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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-04-06 Windward Exh C (Item #2 Hawaiian Ola Brewing PL-SMA-2022-000025) WINDWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAI`I HEARING TRANSCRIPT APRIL 6, 2023 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of HAWAIIAN OLA BREWING CORP. (PL-SMA-2022-000025)was heard at 10:49 a.m. in the County of Hawaii Council Chambers in Hilo, 25 Aupuni Street, Hilo, Hawaii with Chair Dennis Lin presiding. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Dennis Lin, Louis Daniele, Lauren Balog, Wayne De Luz, and Chantel Perrin. COMMISSIONER RECUSED: John Cross. ALSO PRESENT: Sinclair Salas-Ferguson Esq. (Counsel for the Commission), Zendo Kern (Planning Director), Jessica Andrews (Planner), Alex Roy (Planner), Christian Kay (Planner), Clinton Mercado (Planner), Janice Hata(Zoom Host), Maija Jackson Planning Program Manager), and Melissa Dacayanan-Salvador (Windward Planning Commission Secretary). And eight members from the public are in attendance. APPLICANT: HAWAIIAN OLA BREWING CORP. (PL-SMA-2022-000025) Application for a Special Management Area Use Permit to convert the existing Wainaku Executive Center into a micro-distillery, restaurant, and bar, and includes grading for new parking and the installation of a wastewater system to accommodate the new uses on 12.31 acres of land situated in the Special Management Area. The subject parcels are located along the makai side of Hawaii Belt Road, approximately 200 feet south of its intersection with Hau Street, Portion of Wailua& Mokuhonua, South Hilo, Hawaii, TMKs: (3) 2-6-015:001 & 002. Secretary's Note: [indecipherable] indicates that there were technical and/or internet difficulties, which made the conversation inaudible. LIN: Next item is Hawaiian Ola Brewing Corporation, PL-SMA-2022-000025. Application for a Special Management Area Use Permit to convert the existing Wainaku Executive Center into a micro-distillery, restaurant, and bar, and includes grading for new parking and the installation of a wastewater system to accommodate the new uses on 12.31 acres of land situated in the Special Management Area. The subject parcels are located along the makai side of Hawaii Belt Road, approximately 200 feet south of its intersection with Hau Street, Portion of Wailua& and Mokuhonua, South Hilo, Hawaii, TMK's: (3) 2-6-015 parcels 1 and 2. Okay, at this time I want to make an announcement that due to technical difficulties the Commissioners did not receive the Background and Recommendation reports. However, we are going take testimony and staff presentation and if the applicant wants to do their presentation today and then we will defer decision making until our next month's hearing. If that is okay with the applicant? Who is the applicant's [female in audience raised her right hand] okay. Yeah, you have I EXHIBIT C the option of you can do your presentation next time or you can do your presentation today and then we ask you questions next time. FEMALE INAUDIENCE: I can do now and[indecipherable] LIN: Okay. All right, so, I will take public testimony at, oh sorry, there is one recusal, Commissioner Cross. If you could please state your recusal for this case. CROSS: I need to recuse myself from this because I have provided information to Ola, Brett and Na`ehalani regarding their application. Prior to that I was involved with Olson Trust and I performed the SMA Minors 13-000261 and then prior to that I did the SMA Major 367 back in 1996. LIN: Thank you Commissioner Cross. If you could step out of the hearing chambers for now and we will call you back in for agenda Item 93. Thank you. Commissioner Cross left the Council Chambers at 10:51 a.m. LIN: Janice are there any testifiers via Zoom for agenda Item 92. HATA: Yes, we have 2 people registered to testify for agenda Item 42. We have James Dahlberg and Chris Whidden. LIN: Okay, let me take Mr. Dahlberg first. So, Mr. Dahlberg, if you could please raise your right hand. Actually, let me swear both of you in at the same time. If you'll please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Windward Planning Commission? Okay. Mr. Dahlberg if you could please unmute and then state your name, the area you reside in and you have 3 minutes. DAHLBERG: Aloha. My name is Jim Dahlberg, I reside in Kailua-Kona. I was born and raised in Keaukaha and I'm supporting this application because I feel that Hilo could use another venue, another attraction for not only our local people but also for the tourists. Also, I support the application because of what Ola has done for our community here in Kona. They've bought produce that prior to them purchasing it then using it in their seltzers was going to waste. So, over the past several years over a million dollars has been contributed to the farming community for the produce that use to be not used and is now