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Home My WebLink About2022-12-14 Ka'u CDP Minutes DraftMitchell D. Roth Mayor Lee E. Lord Managing Director Zendo Kern Director Jeffrey W. Darrow Deputy Director County of Hawai‘i PLANNING DEPARTMENT KAʻŪ COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE Aupuni Center • 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 • Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720 Phone (808) 961-8288 • Fax (808) 961-8742 Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer Page 1 Wednesday, December 14, 2022 1 DRAFT Meeting Minutes 2 CALL TO ORDER 3 Chair Leina’ala Enos called the Kaʻū Community Development Plan (CDP) Action Committee (AC) 4 to order at 5:02 P.M. This was an Action Committee hosted meeting at the Nāʻālehu Community 5 Center; there was no Zoom option. Quorum was established at this meeting. 6 ROLL CALL 7 AC Members Present: Jesse Ke, Ka’ohinani Mokuhali‘i, Leina’ala Enos (Chair), Babette Morrow, 8 Pernell Hanoa (Vice-Chair), Catherine Williams, Jason Masters, Kaweni Ibarra (arrived at 5:11pm) 9 AC Members Absent-Excused: None 10 County Officials: Deputy Corporation Counsel- Suzanna Tiapula 11 13 members of the public attended the meeting. 12 ANNOUNCEMENTS: None 13 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 14 Action Committee Member Babette Morrow motioned to approve the October 19, 2022 minutes. 15 Seconded by Action Committee Member Jesse Ke. Motion passed with 8 votes aye, 0 votes nay. 16 BUSINESS: 17 1. Subcommittee Report Back to Action Committee. 18 • Punalu’u Coastline Access and Resources Investigatory Subcommittee. 19 Vice-Chair Hanoa shared that there have been no formal subcommittee meetings yet, however, 20 there have been several meetings with residents and the Ka’ū Advisory Council. 21 Sophia Hanoa, Secretary of the Kaʻū Advisory Council, testified on Agenda Item #1. The Council 22 and the Punalu’u community have met with Black Sands LLC on numerous occasions. The Black 23 Sands LLC has presented project proposals to the community through generated maps. The Ka’ū 24 Advisory Council has copies of the maps and had many questions/concerns for the Architects 25 and the owner’s representatives. They would like the Kūpuna to identify sacred sites and protect 26 www.planning.hawaiicounty.gov/ CDP@hawaiicounty.gov Page 2 the Iwi (ancestral bones). The families of the area are concerned that the Ahupuaʻa’s significance 27 has been honored and there are several discrepancies in the maps around the sacred sites and 28 the church. The Ka’ū Advisory Council would like to help and provide guidance to the Action 29 Committee on how to address the public concerns over the future plans. 30 Discussion followed about having the subcommittee meet with the Black Sands LLC to see what 31 their proposals are and how they can help to interpret the wants and needs of the community to 32 help find a compromise/balance between the entities. 33 Earl Louis of Pahala, representing himself, testified on Agenda Item #1. He stated that he 34 remembers when Punalu’u was a well-managed place that provided jobs for the people of Ka’ū. 35 He expressed the need to have well managed development. That the people 36 (developers/tourists) are coming, we cannot stop them, but we can provide guidance on how we 37 would like to see development. He raised the concern that having a landowner on the 38 subcommittee may be a conflict of interest. 39 Patrick Getchius of Oceanview, representing himself, testified on Agenda Item #1. He asked the 40 Action Committee to clarify how the subcommittee works in regard to inviting certain parties to 41 a non-public meeting. 42 There was some discussion on how Punalu’u Coastline Access and Resources Subcommittee was 43 invited to be a part of this panel and its purpose. It was discussed that Action Committee 44 members are new to this process and are open to creating a subcommittee that the people of 45 the community need and want. 46 Bob Graham, representing himself, testified on Agenda Item #1. He raised concerns around the 47 development of the 1000 acres up Mauka of Nāʻālehu. He stated that nobody knows what is 48 being planned or developed for that area; there is no information on what will happen if Iwi 49 (bones) are being removed. The cultural resource management research group, Nohopapa 50 Hawaiʻi was brought to the attention of the Action Committee. 51 For more information regarding Nohopapa, please click here: 52 https://www.nohopapa.com 53 Action Committee Member Ke moved to approve the current notes of the Punalu’u Subcommittee 54 meeting. Vice-Chair Hanoa seconded. The motion passed with 8 votes aye, 0 votes nay. 55 • Green Sands Coastline Access and Resource Investigatory Subcommittee. 56 Please see Communication No. 2022-07 Green Sands Subcommittee meeting notes 2022-11-30 by clicking here: 57 https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/WebLink/1/edoc/120198/Communication%20No.%202022-58 07%20Green%20Sands%20Subcommittee%20meeting%20notes%202022-11-30.pdf 59 60 Addendum to subcommittee minutes Communication 2022-07: Add under subheading E- 61 “Acknowledge the additional activity of off-road vehicles that impact Mahana Bay from different 62 access points.” The Ka’ū CDP Action Committee reviewed the minutes and the Subcommittee 63 report. Action Committee Member Mokuhali’i moved to accept the notes with the addendum. 