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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-12-08 TKailua Kona Village PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAII HEARING TRANSCRIPT DECEMBER 8, 2005 KAILUA KONA VILLAGE A regularly advertised hearing on the application of DEVELOPMENT GROUP (SSV 05-001) was called to order at 9:37 a.m. in Waikoloa Beach Marriott Hotel, Alii Ballroom II, 69-275 Waikoloa Beach Drive, Waikoloa, Hawaii with Second Vice-Chairman C. Kimo Alameda presiding. PRESENT:C. Kimo AlamedaABSENT & EXCUSED: Jeffrey McCallAllen Salavea Fred Galdones William R. Graham Rene€ Siracusa Hannah Springer Chris Yuen, Deputy Planning Director Norman Hayashi, Planning Program Manager Phyllis Fujimoto, Staff Planner Jeff Darrow, Staff Planner Ivan Torigoe, Deputy Corporation Counsel And approximately 10 people from the public in attendance. APPLICANT: KAILUA KONA VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT GROUP (SSV 05-001) Continuation of a hearing on the application for a Shoreline Setback Variance to allow the construction of an outdoor seating lanai to the existing restaurant proposed within the 40-foot shoreline setback area. The property is thesite of the existing Kona Inn Shopping Village, Kailua Village,Kailua-Kona,Hawaii,TMK:7-5-7:21. ALAMEDA:Let€stakealookatourfirstagendaitemregardingunfinishedbusiness, Kailua Kona Village Development Group, SSV permit 05-001. This is a continuation of a hearingontheapplicationforShorelineSetbackVariancetoallowtheconstructionofanoutdoor seating lanai to the existing restaurant proposed within the 40-foot shoreline setback area. And thispropertyisthesiteoftheexistingKonaInnShoppingVillage,KailuaVillage,Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Will the applicant or how about staff? Go ahead, Mr. Darrow? DARROW:Thank you. Thank you Mr. Chairman. Good morning Mr. Chairman and members of the Planning Commission. If I could direct your attention to the location map on the board. This is a continued hearing. The area of this application is within the North Kona district of Hawaii, more specifically right in downtown Kailua-Kona. This here running in a north-south direction is Kuakini Highway and just below it running parallel is Alii Drive. The area of the location of this application is identified with a blue dot. This is within the Kona Inn Shopping Village. The applicant in this case Kailua-Kona Village Development Group is requesting a EXHIBIT A 1 shoreline setback variance to allow for an outdoor seating lanai as well as a, some improvements to enhance public access in the area. This is the previous map the applicant was requesting for 2 rows of seating outside an existing restaurant within the Kona Inn Shopping Village within-. Since that time the applicant has revised their request to just allow 1 row of seating to the existing restaurant. This will encroach within the setback 8 feet 10 inches. The area of the improvements for the ADA accessible ramp is located in this area just outside of the restaurant. This will help bring the north portion and the south portion of the area more accessible to the public. The Planning Director is recommending that this request be approved by the Planning Commission. The applicant has submitted a recent correspondence that hopefully everyone has got it, has received it. It has a letter as well as some photos that have been submitted. Are there any questions? ALAMEDA:Fellow Commissioners any questions? Make note this is a continuation. Any questions for staff? Okay. Will the applicant or its representative please come forward? HowaboutIswearyoubothinatthesametime?Couldyouraiseyourrighthand?Doyou swear or affirm to tell the truth now before the Hawaii County Planning Commission? LIM:I do. KIMI:I do. ALAMEDA:Thank you. Can you please state your name and address for the record and then you can proceed. LIM:Thank you Mr. Chairman, members of the Commission. Steven Lim attorney for the applicant, Kailua Kona Village Development Group. With me today is Uncle Billy Kimi seated to my left. Thank you again for your consideration and allowing us to provide you with additional information. What I did was after the last Planning Commission hearing I went down immediately just to go ahead and take some photos of the area to better give you an idea of what we€re talking about. We believe that the modification to the original request so that there€s only a 8 foot 2 inch encroachment into the shoreline setback area would be the practical solution that best conforms to the purpose of the shoreline setback rules. I€ll walk you-, do you, nd do you have my December 2 letter with the photos, the color photos? I€ll walk you through that to kind of give you an orientation of where we are requesting the shoreline