HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-01-10 KCDP Minutes DraftMitchell D. Roth Mayor
Lee E. Lord
Managing Director
Zendo Kern Director
Jeffrey W. Darrow
Deputy Director
County of Hawai‘i
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
KONA 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
Tuesday, January 10, 2023 1
DRAFT Meeting Minutes 2
CALL TO ORDER 3
Vice-Chair Marisa Bankston called the Kona Community Development Plan (KCDP) Action 4
Committee (AC) to order at 11:12 a.m. This meeting was held at the West Hawaiʻi Civic Center 5
Planning Conference Room Building E (2nd floor) and via Zoom. Quorum was established at this 6
meeting. 7
ROLL CALL 8
AC Members Present: Marisa Bankston (Acting Chair), Charles Young, Shirley David, Janice 9
Palma-Glennie, David Huerta, Shane Palacat-Nelsen, Kari Kimura, Roselyn Molina. 10
AC Members Absent-Excused: None. 11
County Officials: Deputy Corporation Counsel, Suzanna Tiapula 12
ANNOUNCEMENTS: None 13
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: 14
Action Committee Member Shane Palacat-Nelsen motioned to approve the December 18, 2023 15
meeting minutes. Seconded by Action Committee Member Kari Kimura. Motion passed with 8 16
votes aye, 0 votes nay. 17
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS: 18
Two (2) members of the public provided oral testimony. 19
Community member Cory Harden, representing herself, provided testimony on her experience 20
at a Zoning & Subdivision Code Update Focus Group session. She shared that the online Focus 21
Group was superficial and too fast paced, and expressed concern regarding preserving Hawaiian 22
culture. She also expressed concern on the revision of the General Plan, specifically wanting to 23
know what is being changed and why. She lastly expressed concern and confusion on the 24
current relationship between the Action Committees and the Planning Department, and the 25
Sierra Club’s request for a Hawaiʻi County Council hearing regarding these matters. 26
Community member Chuck Flaherty, representing the Sierra Club reiterated Ms. Harden’s 27
statements. He questioned the legal obligation for the Planning Department to provide support 28
www.planning.hawaiicounty.gov/ CDP@hawaiicounty.gov Page 2
for Action Committees. He also discussed the revisions to the General Plan requesting a 29
Ramseyer format of proposed changes, the contradictions between the General Plan and the 30
Community Development Plans, and the implementation process. 31
The Action Committee, Ms. Harden, and Mr. Flaherty discussed the concurrent revisions of both 32
the Zoning & Subdivision Codes and the General Plan, its limited revision timeline, and the Action 33
Committees’ role in implementing the Community Development Plans (CDPs) and the General 34
Plan. There was discussion on the need for more transparency, education, and involvement of 35
Action Committees. There were concerns about the process, time and energy, and unintended 36
consequences. 37
BUSINESS: 38
1. Action Committee Strategy: 39
The Action Committee expressed their frustration and confusion with the Planning Department’s 40
recent short staffing and level of support provided to Action Committees. They discussed the 41
terms “stewardship”, and “administer”, as they relate to the Action Committee and Planning 42
Department’s respective roles. They considered their strategy to draft a letter to the Planning 43
Director asking the department to contract a committee secretary. They questioned why they 44
should be a formal County board if they have to do their own minutes. Questions were posed by 45
the Action Committee regarding the Planning Department’s legal obligation to Action 46
Committees as committees that serve in an advisory capacity to the Planning Director. 47
There was a brief conversation around the Planning Department’s short staffing situation and 48
the County’s recruitment for new Action Committee applicants. The Action Committee had a 49
robust discussion regarding the Planning Department’s commitment and legal obligation to the 50
Action Committees. They discussed their draft letter to the Planning Director, asking for more 51
support and clarification. 52
Community member Flaherty raised the 2019 Kona CDP amendments stating that the Planning 53
Department purposely did not change the term “Implementation Committee” to “Action 54
Committee” in the revisions. Committee members shared general concern about the 55
amendments, specifically the policy changes from “shall” to “should”. 56
Note: A Ramseyer format of the ordinance to amend the Kona CDP (ordinance 19-91) can be found here: 57
https://records.hawaiicounty.gov/Weblink/0/doc/985469/Page1.aspx 58
Action Committee Member Palacat-Nelsen recommended the Action Committee create a 59
strategy timeline to reaffirm the commitments between the Planning Department and the Action 60
Committee. He suggested to create a formal strategy outline to be inclusive of their formal 61
agenda. He thanked everyone for their manaʻo, though stated that today’s discussion reiterated 62
the last meeting’s deliberations. 63
Action Committee Member Shane Palacat-Nelsen motioned to amend the draft letter to the 64
Planning Director to include a question to ask for clarity regarding the relationship between the 65
Planning Department and the Action Committee. Seconded by Action Committee Member 66
Charles Young. Motion passed with 8 votes aye, 0 votes nay. 67
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Agenda Items #2 and #3 were tabled at this time. The Action Committee agreed that Vice-Chair 68
Bankston will continue to Chair all future meetings until an election takes place. 69
PROPOSED AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: The Action Committee discussed having 70
Director Kern attend their next meeting to address their concerns. They agreed to meet on 71
Tuesday, January 31, 2023 at 11:00am. 72
ADJOURNMENT: 73
The meeting was adjourned at 1:10pm. 74
This agenda and all related documents are available in the Planning Department’s Kona 75
Community Development Plan Action Committee folder via the County of Hawaiʻi Public 76
Documents Repository. These documents may also be requested from the Planning Department 77
by calling (808) 961-8288 or emailing cdp@hawaiicounty.gov. 78