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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-02-17 Leeward Exh B - Holualoa Inn LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I HEARING TRANSCRIPT FEBRUARY 17, 2011 INN (REZ 694) A regularly advertised hearing on the application of was called to order at 10:10 a.m. in the King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel, Ballroom I, 75-5660 Palani Road, Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i, with Chair Geraldine Giffin presiding. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Geraldine Giffin, Brandi Beaudet, Thomas Hickcox, Frederic Housel, Wayne Iokepa, Richard Nelson and Lani Bowman (from 10:23 a.m.) STAFF PRESENT: Julie Mecklenburg (Deputy Corporation Counsel), BJ Leithead Todd (Planning Director), Daryn Arai (Planning Program Manager), Jeff Darrow (Staff Planner), Maija Cottle (Staff Planner) and Allen Salavea (Planner, West Ha And four people from the public in attendance. APPLICANT: INN (REZ 694) Amendment to Condition B (complete construction) of Ordinance No. 03-162, which amended Ordinance No. 91-91 that changed the district classification of the project area from Agricultural-1 acre (A-1a) to Village Commercial-1 acre (CV-1a). The project area is situated along the makai st 1 nd and 2, North Kona, Hawai‘i, TMK: 7-6-008: 005 (portion). GIFFIN:Commissi Inn. They are here this morning to ask for an amendment to Condition B, as in boy, complete construction, of Ordinance No. 03-162, which was an amendment to Ordinance No. 91-91 that changed the district classification of the project area from Ag-1 (A-1a) to Village Commercial. And I’m going to find my Agenda Item No. 2 in just a minute – here we go. Thank you, Allen. Allen Salavea. I’m a staff planner with the Planning Department’s Kona Division. I’ll be presenting the next Planning Ordinance 03-162. This graphic shows the location of the portion of the subject property affected by the Change of Zone Ordinance 03-162, which is highlighted by the bold outline here in this section. The parcel is actually larger but the Change of Zone only affects this portion highlighted in this darker pink. The the center of the graphic in a north-south orientation. The subject property is located in the town of bottom left hand corner of the slide. The portion of the parcel affected by Change of Zone 03-162 is currently zoned as Village Commercial-1 acre denoted here in this color pink. Parcels nearby are zoned Resort 1,225 square feet in this violet color, Village Commercial 10,000 square feet shown in the light pink, Single-Family Residential 15,000 square feet shown in this light brown, then a majority of the parcels in the area is zoned as Ag-1 shown in the green. 1 EXHIBIT B The General Plan LUPAG Pattern Allocation Guide, or LUPAG, shows a majority of the portion of the subject parcel to be designated in the Medium Density Urban District with a small section in the southwestern corner of the parcel designated as Low Density Urban. The Kona Community Development Plan, or Kona CDP, designates the subject property to be within a potential Rural Town Transit Oriented Development, or TOD, illustrated by this dark blue line. The subject parcel is denoted here in a red as a red dot. Land Use Policy 3.1 of the Kona CDP states that the rural towns along district are encouraged to be redeveloped as Rural Town TODs; however, currently redevelopment of the area has not yet been initiated. The applicant is requesting that Condition B of Change of Zone Ordinance 03-162, time frame to complete construction, be amended to allow for an additional – it was, they were applying for three years, and I’ll get to that later on in the presentation – to secure final plan approval and complete construction of the proposed commercial development. The applicant is proposing to construct a 3,000 square-foot pavilion-type facility to hold special events. This is a conceptual plan of the proposed 3,000 square-foot pavilion facility. The dotted line denotes the area affected by Ordinance 03-162. The square here in this location shows the location of the proposed facility, which will be able to accommodate approximately 200 people and including a commercial kitchen and restrooms. The conceptual plan also shows the existing roadway – that’s this right here,it’s a private roadway – running to and from the facility and leading , it shows an existing building listed as a shop. And for your additional reference, makai of the subject area is the existing residence and bed and breakfast. Here is an aerial view of the subject property again. The area in general affected by Ordinance 03- 162 is approximately in this area. This is the general location of the proposed facility, the existing shop, the existing roadway to and from the facility existing bed and breakfast and the residence. Here is a ground view looking mauka to makai of the area where the proposed facility is to be located. Another view looking a little to the right of the previous slide, again, still looking mauka to