setback variance. This is a photo of the frontage taken from my back to the ocean of the Kona Inn Shopping Center. SIRACUSA:Excuse you speak a little louder please I€m having trouble hearing you. LIM:Oh, I€m sorry okay. SIRACUSA:Or put your mike closer to your mouth. ALAMEDA:Yeah, and you know this is kind of unique for us this mike, usually we havestandssowegottakindofgetusedtoholdingthemikenexttoourmouth.Also,Mr.LimI wanted to ask you if you might as well just, do you want to include this as part of the record? EXHIBIT A 2 LIM:Yes I do. I€d request that that be included as part of the record. ALAMEDA:Okayisthereany objections to that fellow commissioners? Okay, so noted, go ahead. LIM:Okay, the orientation on the photos is the makai looking to mauka view of the Kona Inn Shopping Center project and I€ll walk you through the photos in sequence. The second photo is a picture looking towards the makai, which is the public access entry into the project. The third photo. GRAHAM:Excuse me a second. I don€t know if I€m at a lost of order, I just want to make sure I follow what you€re doing here. There€s no numbering on them or is there? LIM:No,I€msorrywedidn€tputanynumbersonit.It€s,I€lltrytodescribethe photos though. The second photo is a picture of the hallway looking towards the ocean where you can see a wooden walkway. Yes that€s correct. The third photo and fourth photo are pictures of the south side of the frontage of the lawn intended to show you the expanse of the lawn and basically the general usage by the public. As we discussed last time this is one of the few areas in Kailua-Kona where the public can actually get down to the water. And it€s used often by wheelchair participants. By people of all walks of life. You can, I didn€t you know specifically wait for them to show up at this area, it€s just photos of who were there at the time I was there. The next photo is a photo looking at the frontage of the lawn in the northerly direction towards the King Kamehameha hotel. And all the way in the back of that photo you can see the edge of the building there, that€s where the ADA ramp is and that€s the next photo. You can see that the existing building, which has been there for many years is located fairly close to the sea wall. The concrete portion that you see there is going to be the repair up to ADA standards. What€s happened basically over time is that as you can see the grass area on the southside in the middle of the project is a lot better shape than the grass area on the north side and a lot of that has been due to the fact that people haven€t typically gone back there. What Uncle Billy plans to do is to develop the ADA ramp here at the corner of the building taking it back into the project area. This is the second to the last photo. You can see about 4 palm trees, coconut trees? That€s the location of the proposed project. Uncle Billy will be building the lanai. It€s going to be raised up to the level of the existing restaurant that you see there and it€s going to be incorporating those trees into the project. We won€t be tearing down those project, those trees. What he also wants to do is to bring in some palms and line the sea wall area with palms. We€ll probably be moving the naupaka back towards the building edges and then increasing the watering of that area so that it becomes that nice green lawn that you see for the rest of the area. I think that would encourage the people to come in there for public access. As part of our SMA minor permit we€re required to file with the Planning Department for their review a revised public access plan and hopefully this could be part of that, that plan. That last photo is just a photo from the south side looking north to the edge of the property. And so I think you know what we€re, what we€ve tried to do is to conform the project to the criteria of the shoreline setback variance rules. And you know we think as I indicated in my correspondence that we would qualify, I guess we€d be one of the few projects, few private projects that would qualify under the public interest standard. We also believe that the hardship standard could also EXHIBIT A 3 be applied by the commission in that we were deprived of the reasonable use of the land in that the existing structures are as you can see from the photos of the ADA ramp portion. The existing structure is located well towards the shoreline and this proposed addition would be well back. This is a request that is unique circumstances of the public use of the ocean front area. We€d like as much as possible, and I think everybody wants that to happen is to try to maintain the open nature of the frontage of the yard and if any development that occurs will be backed up against the existing buildings. In this particular case, we happen