used in their products. I've also observed that it's a young vibrant group of entrepreneurs that have really built up two very established restaurants, the flagship in Kona and then about a year ago the restaurant in Hilo. And now to take a property that Doc Buyers renovated when he was the President of Brewer and then the Olson Trust continued to preserve this historic site. Now to take this site and take it to a higher-level venue as I mentioned earlier, I think would be great for the continuing expansion of the economic tax base and lastly the infrastructure is in place there. Lots of times infrastructure lags but in this case the acceleration lanes and just the infrastructure for that site can accommodate the amount of visitors that will be visiting this new venue. So, I thank you Commissioners for allowing me to testify. Aloha. 2 EXHIBIT C LIN: Thank you Mr. Dahlberg. Next, I'll take, sorry, I can't see your name. Chris Whidden. Okay, so if you could please unmute and state your name and the area you reside in and you have 3 minutes. Just go ahead. WHIDDEN: Thank you Commissioners. Chris Whidden in Waimea. I actually stated on my written testimony in support of Ola Brewing proposed work at Wainaku. So, I'll keep this short with just a quick additional comment. I've had the pleasure of working with the Ola Brew team for many years now and I can affirm firsthand that their commitment to developing the local ag economy is definitely authentic. The local jobs creation and bringing more grown and made in Hawaii products to market to compete with imported counterparts is much needed to Hawaii island and I believe this project can be a part of that. So, yes, I stand in strong support of PL-SMA-2022- 000025 and thank you for your time. LIN: Thank you Mr. Whidden. Any questions for the testifiers? If not, we will move on noting that there are no in-person testifiers for this item we'll move on to staff presentation. So, staff, Alex. ROY: Got my techie assistant helping me. KAY: Hi Janice. Can you confirm that you're seeing the slideshow? HATA: Yes, I can see the slide show. KAY: Thank you. HATA: Thank you. ROY: Okay, good morning, Commissioners. I'm here to present the Special Management Area Use Permit application PL-SMA-2022-25. This is for the Wainaku Center in South Hilo District. Here's a location map. We can see I think most of us who live on this side know where the Wainaku Center is, but you can see that it's north of Hilo town just near Kaiwiki Road and it's on the makai side of the highway. The applicant is requesting to convert this existing Wainaku Center into a micro-distillery, restaurant, and bar. There's going to be some grading and excavation of a hill on the west side of the building to allow for additional parking as well as the various wastewater subsurface structures that are necessary for this use. They are going to install a new wastewater system including connections to the County sewer. This has been they worked very closely with DEM to get this moving forward and so they're going to be able to connect to the County sewer lines but they will still require an on- site wastewater pre-treatment and some minor equipment for that. The installation of safety fencing, related development, and other structures on the subject property to support the new uses. Safety fencing is really just on an old concrete pad that they're going to use they just want to put up. There's fencing there now but they're going to put up something that is less obtrusive. There's some metal fencing and so they'll be putting up some kind of glass fence support just to provide safety. 3 EXHIBIT C Additional work of course is the interior work that includes the re-design and renovation of the existing Wainaku Center to accept this new micro-distillery, restaurant kitchen, and other related infrastructure within the building. So, some interior renovations are necessary. The first floor will house the micro-distillery and the agricultural processing facility while the second floor will serve as the bar and the restaurant. So, I'll show you some plans here soon. So, the County zoning is we have both MG-la so, excuse me, it's Industrial-5 acre and Industrial-1 acre. You can see some of the surrounding area especially across the street you have Residential both the RS-7.5, RS-10 and then again RS-15. State Land Use though is all Urban for all those areas except for in the Ag zoned lands across the street, mauka. But both parcels are in the Urban. LUPAG's a little funky. We see that there's a section of Open zoning and then you have the lined marks it off with the pink there is Resort Node you can see here and then you have the Urban Expansion area which actually includes all of that Parcel 2 and then the surrounding lands we see as Low Density Urban. There's a small section here of Important Ag Lands but the majority is that Low Density Urban. So, the site actually