State Land Use Boundary Amendment from Agricultural to Urban for .992 acres of land. The subject property is located at 73-4413 Hawaii Belt Road, approximately 100 feet southeast of its intersection with Kalaoa Street, `O`oma Homesteads, North Kona, Hawaii, TMK: (3) 7-3-017:024. 2. APPLICANT: AARON KAHANANUI (PL-REZ-2021-000011) Application for a Change of Zone from an Agricultural-1 acre (A-la) zoning district to a Single-Family Residential 15,000 square feet(RS-15) zoning district for .992 acres of land. The subject property is located at 73-4413 Hawaii Belt Road, approximately 100 feet southeast of its intersection with Kalaoa Street, `O`oma Homesteads, North Kona, Hawaii, TMK: (3) 7-3-017:024. The Commission took up these two items simultaneously at 9:41 a.m. Chairman Vitousek called a short recess at 9:46 a.m. to allow staff to resolve a technical issue. He called the hearing back to order at 9:49 a.m. Action on Item 1 (PL-SLU-2021-000002): It was moved by Commissioner DeFranco and seconded by Commissioner Kanuha that a favorable recommendation be forwarded to the County Council based on the Deputy Planning Director's recommendation. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion carried with five ayes (DeFranco, Kanuha, Paishon-Duarte, Yates, and Vitousek) and no noes. Action on Item 2 (PL-REZ-2021-000011): It was moved by Commissioner DeFranco and seconded by Commissioner Kanuha that a favorable recommendation be forwarded to the County Council based on the Deputy Planning Director's recommendation, with a new Condition H replacing the proposed Conditions H through M. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion carried with five ayes (DeFranco, Kanuha, Paishon-Duarte, Yates, and Vitousek) and no noes. This hearing ended at 10:29 a.m. [SEE HEARING TRANSCRIPT EXHIBIT AJ STATE SUNSHINE LAW CHANGE UPDATE BY CORPORATION COUNSEL Review State of Hawaii, Office of Information Practices training material, "In-Depth Sunshine Law Requirements for Remote Meetings, Effective 1/1/2022" https:Hoip.hawaii. og v/wp-content/uploads/2021/l0/In-Depth-Sunshine-Law-Requirements- for-Multi-Site-and-Remote-Meetings-Effective-January-1-2022.pdf The Commission took up this item at 10:29 a.m. 2 Leeward Planning Commission January 20,2022,Meeting Minutes Deputy Corporation Counsel Schlueter reiterated the statement noted in the agenda that Act 220 of the Session Laws of Hawaii 2021 amended the Sunshine Law to allow meetings to be remotely conducted online as they have been under the COVID-19 emergency proclamation. She said that the law update provides the following three meeting options: 1) a meeting in person at one site, which is the traditional method and has always been allowed; 2) a meeting in person at multiple sites that are connected with technology, which has also always been allowed, and for example, the County Council used to meet this way on both sides of the island; and, 3) a new type of remote meeting where board members and the public are allowed to participate by electronic means, with at least one in-person site available to the public and/or any board members who wish to participate in person. Ms. Schlueter noted that the in-person site requirement is suspended by the Governor's most recent proclamation through the end of February; after that, if the proclamation ends then, there will be an in-person site that will allow the public to testify from. Ms. Schlueter said that another major item is that board members must announce who else is in their remote location whom they may interact with; for example, if they are at home and there are family members there who may walk by or interact with them, it is important to announce who is there, but if they are in an office building, they don't have to announce everyone in that office. She noted that if the Commission goes into executive session, the Commissioners will need to be sure that there are no other people in the room with them or they have taken measures to protect the executive session; otherwise, the attorney-client privilege that the Commission is afforded could be affected. Ms. Schlueter also noted that the Commission must have a minimum of a quorum visible by video at all times. She said that in case of technical difficulties, the meeting is to recess for up to 30 minutes while they attempt to restore the connection; if the connection of at least a quorum cannot be re-established, the meeting has to be concluded at that time. She said that there is an additional option where the meeting can still be resumed by other electronic means, a different link or at a later time; however, that has to be planned in advance, and the information has to be published as part of the agenda. She added that if the Commission starts running into technology issues, that is an option that they can consider for future meetings. Ms. Schlueter concluded her presentation by referring the Commissioners to the document titled "In-Depth Sunshine Law Requirements for Multi-site and Remote Meetings, Effective January 1, 2022"published by the state Office of Information Practices, to which the hyperlink is provided in the agenda. There were no questions from the Commissioners. This item ended at 10:35 a.m. 3 Leeward Planning Commission January 20,2022,Meeting Minutes 3. PLANNING DEPARTMENT PRESENTATION: Presentation of long-range land use and infrastructure planning goals for lands under the jurisdiction of the Leeward Planning Commission based on the Kona Community Development Plan (CDP), South Kohala CDP, North Kohala CDP and Hawaii County General Plan. The Commission took up this item at 10:35 a.m. Ms. Surprenant gave a PowerPoint presentation, followed by a question-and-answer opportunity. This item ended at 11:33 a.m. [SEE PRESENTATION TRANSCRIPT EXHIBIT BJ PLANNING DIRECTOR'S REPORT 1. Report on Short Term Vacation Rental(STVR)program for lands under the jurisdiction of the Leeward Planning Commission. At 11:33 a.m. Chairman Vitousek introduced this item. Mr. Roy reiterated the information in the report that had been distributed to the Commissioners earlier[SEE OVERVIEW OF STVR PROGRAMFOR HAWAII COUNTY—EXHIBIT Q. Commissioner Yates commented that her concern had been about many STVR owners not paying the taxes that they should have been paying. She asked how that has changed in terms of numbers because of this