to be closer than the central portion of the project but we believe that the unique circumstance of the existing building being somewhat like 10 to 12 feet away from the shoreline in that area would mitigate against any viewplane issues or impact issues. It€s, you know something is there already, in other words. And this is the practical alternative which best conforms to the purpose of the rules because we would like to encourage the development in an area that was back up against an existing structure that was already way into the shoreline setback area instead of coming back out onto the other side of the project with the new development in the open lawn area. So, we ask for your support on this. UncleBillyhasbeenagoodcitizeninKailua-Konaformanyyearsandwewould,we€daskfor your support. Billy you have anything to say? KIMI:I appreciate if you could consider this very much. This project here means a lot to us. We have maintained the property. This is the only grass area that we have in the village this Kona Inn Shopping Village, which is very well maintained. Green as you can make it, palms trees are well trimmed all the time. The project is a good project and we hope you can approve this. Thank you and Mahalo. ALAMEDA:Thank you. And this is for the public, just so you guys know that every agenda item or application comes with a department€s recommendation. Of course the Department reviews it and all and we take a look at that recommendations. So I wanted to ask Mr. Lim did you get a chance to take a look at the departments reports and recommendations? SIRACUSA:I have a point of order here. Uncle Billy did not state his name and address. ALAMEDA:Oh, thank you. Could you please state your name and address for the record Uncle Billy? KIMI:William K. Kimi Jr., but I€m usually called Uncle Billy. ALAMEDA:And your address? KIMI:I live both in Hilo and Kona. You want my address? 75-5744 Alii Drive, Kailua-Kona. ALAMEDA:Thank you Uncle Billy. Thank you Commissioner Siracusa for that reminder. Mr. Lim any problems with the Department€s recommendations? LIM:No we have reviewed the revised recommendation and the background report prepared by the Director and we have no comments, we ask for your support. EXHIBIT A 4 ALAMEDA:Thank you Mr. Lim. Commissioners any questions for our applicant? Commissioner Springer? SPRINGER:Mr. Lim? LIM:Yes ma€am. SPRINGER:Using your photographs could you point out for me again where the ADA ramp would be? LIM:Okay. I€m sorry I didn€t number these but that one is relatively easy to find. It€s the, one of the sea wall and the white building and you can see a concrete area with looks like an old orange cone there. That is the, that was an old ramp that€s in disrepair and we wouldbeimprovingthattoADAstandards.That€sthebuildingthatItalkedaboutbeing,some of the justification we believe for the granting of a shoreline setback variance is this is the structure that€s been protruding into the SSV for many years. And the project is located around the corner and would rarely be visible to anybody. SPRINGER:So the ADA improvement and the lanai are not contiguous with one another but are in separate buildings? LIM:They€re just right around the corner from each other. You look at the site plan I guess-. SPRINGER:The ADA access in that section that protrudes that you were describing for us. LIM:Yes it just, it bridges a gap between the sea wall and the existing building. And so once you go down that ramp and you take a right that€s when you get into the next area, which is in the next photo showing the project area. So the same building is portrayed in this project area photo. SPRINGER:May I continue? From in the shopping center where does one access the ramp? LIM:The photo, I guess it was the second photo that we looked at that€s the main entrance into the project area. The, Uncle Billy will also be providing on the proposed project a series of steps down on the north side of the new addition so that they will go down. There€s an already, you can see on the last photo you can see a stairway going down and they would be reconstructing that off of the new lanai. SPRINGER:But Mr. Lim this is the photograph that you€re indicating is the main access? EXHIBIT A 5 LIM:That€s correct. That goes through, if you€re familiar with the Kona Inn Shopping Center it€s kind of a big commercial area in front and they all feed down in through there. So they can get there through that entrance, they go through the restaurant and the existing restaurant over here. SPRINGER:What I€m wondering about is to get to this point where do you go, enter from the shopping center? LIM:The best way would be to go through the area shown through that walkway in the photos, the wooden walkway. That€s how the wheelchair people access the project. SPRINGER:So