has two. The first parcel has two designations Open and Resort and the second has just that one Urban Expansion. So, here's an aerial photograph. I did cut it off a little bit, but this is the majority of the developed area that you see here on the parcel. So, Parcel 1 is the shoreline parcel, the makai parcel. Parcel 2 would be that one mauka of the highway off Wainaku Street. We can see that it's a portion of Parcel 1 is developed with the existing Wainaku Center there's landscaping and there's a good portion of it that's undeveloped and will remain as such. Parcel 2 has a small section of undeveloped, but it's got a large parking area and then the parking area feeds across the path that is actually part of the shoreline access, but I'll speak a little more about that. So, I'll go through a few of these others since you were unable to do the background and recommendation. Since you weren't able to read it. This is an aerial photograph kind of looking south towards Hilo and this is the area of excavation that we will be talking about for the additional parking and for the sewer repairs. But you see the Wainaku Center here, parking and of course the grassy area along the shoreline. But I just wanted to kind of give you a reference of this is the area that will be excavated for terrace actually for the parking and for the sewer. Here's a close up of the existing Wainaku Center just to give everybody an idea of what we're talking about. There's no exterior changes other than some small adjustments to the footprint but most of the work will be done interior and there is no proposed activities on this grassy area. Here's one site plan. So, we take note of a couple things here. We see the 40-foot shoreline setback line and I'd like to speak to that. There was some concern that the location of the structure being 60 feet away pose some kind of danger or hazard. But the 40-foot setback is the setback required by law and pretty common on a daily occurrence we propose and approve development right up to that 40-foot setback. So, it's very common to see that. So, in this case they're actually 20 feet further back than the required setback. So, that's helpful. In fact, that would be significant for us to push people back. The other you can see some of the lines. The tunnel that they're going to convert to some barrel storage. They're going to relocate an existing covered storage. There's some of the lines here. I know it's kind of a small drawing but the other one here is the brown line which is the sewer line that they're going to running out to the highway which will connect to the County sewer 4 EXHIBIT C line. They're currently working with DEM to get that finalized. The other thing too and I'll show a better map, but we see the public access trail kind of takes you around and then down to the point. Here's a grading plan to kind of give you an idea of how they are going to address that large soil removal and to get those new parking lots in. It's kind of a steep slope. So, they're going to end up terracing out and taking some of that material and terracing to create the parking area and then the adequate area to put in any underground lines that are necessary in this area. So, I just wanted to kind of show that grading plan. This is really the majority of the grading on site. So, everything is going to be mauka of the structure. Here's a site plan of the first floor. So, we can see that they obviously have to do some conversion to support the micro-distillery, the restaurant, the bar, things like that. But these again are all interior improvements so not necessarily outside of SMA. And then the second floor. We see the dining room, the bar, and they have some offices, bathrooms, things like that. But again, all interior improvements and no changes to the footprint structure. Here's a shoreline public access. I've actually been down to this access point, and it was I think mistakenly said that this has been closed that's not the case. This has always been open and has been accessible, clear, and kept up actually. The applicant has done that on their own just keep that up. What we're moving to is recording this easement permanent for in perpetuity. So, the applicant is now pretty close to finalizing. They've worked with our easement specialist at the Planning Department and with Corporation Counsel to get this moving towards the BOC and get that finalized. So, we're pretty close to getting that done but it is open now. You can easily go down there, and this is for access to fishing, and I actually talked about viewing. You can actually go down it has a nice view of the bay but it's not really for shoreline access. It's actually not really that safe and I'll show a picture here. But the idea is that it takes you down to that nice point where you can do fishing and so that's wide open and in fact that there's parking. So, it's kind of rare to have