law. In response Director Kern explained the two categories created by the STVR ordinance: STVRs in the permitted areas and those holding a Non-conforming Use Certificate ("NUC") in other areas. He said that those STVRs in the permitted areas have to show required information, including their general excise tax and transient accommodations tax ("TAT") licenses, to get a registration; however, once registered, there is not a set of follow-up procedures. He said that the NUC on the other hand has to be renewed each year with a fee and certain information, such as evidence of tax payment. He said that therefore the STVRs with NUC, which are now less than a quarter of the overall STVRs, are being monitored while not much monitoring is being done of the standard STVRs. He said that especially since the County is now responsible for collecting its own TAT, the County Council, the Mayor's Office, the Real Property Tax Office, and the Planning Department are collectively working on amending the STVR ordinance, which will be brought to the Commission, so that annual monitoring of those STVRs is also done as a way to ensure that compliance is happening. He said that after a very heavy lifting that the Planning Department had to do after the passage of the ordinance, they are now back to a base level where they can see what is not working and what is ready for improvement. He noted that they are seeing an increase in the number of STVR registrations in the permitted zones, such as resort areas and certain condominiums, whereas the STVRs with NUC, which can no longer be applied for, are decreasing because of the owner's decision to discontinue the use or renewal being denied due to noncompliance. Commissioner Yates further commented that her concern was about fairness; since the rest of property owners are being tracked and penalized for delinquent taxes, those STVR owners should be treated the same and pay their fair share. Director Kern responded that the framework for the amendment bill focuses on that point, as well as making sure that the property tax classification lines up with that use. There being no further questions, Chairman Vitousek concluded this item at 11:42 a.m. 4 Leeward Planning Commission January 20,2022,Meeting Minutes 2. Report on Special Management Area (SMA) determinations, minor permits and enforcement action issued by the Planning Director. At 11:42 a.m. Chairman Vitousek introduced this item. There were no questions about the December 2021 logs that had been distributed earlier. Mr. Roy spoke of the efforts to improve the SMA program that staff had been making, which included making the online application process easier through the Electronic Processing and Information Center site by providing more guidance and information for people to understand why they are applying in the Special Management Area. He said that they are also working on publishing SMA Assessments on the Planning Department website, along with the currently available SMA Majors and SMA Minors, so that public members can search and review the information; presently, if an applicant receives an exempt or approval letter via Assessment application, there was no mechanism for the public to easily find that information. He said that the improvement is intended to make the SMA information more accessible and understandable not only to the public but also to the Commissioners for their decision-making, such as the training provided to them some time ago. Chairman Vitousek pointed out that among the current members, only Commissioner DeFranco and he had been in that training. He asked that the training material be shared with the rest of the Commissioners so that they will have the same information. Mr. Roy concurred and invited them to contact him with any questions about the SMA or Coastal Zone Management Program. AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING At 11:46 a.m. Chairman Vitousek introduced this item. Mr. Kay informed the Commission that there were no agenda items for the next February meeting since a Change of Zone application and a court remand for the Bolton Special Permit application that had tentatively been scheduled for February were pushed back for more time. Chairman Vitousek asked if there was any update from Mauna Lani Resort on the status of compliance with their condition to connect to the adjacent Waikoloa Beach Resort, which had been brought up at the December 16, 2021, meeting. Mr. Kay responded that the Planning Department was currently either drafting the letter or awaiting their response, and that the information would be provided to the Commissioners as soon as it was received. No additional items were requested by the Commissioners. ANNOUNCEMENTS The Leeward Planning Commission's next monthly meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 17, 2022 by interactive video conference via Zoom and at the West Hawaii Civic Center, Community Center, Building G conference room. At 11:47 a.m. Chairman Vitousek confirmed with Mr. Kay that the February meeting was cancelled. Mr. Kay also noted that unless the Governor extends his Emergency Proclamation Related to Sunshine Law In-Person Meetings dated December 29, 2021, the West Hawaii Civic Center, Building G, will be the physical site for the following March 17, 2022, meeting. 5 Leeward Planning Commission January 20,2022,Meeting Minutes Chairman Vitousek reminded the Commissioners to submit their annual financial disclosure statement by January 31, 2022. Mr. Kay informed the Commissioners that the County Council had voted down the nomination of Mr. Shane Vincent to the Commission. Asked by Chairman Vitousek, Director Kern confirmed that the Commission has two vacancies at present for North Kohala and South Kohala and noted that those are the judicial districts that differ from the council districts. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, it was moved by Commissioner Paishon-Duarte and seconded by Commissioner DeFranco that the meeting be adjourned. A vote was taken by show of hands, and the motion carried by unanimous vote of those present. Chairman Vitousek adjourned the meeting at 11:50 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Noriko Sauer, Secretary ATTEST: Michael Vitousek, Chairman Leeward Planning Commission 6 Leeward Planning Commission January 20,2022,Meeting Minutes