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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-04-17 TKITAGAWA PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAI`I HEARING TRANSCRIPT April 17, 2003 A regularly advertised public hearing on the application of I. KITAGAWA & CO., LTD. (REZ 03-002) was called to order at 9:30 a.m. in the County Building, Councilroom- Room 201, 25 Aupuni Street, Hilo, Hawai`i, with Chairperson Fred Galdones presiding. PRESENT:Earl Fujikawa ABSENT & EXCUSED: Jeffrey McCall Fred Galdones Bill Graham Florence Kubota Aurelio C. Mina, Jr. Francis Smith Hannah Springer Bill Thibadeau Ivan Torigoe, Deputy Corporation Counsel Christopher J. Yuen, Planning Director Norman Hayashi, Staff Planner Alice Kawaha, Staff Planner Phyllis Fujimoto, Staff Planner Jeff Darrow, Staff Planner And approximately 6 people from the public in attendance. I. KITAGAWA & CO., LTD. (REZ 03-002) Î Application for a Change APPLICANT: of Zone by changing the district classification from Single Family Residential (RS-10) to Industrial-Commercial Mixed Use (MCX-20) for approximately 22,500 square feet of land. The property is located in Waikea House Lots on the northeast corner of Kwili Street-Hnano Street intersection, Waikea, South Hilo, Hawai`i, TMK: 2-2-50:14. GALDONES:Commissioners, we are on Agenda Item No. 2. It's Applicant for a Change of Zone I. Kitagawa & Co., Ltd. It's REZ 03-002. This is an application by changing the district classification from Single Family Residential (RS-10) to Industrial-Commercial Mixed Use (MCX-20) for approximately 22,500 square feet of land. Alice? KAWAHA:Thank you, Chairman. If I can direct the Commissioners' attention to the location map, this here line running perpendicular to Hnano Street is East Kwili Street. The subject property is here in the corner of East Kwili Street and Hnano Street; it's signified by the red dot. It's presently zoned RS-10, and the proposal is for redesignation to MCX, which is the Industrial Mixed use. This whole area here is the Waikea House Lots First Series. And as you can see along the Kanoelehua Avenue, 1 EXHIBIT A there are some Limited Industrial zones which are colored in gray. Recently, in February, there were two rezonings that were before you, and these are signified by this green dot and the blue dot. One was the SAF and the other was W rezonings. To the right of East Kwili Street, you have the Kanoelehua Industrial Subdivision; and that's zoned Limited Industrial. In looking at the site plan, again, to my right, running along the border here is East Kwili Street; and at the bottom of the map is Hnano Street. The subject property is here outlined in blue. The proposal is for a warehouse structure which is outlined in pink, with the parking area fronting the Kwili Street area. Access would be coming off of Kwili Street at the southeast corner, and also there's going to be an access which would be the in and out along Hnano Street. I want to point out, also, that there is a condition that there be only a right turn in here from Kwili Street, and that there be a shared or common access easement with the property that's abutting that; and that property is the HAKS rezoning that will be coming up before you. The Planning Director is recommending that this change of zone be favorably recommended to the County Council. The request is consistent with the General Plan, goals and policies of the Industrial and Commercial land use policies. It's also consistent with the General Plan Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide Map, which is designated Industrial. In that area, it's also situated where you have the transition from the Residential to the Industrial-Commercial uses; and again, may I point out that this area here is presently Single Family Residential. It's also General Plan Low density. However, in our recent General Plan update, it will be, it is proposed to go up to a Medium Density Residential area. If I can point out some of the conditions. In fact, on -, in Condition C, I would like to make a correction, and this is based on consistent language. This is on the construction of the proposed development. On the second sentence, where it starts with "This time period shall include," I want to change that -, or we would like to revise that to, "Prior to the start of construction, final plan approval for the proposed development shall be secured from the Planning Director in accordance with the Zoning Code." And that is to just clarify that the final plan approval needs to be done before they can construct the proposed structure. Are there any questions? GALDONES:Commissioners? Commissioner Kubota. KUBOTA:Alice, can you go over the last part of the amendment to Condition C, please. KAWAHA:Okay. KUBOTA:Something to do with final, ÐPrior to the start of construction, -.Ñ KAWAHA:Prior to the start of construction, final plan approval for the proposed development shall be secured from the Planning Director in accordance with -. 