a nice coastal access that has plenty of parking. So, you see the map down here. I know it shows that kind of make people walk up but that's not the intent. The intent is that they'd come up on Parcel 2 and then walk down the hill following that path to the point. The applicant's going to put signage and then maintenance is still being rectified right now. What that means but here's a kind of a couple shots. You can see on this picture on the right. It's wide open, grassy very easily and then there's some steps through a gate it takes you kind of down to the point. So, a pretty standard simple access point. So, here's the shoreline. So, I scrambled down. I'm kind of hanging off the wall to take the picture. Just to kind of show everybody that really there's not much to get down to right in this area. So, there would be no direct shoreline access but it's shoreline access for fishing and for viewing and you can see some of the old remnants of the mill structure and the sea walls here. This is the area where they're going to do the safety fencing. So, this is an old remnant from the mill. So, remember that this was a large mill with a myriad of development throughout large concrete structures, and this is the sea wall. Now,this sea wall has been in place for over a hundred years. It survived tsunami's and it's not really fair to equate it to the undeveloped and unconsolidated Hamakua Coast. For those who don't know me, I have worked for DLNR for 8 5 EXHIBIT C years at the Office of Conservation Coastal Lands before I came here. So, I've been doing coastal zone management and my backgrounds are in Geology and Geomorphology. So, I know the shorelines intimately. I could tell you that this is one of the strongest sea walls that I've seen in a long time because it was designed to support the mill structure. So, it's almost overdesigned and that's why the only maintenance really that's required is to keep pulling the stuff that grows out of it. That's really it. There's no rock work that needs to be done. So, here's a shot of that sea wall. You can see some of the drainage area and stuff and these are the vegetation pieces that they keep to remove to make sure that the wall doesn't get impacted. Then you can see some of the fencing along the top that's similar to what the safety fencing will be in place. So, something simple just to make sure people don't fall over the cliff. Here's a shot of the tunnel. This is one of the historic structures but will be used by the applicant for storage of their barrels. So, I just kind of wanted to show you that. Here's the view of the property entrance. This is you driving north along the Hawaii Belt Road, and you can see the entrance on the right here at the end of the long right-hand turn lane. Here's a close up of the entrance. So right-hand turn lane and you have that lane that enters into the highway. There's some runway there and then of course you go underneath the flume and then down the road into the Wainaku Center. So, this is again looking north but right at the entrance. Here's a shot looking south. So, you can see the left-hand turn lane and turning into the property entrance on the left and so two lanes road but then there is a left-hand slow downturn lane there. That is a yield not a stop. So, at this time I'd like to present the Director's recommendation is approval with stated conditions for PL-SMA-2022-000025. I could take any questions if you have them. LIN: Thank you Alex. I think we'll hold off on questions until next time. So, at this time let's call up the applicant. [Female from audience came up to the testifier table]. LIN: If you could please raise your right hand. I'll swear you in first. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Windward Planning Commission? [Female from audience came up to the testifier table]. I do. LIN: Please state your name and the area you reside in, and you may begin. BREELAND: My name is Na`ehalani Breeland and I reside in Kailua-Kona. LIN: Go ahead. BREELAND: Okay. First, thank you guys for having me today,I appreciate your time. Alex, thank you for that very thorough presentation. I think what I'll do now is because you went over everything pretty thoroughly, I'd like to just talk a little bit about Ola Brew and who we are. So, my name is Na`ehalani Breeland, I'm the President and Co-Founder of Ola Brew. Our mission 6 EXHIBIT C has always been to support the growth of Hawai`i's agricultural economy, and we do that by sourcing our ingredients from local farmers and adding them into our beverages. Now also adding them and utilizing them in our kitchens. This project that we have that we're looking to approve is no different from that. Since opening in December of 2017 in Kailua-Kona, we've sourced and purchased over more than 1.6 million dollars of local ag from our local farmers here on Hawaii island as well as Molokai, Oahu, Kauai and Maui. By