we€d be using this access? LIM:That€scorrect. SPRINGER:Togettothispoint? LIM:That€scorrect.Thewhole,basicallythewholefrontageonceyoucome down that€s relatively in the middle of the project the wooden walkway. And, because the grass lawn is fairly stable the wheelchair people have been, have, have free access you know all the way through that. And they€d just be going up in a northerly direction, come down take a right and go to this ramp that would then get them into the new area. SPRINGER:That€s all for now and I€m having a hard time. I€m familiar with the property and I€m having a hard time imagining the utility of this if this is the access way to it. I believe that this location is closer to the existing restaurant. Is it not? LIM:Yes, well it€s closer to the proposed project area on the north side of the project yes. So that, the only, the, I guess the main purpose for this ADA ramp is to make it easier for the wheelchair people to get down and get around that corner. Cause right now it€s a little bit falling apart. SPRINGER:So Mr. Lim then, wheelchair bound people will have 2 points of access to the lawn area this one and the existing wooden ramp? LIM:The wooden let€s call it mauka/makai, the wooden ramp is the mauka/makai. This proposed ADA walkway I mean ramp would be more of a lateral along the shoreline. SPRINGER:So, from where in the Kona Inn Shopping Center do you access this ramp? LIM:The existing access would be, for wheelchair would be down the wooden ramp and then along the frontage of the lawn and then you get to that on the north side. EXHIBIT A 6 SPRINGER:And then where are you going then when you, you use the wooden ramp and you€re going along the lawn and you get to this point? LIM:Then you go over the ramp and then you get into the project area, that lawn area. SPRINGER:I see. LIM:I€m sorry for not being clear. SPRINGER:I see okay thank you. I have it now. ALAMEDA:Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Thankyou.Ihadsomequestions,acoupleofquestions.Firstofall where we€re looking at the proposed ADA ramp and that building that€s so close is that building grandfathered in? LIM:That€s correct. SIRACUSA:My second question is you mentioned that you were going to keep the palm trees andthat the lanai is going to be elevated up to the level of the current deck or porch there is that it? LIM:That€s correct. SIRACUSA:And so, what about, I€m trying to figure how you€re going to do that just punch holes in the deck and build the deck around the-. So you€re going to eliminate then the foundation plantings is that correct? LIM:They€re going to be building around the existing trees. Because Uncle Billy€s you know one of his main goals is to try to keep the vegetation and the landscaping. SIRACUSA:Yeah, and the shrubbery? LIM:The shrubbery will probably be relocated to the sides of the buildings along with the naupaka that you see in the front of the palms. SIRACUSA:That was my third question asking you what you were going to do about the naupaka. Okay. LIM:We€ll probably bring in some palms that are salt tolerant and put them in that dirt area fronting the wall. SIRACUSA:Cause is the naupaka considered part of the vegetation line? You know in terms of the high wash of the waves and all that stuff? EXHIBIT A 7 LIM:Not in this particular case. The shoreline has been certified by the State at the sea wall. SIRACUSA:Okay. ALAMEDA:Very good thank you Commissioner Siracusa. Other questions? Commissioner Graham? GRAHAM:I have a couple and what I€m really trying to do is just. I think what most of the Commissioners are trying to do, make sure we understand what€s really there and what€s proposed and all. First, looking at this picture where you€re, right where the building comes closest to the water? Where the existing concrete is? I€m kind of wondering, let€s see, when I look at that picture I can€t really tell that there€s a change in grade. So it looks like there, you justkindof,let€ssayI€monawheelchairandI€mtheguywhotookthepictureandsoI€mgoing north towards your project area and I come to this little concrete thing that€s there now I guess and I gotta get up over it and then go down on the other side or something right? Is that correct? LIM:That€s correct. I, what€ll happen I think is they€re going to reconstruct it so that the slope of the wheelchair ramp is ADA compliant. So it will probably go up some and then it€ll come back down some. As you can see where that coconut tree is in this photo, I would estimate that€s probably about a foot and a half-drop in elevation. So, it€ll have to do some kind of a transition down to the new, either fill up on that side or transition down. GRAHAM:And all the concrete that€s there right now, I don€t see that, is that serving some purpose on its own right