HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-11-24 TPD-PUBLICPURPOSESUBDIV
PLANNING COMMISSION
COUNTY OF HAWAII
HEARING TRANSCRIPT
NOVEMBER 24, 2008
A regularly advertised hearing on the PLANNING DIRECTOR INITIATED AMENDMENT
TO CHAPTERS 23 AND 25 REGARDING PUBLIC PURPOSE SUBDIVISIONS was called to
order at 3:06 p.m. in the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, Hau Room, 62-100 Kaunaoa Drive, Kohala
Coast, Hawaii, with Chairman Rodney Watanabe presiding.
PRESENT: Rodney Watanabe ABSENT & EXCUSED: C. Kimo Alameda
Takashi Domingo Lani Bowman
Frederic Housel Shelly Ogata
Andrew Iwashita
Rell Woodward
Ivan Torigoe, Deputy Corporation Counsel
Christopher Yuen, Planning Director
Norman Hayashi, Planning Program Manager
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Jeff Darrow, Staff Planner
Maija Cottle, Staff Planner
And no one from the public in attendance.
INITIATOR: PLANNING DIRECTOR
Amendment to Chapters 23 (Subdivision Code) and 25 (Zoning Code), Hawaii County Code
1983 (2005 Edition, as amended) relating to Public Purpose Subdivisions.
WATANABE: We are on our Agenda Item No. 7. The initiator is the Planning Director.
This involves an amendment to Chapter 23, Subdivision Code, and Chapter 25, Zoning Code, of
Hawaii County Code. Mr. Yuen?
YUEN: Yes. This is a request to amend the Subdivision Code and the Zoning
Code to more generally exempt subdivisions for public purpose from the normal requirements of
the Zoning Code. Currently, the Subdivision Code says that the normal requirements of the
Subdivision Code don’t apply for public utility and rights-of-way subdivisions. So an example
of public utility subdivision would be the electric company buys a lot for a substation, and they
may buy a piece of property that is in Ag-20 zone, 20-acre minimum lot size, but they don’t have
to make a 20-acre lot for the substation. It’s not clear how far public utilities goes, so the same
principle would apply to public use subdivisions generally. To give an example, say, the
Division of Environment Management wanted to get a lot for a transfer station, and the site they
chose is in Ag-20 zone; this would mean that they would not have to get, for example, a 20-acre
lot, because that’s the minimum lot size in the zoning. So this would generally exempt
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subdivisions that were for a public purpose, which would be things like fire stations, parks,
police stations and other kinds of public facilities.
This is our first reading on this, and we would not expect action by the Commission; we can
discuss and answer questions. We would ask the Commission to take action at the next -.
WATANABE: Yes, Mr. Woodward?
WOODWARD: I have no problem with the bill; I just have a grammatical correction on
the first page of the ordinance itself. Under Section 23-11, it says, “shall not be applicable to
….” and then, “, or ….” It should be “nor” to make more sense; “not be applicable to public
utility or public rights-of-way subdivisions and their remnant parcels, nor to subdivisions ….”
Small point but -.
WATANABE: Any other comments? Mr. Iwashita?
IWASHITA: This is a good clarification of the law, or it might be an extension the way
I’m reading it. And I’d like to again commend the Director for initiating this as one of his final
acts.
WATANABE: Okay. Any further comments? Mr. Housel?
HOUSEL: I had one question. You know, the term “public use” here is fairly broad.
Does that include, say, public transitional housing?
YUEN: It could conceivably include something like that. The definition of “public
use” that’s shown is taken from the Zoning Code currently; because there is no definition of
“public use” in the Subdivision Code, it’s had to be put in there. It would have to be run by, or
operated by the government. But I should mention that something like transitional housing, there
are overall housing powers where when the government wants to do something like that, they
can get wavers of it. So housing, there typically are ways to do it. And in fact, the project that
the County is planning to do in Kaloko Industrial Area went through a waver process. So
there’re ways for housing to get these kinds of wavers without this provision in the bill here.
WATANABE: Yes, Mr. Domingo?
DOMINGO: Siting of a solid waste transfer station does not apply in this case?
YUEN: This doesn’t change what you have to go through to site the transfer
station. Typically, that needs, you have an EA process, and then if you are going into the Ag
district, public facilities that are other than those necessary for agriculture also need special
permits. So typically, for example, if you are going to do a transfer station in the State Land Use
Ag district, you still need a special permit; you’ll still need a special permit, if this bill goes
through. What it does change is that it makes it simpler to do a subdivision of the lot that you are
acquiring, perhaps out of a larger piece of property, in order to do the transfer station.
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DOMINGO: That’s essentially what this bill does to address the subdivision part of the
project, yeah?
YUEN: Right. It doesn’t change any of the processes for getting the basic
approvals. For example, we just did a Kohala School situation that actually went through a
rezone – not Kohala School – Kohala Library went through a rezone.And there are public
facilities that occasionally come to us in the Ag district for special permits or SMA permits and
the like. Those will still need all the same things.
WATANABE: Okay? Are we satisfied? So then we’ll continue this matter till the next
Hilo meeting where we’ll deliberate on that.
The discussion ended at 3:13 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Noriko Sauer, West Hawaii Secretary
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