makai. This is a reversed view looking makai up area, showing the proposed parking area that would service the facility,and behind this landscaping and to the left would be the existing structure listed as a shop. The request to amend Condition B of Change of Zone Ordinance 03-162 with applicable conditions. This recommendation does not, however, sanction the specific plans submitted with the application, as they may be subject to change, given the specific code and regulatory requirements of the affected agencies. This is a slide showing the or north. And finally, looking the same, from the private driveway, looking south, or right, onto The Planning Department has also received two letters of support of the applicant, that should have Village Association and Gene Leslie. Additionally, in regards to the time extension, or the amendment for the time extension, we usually put in a condition to allow discretionary time extensions by the Planning Director, but that was 2 EXHIBIT B omitted; so we are proposing to amend the condition from three, what the applicant is applying for, from three to five years to accommodate this omission. GIFFIN: Okay, so, Allen, if I’m not mistaken, which condition are you speaking of specifically? SALAVEA: That would be Condition B, Madam Chair. GIFFIN: E. SALAVEA: B as in boy. GIFFIN: Oh, B as in boy. Thank you. Hang on. SALAVEA: So basically, if you look under Condition B, Madam Chair, the second sentence, instead of the stricken out “five,” it would remain and then -. GIFFIN: Strike out “three.” SALAVEA: Yeah. GIFFIN: Okay. SALAVEA: And the change would be only applicable to the recommendation. GIFFIN: Allen, what do you mean by that, please?I’m sorry. SALAVEA: So the changes would be made to the recommendation report, as well as the accompanying draft bill that would be forwarded up to the Council. GIFFIN: Oh, the ordinance, uh ha, okay, I get it. Commissioners, any other questions of Allen? None? Allen, I have a question, just real easy. In the background report, on Page 2, under Reasons for the Request, there was some sort of I guess change of ownership or something, there was a change; so now the structure is going to be a pavilion instead of this restaurant thing that was going to happen. SALAVEA: That is correct, Madam Chair. GIFFIN: Could you explain that further? How did that come about? SALAVEA: As described in the application, the original plans were developed by the original applicant, which was Twigg, and as this was purchased and come under ownership by Puaanui Partnership, the economy and other factors that contributed to the delay in the restaurant project moving forward, which also included renovations to the bed and breakfast and try and secure a Planned Unit Development permit, allowed the current applicants to review what would best serve both their venture as well as the surrounding community. And what they’ve found is that this would be best suited to allow the community access to the property, as well as be commercially viable. And I think maybe you can ask that question of the applicant to expand even further; but that’s what was included in the application. 3 EXHIBIT B GIFFIN: Okay. Any other questions of -. Commissioner Housel. HOUSEL: Actually, I have a question for the Planning Director. I was looking at the permitted uses for CV, Commercial Village and, of course, restaurants and bars are listed there. But this is a change from a restaurant to a pavilion or something like that. So it didn’t, in the uses, didn’t specifically say that as far as the permitted use. Would this fall into a different category of use then? LEITHEAD TODD: I don’t believe that it would -. It would still be covered under their zoning. HOUSEL: Okay, so it’s, and there’s one paragraph that said “a similar type of use.” Is that what applies then? Now, there is a community facility category, too. Would that be applicable? LEITHEAD TODD: Yeah, it’s covered by the zoning. HOUSEL: Okay, thank you. GIFFIN: Any other questions of our staff? Hearing none. And I’d like to acknowledge that Commissioner Bowman has just arrived. Good morning. BOWMAN: Good morning. Sorry. GIFFIN: It’s all right. Would the applicant and/or the applicant’s representatives please come up? Good morning. Could you please raise your right hand? Thank you. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Hawai‘i County Leeward Planning Commission? UBALDO: Yes, I do. GIFFIN: Will you please state your name and your residentaddress? UBALDO: Absolutely. My name is Noelani Ubaldo, and I live at 75-5335 Kalamona Road, GIFFIN: Thank you. There were some questions, as I’m sure you heard. Maybe, it would be advisable for you to go ahead and address those questions first. UBALDO: Absolutely, I’d love to. First, I’d like to thank the Director for her favorable recommendation, and it’s an honor to be here today. I’m very excited and definitely passionate about what we would like to do here on the land. The gentleman was absolutely right; just to give some background, the original owner was Thurston Twigg-Smith, and