now or is it? Is that there intended to be a ramp or is there some little walkway that I can€t see off the side of the picture or something or? LIM:No this is pretty much what you see, what you get. I think that that concrete was there from past years and is now starting to fall apart. But essentially it€s just a walkway over and then you€ll be taking a right to get into the project area, which is the next picture. GRAHAM:So the concrete was there to sort of facilitate passage already that€s all it was for but it€s kind of falling apart-. LIM:That€s correct. GRAHAM:-and it€s not ADA compatible and all. LIM:That€s correct. What€s, what€s happened as a practical matter and that€s why Commissioner Hannah was having, Commissioner Springer was having a difficult time and I€m sorry for not getting a picture of the plot plan in there. But most people don€t even know that this north side exists. Everybody thinks it€s just that green area that you see when you walk out. Well, this is kind of going to open up that north side also. EXHIBIT A 8 GRAHAM:And can I just? ALAMEDA:Sure I just wanted to ask, when we identify the photos could we say photo 1, photo 2, photo 3, just for the transcript purposes. Cause they might not realize what photo we€re referring to. So that would be I know-. LIM:Yeah, I€m sorry I didn€t number them. GRAHAM:Oh, and then. ALAMEDA:So that would be photo what then, just for the record? GRAHAM:I don€t know the number came up. LIM:Letme,letmeputsomenumberstothephotos.Ifwe,Idon€tknowifyou got yours stapled together doesn€t look like it. Photo 1 would be the photo of the Kona Inn sign on the roof. Photo number 2 would be the wooden walkway going down, showing the boat in the, in the distance in the ocean. Photo number 3 would be the photo looking to the makai on the southside showing the children and the, it€s about 5 people in that photo. You€ll see the stick sticking up there in the middle of the photo, that€s the area of the swimming pool that€s going to be filled in. Photo number 4 is also a picture of the southside of the project in which you€ll see the portion of the restaurant and some people walking on the grass. Photo 5 would be the photo looking in the northerly direction towards the King Kamehameha Hotel showing the red roofed building and you can see the non-conforming structure all the way at the north side of the project where the ramp is. Photo number 6 would be the concrete ramp that€s going to be repaired. MCCALL:Could you repeat photo number 5. LIM:Photo number 5 would be the picture shooting towards the north. Yes, which shows the roof of the buildings and all the way at the end of that orange or pink roof building is the location of the ramp which is going to be photo number 6. Photo number 6 shows the non-conforming building and that old concrete where you€d have the ADA ramp. Photo number 7 is a photo of the rock wall on the right side of the picture and is looking towards the south directly at the 4 or 5 coconut trees that are going to form the proposed lanai addition. And photo number 8 is a photo looking in the northerly direction with the sea wall on your left. And that is the project area also, this shows just the north side of the project. ALAMEDA:Again, real quick show us the picture of that one. LIM:Oh sorry, photo number 8 is looking in the northerly direction. It€s the sea wall on the, sea wall on the left-hand side, trees on the right. ALAMEDA:Thank you. LIM:I apologize for the mix up. EXHIBIT A 9 ALAMEDA:No problem. Commissioner Graham, continue. GRAHAM:Yeah, actually, even though we have problem with the numbering the photos are very useful so thank you for bringing them. So I want to focus on photo 6, 7 and 8 right now. So, if somebody€s on a wheelchair and they€re out in the middle of the grass in front of the Kona Inn and they go north like towards the King Kam they€re going to come up to that tight little point there, which is photo 6 right? LIM:That€s correct. GRAHAM:And then the ADA compatible wheelchair access is going to allow them to traverse around the corner, over and around the corner of that building and then they€re going to come, come into photo 7 right around the corner there right? LIM:That€scorrect. GRAHAM:Good.Andtheninphoto7alsothat€swhereyou€regoingtobebuilding the lanai out into those 4 palm trees, which you€re going to leave. LIM:That€s correct. GRAHAM:Okay. And then when I look at photo 8, it looks like once you€re kind of out in front of those 4 palm trees you€re looking further to the north. LIM:That€s correct. GRAHAM:And, all right, so I got all that straight. Now the point of the question kind of is if you do come out on the big lawn in front and you go around the corner and you do come into this area do you do that, just to be there or is there some