2 KUBOTA:Okay. KAWAHA:The Zoning Code. GALDONES:Commissioner Springer? SPRINGER:I had the same question. Thank you. GALDONES:Okay. Commissioners, any further questions of Alice? Commissioner Kubota. KUBOTA:Continuing on in C, about three, two-thirds of the way down, the continuous landscape buffer shall be provided. Can you point out to me where that area is, say the northern property boundary. KAWAHA:For the Commissioners' direction, this would be -, this is Kwili Street, to my right would be south, to my left would be north, and towards the bottom of the page would be west, and towards the top would be east. So it would be along -, this is the northern boundary, which abuts the existing dwellings on the adjacent properties. It's right here. KUBOTA:And where does the -? Mr. Chair? GALDONES:Commissioner Kubota. KUBOTA:Where does the shared boundary come in? You were talking about -. KAWAHA:The common access. KUBOTA:The common access, making internal traffic arrangements. KAWAHA:Okay. KUBOTA:Where is that boundary? KAWAHA:Okay. Next on the agenda would be these two parcels that KUBOTA:Yes, I understand that. KAWAHA:So the common access would be where this I. Kitagawa's an HAKS' property boundary share the same boundary area. So it wou in this area here. So it's still offset of Maka`ala Street. 3 KUBOTA:I see. But that -, the landscaping has nothing to do with the common boundary for the other, the exit -, what am I trying to say? Okay. KAWAHA:Yeah, that particular -. KUBOTA:It does not abut. The landscaping has nothing to do with the abutting land that is going to be sharing the common entry. KAWAHA:Well, as part of the plan approval, they need to provide landscaping in accordance with the Planning Director, Planning Department's landscaping requirements. However, the special condition that I put in -. KUBOTA:Okay. KAWAHA:Is that because there are dwellings on the north side of property, that there be a buffer there -. KUBOTA:Okay. KAWAHA:To -. KUBOTA:Okay. KAWAHA:Mitigate any noise or -. KUBOTA:Yes. KAWAHA:Visual impact. KUBOTA:Okay. Thank you. Thank you. GALDONES:No further questions? Hearing -, seeing no further questions, would the Applicant or representative please step forward. Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Hawai`i County Planning Commission? FUKE:Yes, I do, Mr. Chairman. GALDONES:Please state your name and resident address. FUKE:My name is Sidney Fuke. I am a planning consultant. I'm h assisting the Applicant. My residence address is 1358 Melemanu Street here in Hilo. GALDONES:Mr. Fuke, have you received a copy of the Background Re the Recommendation, and are there any comments to that? 4 FUKE:Correct. Thank you. We have received it. It was shared with the Applicant; and the Applicant also is in the audience, his name is Brian Kitagawa. And, generally, he found the conditions to be acceptable, also as amended by the, by your Staff. However, there are some areas that I'd like to share with the Commissioners. And, if at the end of the, you know, the meeting, the Commissioners feel that, and the Director feel that, an amendment is appropriate, then I do have appropriate language to correspond with what I'd like to share with the Commission. The Staff's recommended condition, you know, just in summary, requires the following. First, it requires that the project be hooked up to the County sewer line. It also requires the dedication of 10 feet along Hnano Street, because Hnano Street presently is only -, has a right-of-way of 40 feet. And with the dedication of 10 additional feet on the subject property, and with the presumed dedication on the mauka end for an additional 10 feet, then you would have presumably a 60-foot wide right-of-way eventually. But that amounts to approximately about like 1,000 square feet that the owner has to relinquish. And within that area, plus that area fronting Kwili Street, the Applicant is obligated to provide a curb, gutter, sidewalk section, you know, rimming the entire length of the property, for a total distance of approximately 325 feet. That' However, what the Applicant would like to request consideration on is some of the things dealing with the access limitation. And the math might not really be clear, so if -, and this kind of relates to the other application that your Staff was referring to. And so we were kind of looking at it rather deeply, like yesterday, and I got some comments also from the owners of the other application, HAKS, Inc. And so, as a result, this morning I, you know, discussed it with them, and you know, they were receptive to what I'd like to share with you. But to better understand, you know, the traffic movement, I'd like to direct the Commissioners' attention to the map, you know, that a the Staff's recommendations, at least you can, you know, follow along with what we are looking at. Do all of you have it? YUEN:Look at Exhibit A attached to the proposed ordinance. It's the next to the last page, I think, in your binder or one of the very last pages in the binder. It's probably, it's labeled Amendment to the Zoning Code. And that's probably the best one to work from. FUKE:It's the page right before the beginning of your conditions. KUBOTA:Thank you. GALDONES:Are we all there? YUEN:At the end of the Staff recommendation. MINA:The condition. YUEN:Yeah, that map -. 