64 Vice-Chair Hanoa seconded the motion. Motion passed with 8 votes aye, 0 votes nay. 65 66 www.planning.hawaiicounty.gov/ CDP@hawaiicounty.gov Page 3 • Pōhue Bay Coastline Access and Resources Investigatory Subcommittee. 67 Action Committee Members Williams and Masters both attended an informational meeting 68 sponsored by the National Park Service on December 10, 2022, at the Nāʻālehu Hongwanji. 69 There were more than 30 community members in attendance. The event had stations to gather 70 feedback and share the current priorities expressed by the community for the newly acquired 71 Kahuku-Pōhue parcel . Priorities were listed as such: #1. Preservation of Cultural sites. #2. 72 Protection of the Ancient Trail System. #3. Appropriately Identify Cultural and Historical Sites. 73 The National Park will provide resources such as materials and manpower for their current 74 proposed .03-mile access foot-trail that will connect the current 4-wheel drive road to the 2.1 75 historic trail. The National Park will also put in a 20-30 car parking lot, create a .03-mile spur trail 76 around private property to connect with the existing trail and add signage to all trails. The 77 timeline for this project is approximately 2023. 78 Overall, the comments supported the hiking trail for beach access. There were many comments 79 that were aimed to establish a permit process for fishing and vehicular access. Community 80 members want priority to be given to residents and possibly limit the number of days/permits to 81 be allowed. Natural resource management is a priority for the community and the National 82 Park. 83 Notes of this meeting are available on the website at https://www.nps.gov/havo/learn/historyculture/kahuku-84 pohue.htm 85 Christine Kaehuaea, representing herself, testified on Agenda Item #1. She shared about 86 working with the fire department on a recent brush fire where equipment and personnel 87 inadvertently damaged architectural/cultural sites because they did not know they were there. 88 She reiterated that it is very important to let the National Park service know of any “secret” or 89 unknown sites that may be within the new Kahuku-Pōhue parcel of land so that officials can 90 protect these sites and respect the community/ohana’s wishes. 91 Action Committee Member Ibarra motioned to accept the verbal report as the Subcommittee 92 notes. Seconded by Action Committee Member Morrow. The motion passed with 8 votes Aye, 0 93 votes nay. 94 • Kūpuna Housing Investigatory Subcommittee. 95 Please see Communication No. 2022-06 Kūpuna Housing Subcommittee meeting notes 2022-11-30 by clicking here: 96 https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/WebLink/1/edoc/120197/Communication%20No.%202022-97 06%20Kupuna%20Housing%20Subcommittee%20meeting%20notes%202022-11-30.pdf 98 In addition, Action Committee Member Masters added that he has contacted the Hawaiʻi County 99 Planning Department as the subcommitteeʻs next step, to obtain a Zoning Verification Letter and 100 its permitted uses for subject properties. 101 Action Committee Member Morrow motioned to approve the minutes with the addition. The 102 motion was seconded by Action Committee Member Mokuhali’i. Motion passed with 8 votes aye, 103 0 votes nay. 104 Alison Yahna of Oceanview, representing herself, testified on Agenda Item #1. She has concerns 105 about large development projects such as Solar Farms, land clearing and the destroying of 106 www.planning.hawaiicounty.gov/ CDP@hawaiicounty.gov Page 4 natural resources. She suggested that the Action Committee create a subcommittee focused on 107 researching these numerous projects. Action Committee Member Masters advised that this may 108 be too large of a subject matter for the Action Committee to investigate in the district of Ka’u. 109 He suggested focusing on a specific area or project, such as “Punaluʻu” or “Nāʻālehu Mauka”. 110 There was a vibrant discussion about creating a subcommittee around the large or small 111 developments that are happening around Kaʻū. Due to a majority of community concern, Chair 112 Enos felt that it was important for the Action Committee to do so. Action Committee Member 113 Mokuhaliʻi motioned to establish an investigatory subcommittee on Development to look at, 114 address and educate the community on large development projects that are concerning and 115 brought to our attention. Action Committee Member Ke seconded. The motion passed with a 116 vote of 7 aye and 1 abstention (AC member Masters). 117 PROPOSED AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: Action Committee members will discuss 118 potential agenda items for the upcoming meeting on February 22, 2023, at 5:00pm at 119 Oceanview Community Center. 120 ADJOURNMENT: Action Committee Member Masters motion to adjourn the meeting. Seconded 121 by Action Committee Members Williams. The motion passed with 8 votes aye; 0 votes nay. 122 The meeting was adjourned at 7:09 pm. 123 This agenda and all related documents are available in the Planning Department’s Kaʻū 124 Community Development Plan Action Committee folder via the County of Hawaiʻi Public 125 Documents Repository. These documents may also be requested from the Planning Department 126 by calling (808) 961-8288 or emailing cdp@hawaiicounty.gov. 127