it was in their vision to create a restaurant and what was mentioned earlier. In 2005, the current owners, Paul and Cassandra Hazen, purchased the business and the property, which includes about 30 acres of land. And what we would like to see happen – and, of course, a restaurant in the meantime, our community did have, you know, a restaurant moved into the community, and we fully support them, and that would be Holuakoa Gardens and Café – our intent is to put in a 3,000-square foot pavilion that would support events that we currently have in the community, because we are definitely actively involved with Community Association; we have our Coffee Stroll annually, and for many years now we’ve done the Christmas Lighting Ceremony. So we feel that it would contribute to our, you know, our village itself, and it would also benefit our bed and breakfast that we currently operate 4 EXHIBIT B with special events, holding, you know, possible wedding receptions and gatherings. What were the other questions? GIFFIN: Mr. Housel, were your concerns addressed? HOUSEL: Yes, thank you. The special events that you are planning, I understand weddings, you know, receptions and things like that, and you will have a certified kitchen located there also, right? UBALDO: Exactly. HOUSEL: Do you plan any amplified music? UBALDO: You know, we’ll definitely operate within whatever the rules and regulations are, and it would be, yes, it would be part of our thoughts and plans, you know, to stay within whatever the noise, you know, laws and what have you are. HOUSEL: Right. Okay, that was my concern in your community that, I appreciate all the things you do for the community, but obviously everybody has to respect each other, you know. UBALDO: Sure, yeah, we are definitely mindful of that. HOUSEL: Thank you. GIFFIN: Commissioners, any other questions of the applicant? Okay, hang on just one minute. Because this was an ordinance –where is Allen – that’s what you were referring to, right, earlier? Because originally it was -. SALAVEA: Correct, Madam Chair, that the wording, the amendment that to say five years, would be amended for the recommendation of the background report, as well as the accompanying ordinance being forwarded to the Council. GIFFIN: Okay. I would like to hear a motion and in particular acknowledging Condition B, boy, with the change in terms of from three years to five years. May I hear a motion, please? Mr. Beaudet. I’m sorry? (Being informed by staff) oh, I didn’t know that. Before we go on with this motion – I’m sorry, Mr. Beaudet – I was just informed that there is a person who would like to testify. So, Mr. Maddox – I wondered who you were. Will you please raise your right hand? Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Hawai‘i County Leeward Planning Commission? MADDOX: Yes, ma’am. GIFFIN: Will you please state your name and your resident address? MADDOX: My name is Paul Maddox, 76-810 Io Place, Kailua-Kona, 96740. GIFFIN: Thank you. And before he begins, is there anyone else here who would like to testify? Okay, good, seeing none. Please, Mr. Maddox, begin. 5 EXHIBIT B MADDOX: On behalf of the Commission members to approve the time extension request related to the proposed pavilion bring additional visitors to our village, it will also be an asset to the annual events produced by and have been very strong supporters of our community over the years and the HVA is proud to support their proposed pavilion. GIFFIN: Thank you very much. Commissioners, any questions of the public testifier, Mr. Maddox? Okay. Any other questions of staff, Commissioners? Finally, Mr. Beaudet, I apologize, may I hear a motion, please? BEAUDET: I’d like to move for a favorable recommendation of the request to amend Condition B of Change of Zone Ordinance No. 03-162, be forwarded to the County Council. GIFFIN: We should also acknowledge Condition B, the change from three to five years. BEAUDET: And the change to Condition B of three to five years. GIFFIN: Is that correct, Allen? Is there anything else that should be included? Okay, hearing none. Do I hear a second? HOUSEL: I’ll second. GIFFIN: Mr. Housel. It’s been moved by Commissioner Beaudet and seconded by Commissioner Housel that we send a favorable recommendation of the request to amend Condition B of the Change of Zone Ordinance No. 03-162 to the County Council. Allen? SALAVEA: Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner Beaudet? BEAUDET: Aye. SALAVEA: Commissioner Bowman? BOWMAN: Although I did come in late, I have reviewed the application – so, aye. SALAVEA: Commissioner Hickcox? HICKCOX: Aye. SALAVEA: Commissioner Housel? HOUSEL: Aye. SALAVEA: Commissioner Iokepa? IOKEPA: Aye. SALAVEA: Commissioner Nelson? 6 EXHIBIT B NELSON: Aye. SALAVEA: And Chair Giffin? GIFFIN: Aye. SALAVEA: Madam Chair, you have seven ayes and no noes. GIFFIN: Thank you very much. And thank you for coming in this morning. The discussion ended at 10:30 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Noriko Sauer, Secretary Leeward Planning Commission 7 EXHIBIT B