5 GALDONES:It's in the gold one. YUEN:That Mina has. It's in the yellow and toward the end of it GALDONES:Okay, Mr. Fuke. FUKE:Okay. Thank you very much. So you can see where the Kitagawa's property is located. To the right of that, that first two lots are the next application, HAKS, Inc.; and, you know, the two lots there would border Kwili and Laukapu Street. Okay. The current application before the Commissioners is that property that's shaded, and it's on the corner of Kwili and Hnano Street. What the Applicant would like to -, and the Staff's recommendation right now calls for a limitation on Kwili Street to be only a right-turn movement in. So, in other words, if you're traveling, I guess, east on Kwili Street, you would be prohibited from making any left turn. What the Applicant would want to have the Staff and the Commissioners consider is this, to allow a full movement, that is to say left- and right-turn movement on either wili Street, okay. And if the Applicant chooses to have full movement on Hnano or K Kwili Street, then the other movement on the other street, the Hnano Street, would be limited only to an out movement only. Under that pattern, then, you know, it's -, what would happen to both properties, the Kitagawa as well as the HAKS, Inc. property, is that you would have conceivably a full movement at one central point on Kwili Street and one exit movement on Hnano Street and Laukapu Street only. So in so doing, then, you know, as opposed to if you look on the opposite side of Kwili Street, like on the south side of Kwili Street, you see all of those lots there. All of those lots, they presently have their individualized access. Some of them, I traveled there this morning, and some of them you'll find that they have like a separate ingress and separate egress, as well, on one lot itself. So you have multiple access Applicant is proposing between this one as well as the HAKS, Inc. one is to agree to a consolidated access that would service both developments. The other question that I guess Commissioner Kubota, you know, raised about like in terms of the continuous band of landscaping, that refers to that area on the north side of the property. And the reason being that that property is presently zoned RS-10, so it's an understandable requirement. Having said that then, you know, if -, I am prepared to answer any questions. I mean this is really like the Applicant's preference. If, however, in the wisdom of the Department and the Commission, you know, you feel that that's not like an appropriate request, then, you know, the Applicant eventually will have to live with whatever is decided upon. GALDONES:Commissioner Springer. 6 SPRINGER:Thank you. I was comfortable with the recommendation for the traffic flow as presented to us, but I'd like to hear the Director's response to Mr. Fuke's proposal. GALDONES:Mr. Yuen. YUEN:It's not, well, I certainly can't agree to it without consultation with the Department of Public Works. I don't think that they would be favorable to this configuration either because we are actually -, their comments were to not have access from Kwili Street at all. We, in our recommendation, provided some relief to the Applicants for both this and the next property by having a right turn in from Kwili Street. We -, so I have to stick with our current recommendation. And if, I think if the Planning Commission wanted to entertain a significant change to that recommendation, then we should bring in the Department of Public Works; and I don't know if they're prepared to analyze this any differently. Alice, do we have any -, is your -, do we have anything further from the Department of Public Works other than their comment on this? KAWAHA:No. But I did discuss it with Casey Yanagihara from the Traffic Division, and he also said that the right-turn in would be okay. Because I asked him if there are any other alternatives besides just not allowing any access off of Kwili Street, so he said a right turn would be more appropriate. YUEN:The problems with Kwili Street and this location are that it's a major through road, as well; and so we want to try to limit accesses. It is true that the Residential lots have driveway accesses on it. But Commercial or a Light Industrial Zone will have considerably more traffic coming in and out of the driveway, so that's a ` reason for restricting the movements in there. The, also -, it's also an odd -, Makaala Street is, if you look at the map, is in an odd location with respect to these properties and the entrance to the property. And if you've driven it, many people have been in ` there, it's -, the side streets and the way Makaala comes in creates turning issues there that would be made worse if you had people making left turns at Kwili -, from Kwili ` Street at a slightly offset location from Makaala Street. GALDONES:Commissioner Graham. GRAHAM:I guess I'm still needing further clarification, both on the recommendation and on what Mr. Fuke is proposing. It seems like there's two issues. How do you get in? Do you make, allow to make a left turn as well as make a right turn? As soon as I think of that, it makes me think how do you, in fact, prohibit a left turn? It seems like that might be a little hard to do in practice. And then the second part of that issue for me is how about the egress? Are we talking about only going in? I think Mr. Fuke spoke of a full intersection, meaning that people can come out at the same place and go left or right, although I'm not sure. But when he was speaking about maybe only an egress on Hnano Street, I was thinking, well, maybe it's possible 7 to have only an ingress on Kwili Street and have an outgress, or whatever, egress on the other two streets. So, anyway, all of this is kind of in a big pile and it would be nice to get it sorted out nicely. YUEN:Well, I just addressed the left turn movement from Kwili, the proposal that he has, proposed left turn movement from Kwili into the properties. But what he is asking for is also that they be able to turn left and right out of the properties, that would be a full movement on Kwili Street; and I have to stick with our present recommendation. GRAHAM:Which does not allow egress on Kwili Street? YUEN:On Kwili Street, yes. And as to your question on how do you prevent people from turning left, it would only be prevented by the striping. I