reviving the okolehao industry in Hawaii we'll be able to create a foundation for tea to actually become one of the largest commodities in Hawaii and one of the most profitable agricultural commodities in Hawaii. Our continued goal is to create more regenerative and sustainable agriculture and that also continues to highlight and support Hawai`i and our Hawai`i people. An example of that is actually our farm that's a mile and a half down the road from Wainaku at Pauka`a. We've started growing that out with ti for the okolehao project. Our distillery project at Wainaku has the potential to bring new livable wage jobs that could open up new interests and career opportunities seated in the true essence of made in Hawai`i and grown in Hawai`i for our Hawai`i community. When we closed on this property last February. The goal for us was to open up the product property and the project to the community. Therefore, celebrating our lahui, our `aina and the many, many years of operations that this property already had with the Hilo Sugar Mill. So, our goal was to bring it back to industrial ag and industrial processing of ag. It just needed a little face lift. So, as soon as or, excuse me, as you've seen through the SMA application, and all the information given today by Alex we're prepared to follow all County, State and Federal guidelines and all departments and to be able to bring this project to fruition. So, again I really appreciate you all today and I'm happy to answer any questions. LIN: Okay, thank you. I think again we'll wait for the questions until next time. So sorry about that. BREELAND: Yeah, bummer. LIN: But Director Kern. KERN: Yeah, thank you very much. I don't have any questions for you. Thank you for the presentation. I want to apologize to the Planning Commission for the technical difficulty that's caused us for not to be able to complete this application as well as apologize to you. We're sincerely sorry about that. We do have a representative from the Department of Environmental Management here that's been waiting and I'm curious maybe we can have him come up and just he can share any thoughts, or anything. So hopefully maybe on the next one he doesn't need to be here, or we can give him a Zoom link. Thank you. LIN: Okay, DEM. [Male from audience came up to the testifier table]. 7 EXHIBIT C LIN: Okay, I'll need to swear you in first. If you'll raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Windward Planning Commission? [Male at testifier table]. I do. LIN: Okay, please state your name and then go ahead. LAUDE: Chris Laude, L-a-a-d-e, and I'm a Civil Engineer V with the Wastewater Division of the Department of Environmental Management. LIN: Okay. LAUDE: So, what would like to know. KERN: So, in this case because we're not going to be able to do this whole Q & A is there anything that you could share obviously it seems — LAUDE: Okay. KERN: —pretty straightforward but from a DEM side of it do you see any issues? LAUDE: No, in fact we had a sewer trunk line planned for the area to go up to where Ola Brewery is that was designed, I think in the 70's. It was designed, permitted, funded but then during construction it was truncated at the stream just before Ola Brewery. So, if we had that trunk line then we could plan on connecting the residential areas pretty much all the way up to Honoli`i and then up mauka from there and we can't because it's not there. So, we're really excited to work with the Ola Brewery team. They're really approachable, they're flexible. We don't have a full plan yet of they are going to construct but we've done some sensitivity analysis and regardless of what they choose the wastewater treatment plan even though its maligned is capable of handling whatever flow they give us for this first phase. LIN: Okay. Thank you, I guess we'll, we could do a question and A for DEM if you guys have any. LAUDE: Oh, I apologize for my directors, they couldn't be here, and my Chief Dora Beck could not as well. So, you got me. LIN: Okay, seeing none. Thank you. LAUDE: You're welcome. Thanks. LIN: Okay. We'll take a quick recess so that Commissioner Cross and come in. KERN: Are you going to move to continue? 8 EXHIBIT C LIN: Oh yeah, sorry. So based off the fact that we did not receive the Background and Recommendation reports we'd like to push this agenda item to the next Windward Planning Commission hearing and can I get a motion to support that. DANIELE: I'll move to support that. LIN: Okay. Motion by Vice Chair Daniele. Is there a second? PERRIN: I second. LIN: Okay, seconded by Commissioner Perrin. Any discussion? If not, I think all in favor, say aye. COMMISSIONERS: Aye. LIN: Opposed? Okay, aye. Okay, we'll move it to the next Windward Planning Commission. Thank you. The item ended at 11:19 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Melissa Dacayanan-Salvador, Secretary Windward Planning Commission 9 EXHIBIT C