mean people physically, there isn't a median, there isn't a barrier, so people can physically turn left; it's a traffic violation at that point. GALDONES:Commissioners, any further questions? Mr. Fuke, do you wish to comment on Mr. Yuen's remarks? FUKE:Well, you know, I just expressed like what the Applicant's position is, you know. They would prefer like full movement at a consolidated point for both properties and then outbound only on either the Hnano or Laukapu Street, as the case might be, depending on which application you're looking at. And part of the rationale behind that is to have like all of the in and out movement on, for example, like on Hnano Street. Because of its proximity to Kwili Street, if you have, you know, it's very possible you could have a backup right over there. And the more, the multiple, you know, given the situation, the multiple driveways that you may have like on either Hnano and/or Kwili Street, I think, provides the added measure of relief so that you don't have all of the focus on just one short stretch of the roadway. Because, you know, you've got only like about a 100-foot section on Hnano Street. So if you look at the driveway length, then you, probably your driveway will be on Hnano Street. Your in and out movement would probably be located at about maybe 60 feet from that intersection. So if you have a left, a car coming down on Kwili Street, making a left turn on Hnano Street, basically you have only a storage space for two cars; and so, you know, that can kind of compound the problem. And that was part of the reason why as it relates also to the other property, that the -, the HAKS property, that, you know, they're looking at some alternative, as I had suggested earlier. However, you know, I do understand the Planning Director's position and where Public Works is coming from. So if this is the position of the Department and the Commission, then, you know, the Applicant will live with that. GALDONES:Commissioner Fujikawa. 8 FUJIKAWA:So, in other words, the Applicant's new proposed intention that's going to be brought out to Public Works on their review again, and if it's acceptable with them, can that be used? YUEN:If they want to defer action here, we can do that, and have it reviewed by Department of Public Works. At this point though, we, as I say, we would stick with our position. I don't think that this was -, this was not specifically, this proposal was not specifically in the application. Or was it? FUKE:No. The proposal called for like access, both full movement access on Kwili Street; and then it was then, you know, subsequently modified. I think that the Public Works Department has expressed its position. The Planning Director has expressed his position. So probably even if we go back and get their re- review on what we're suggesting, you know, because the essence of what was originally proposed and what we're suggesting has not changed, I -, my sense is that the Public Works Department will probably not change their position, as well. FUJIKAWA:Okay. GALDONES:I think, Commissioners, as stated by Mr. Fuke, my take on it is that they are not asking to have this matter deferred and to be conferred with the Public Works. If it was the wish, if it's the wishes of the Commissioners to accept the recommendation as proposed by the Department, the Applicant will be willing to live by that. So are there any further discussions or any questions of Mr. Fuke? If not, is there anyone from the public who wishes to testify on this subject matter? Seeing none, Commissioners, the recommendation of the Department is to give a favorable recommendation and it be forwarded to the County Council. What is the wishes of the Commissioners? Commissioner Springer. SPRINGER:With regard to the change of zone application by I. Kitagawa and Co., Ltd., REZ 03-002, I move that a favorable recommendation of the change of zone request from a Single Family Residential (RS-10) to Industrial-Commercial Mixed Use (MCX-20) zoned district be forwarded to the County Council, including the amendments to Condition C as stated by Staff. FUJIKAWA:I second. GALDONES:It has been moved by Commissioner Springer and seconded by Commissioner Fujikawa that application by I. Kitagawa and Co., Ltd., Change of Zone Application REZ 03-002, be given a favorable recommendation of the change of zone request from a Single Family Residential (RS-10) to the Industrial-Commercial Mixed Use (MCX-20) zoned district, that it be forwarded to the County Council, with the amendment to Condition C, second sentence. Are there any discussions on the motion? Commissioner Graham. 9 GRAHAM:Again, just clarification. Ms. Springer, you are recommending our approval based on the conditions by the Planning Department, not on the Applicant's conditions or -? SPRINGER:That's correct. GRAHAM:Thank you. GALDONES:Any further discussions? Hearing none, Alice? KAWAHA:Commissioner Springer? SPRINGER:Yes. KAWAHA:Commissioner Fujikawa? FUJIKAWA:Aye. KAWAHA:Commissioner Graham? GRAHAM:Aye. KAWAHA:Commissioner Kubota? KUBOTA:Aye. KAWAHA:Commissioner Mina? MINA:Aye. KAWAHA:Commissioner Smith? SMITH:Aye. KAWAHA:Commissioner Thibadeau? THIBADEAU: Aye. KAWAHA:Chair Galdones? GALDONES:Aye. 10 KAWAHA:Chair, there are eight ayes and no noes, the motion has been carried. GALDONES:Thank you, Alice. Mr. Fuke, you will be informed of today's actions in writing. FUKE:Thank you. GALDONES:You're welcome. The discussion ended at 9:52 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Sharon M. Nomura, Secretary Planning Commission 11