kind of lateral access further to the north from the end of picture 8 that you€re really facilitating by you know making that ramp available? LIM:Part of our requirements on the SMA minor permit is to submit a revised public access plan, which will require us to show the mauka-makai and lateral accesses. And all we€re going to be doing is running the lateral access all the way to the north side of the property which is shown there in picture number 8 and after that it€s up to the next property owner to pick up. GRAHAM:So a person in a wheelchair wouldn€t be coming in picture number 8 in front of your lanai to go anywhere else, he€s just coming there because he€d like to have access to that area perhaps huh? LIM:That€s correct. I think a lot of people just don€t know that it€s there and I think once it€s improved then it€d be much more attractive to open up to the public. GRAHAM:All right, thank you. EXHIBIT A 10 ALAMEDA:Thank you Commissioner Graham for the clarification. Other Commissioners? Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Yes I have another question. We know that you€re going to reduce the seating from 2 layers to 1. So how far out from the, from the existing lanai I should say, the existing porch or whatever it is where that railing is will your lanai come out? It€ll obviously go past the coconut palms in order to include them. LIM:It€s going to be approximately 12 feet 6 inches from the floor, I mean from the face of the building out. SIRACUSA:And then how much will that leave between the end of the lanai and the sea wall on the inner side of the sea wall? LIM:That would leave approximately 31 feet 10 inches. The current open spacethereisabout43feet10inches.Soitwouldbeabout12feetwideandthereforethe remaining open space would be 31 feet 10 inches, approximately. SIRACUSA:And the sea wall marks the existing shoreline? LIM:That€s correct. The face of the sea wall. SIRACUSA:Okay. ALAMEDA:Thank you Commissioner Siracusa. Other questions for our applicant before we open it up to public testimony? Very well, thank you, you may be seated. Has there anyone been anyone signed up for public testimony? Staff? Is there any testimony on this particular application? No, none? DARROW:Not for this application. ALAMEDA:Okay, we making you guys do aerobics. Can you please come back up again to the front? Director? YUEN:Yeah, I just wanted to make a few comments. I think the discussion here has been very good in clarifying everything that happened. There€s also a diagram that some of you have out in front of you that in combination with the photos I think makes it very clear. This is the second time this has been before the Commission and there were some discussion last time by the Commissioners about this. And, I€d like to address some of the issues that were raised by the Commission members. Particularly, there€s a question about the Department€s recommendation, favorable recommendation where we have been taking a strict stand and did recommend denial of another shoreline setback variance in Kona Bay Estates. This, and we originally recommended denial of an application that was a little bit different here. It had a bigger intrusion into the shoreline setback and it did not have this ADA ramp feature which improves public access. Our, if you, if you want to discuss the difference between this and the EXHIBIT A 11 previous denial recommendation at Kona Bay Estates. What happened there is really a pretty typical situation where the landowner basically came forward with this proposition. They have a, they wanted to put a pool in the shoreline setback. It doesn€t really bother the public very much because they have a seawall in front of their property and there is public access in front of it but the shoreline comes right up to their sea wall. So there€s not really a harm to the public and it will be much nicer for their property if they got to put the pool there. That€s not the standard for a shoreline setback variance. And if you start taking that as justifying a shoreline setback variance there are certainly hundreds of properties that the same kind of analysis will apply to. That there is, there€s not really a big public harm and they would be much nicer to the property owner to be able to do that. And when this initially came forward we looked at it very much the same way. There is, they€ve come up with a proposal that does improve ADA access to a portion of the property. If you look at the photos I think it€s also clear that just from a standpoint of opening up and making it easier to get around the corner there for people who are non- not ADA comply. You know people who don€t need ADA but need some kind of-, that are justhappentobeoutonthelawn.Thatthisprojectwillalsotendtoopenupthatcornerareaand to the north and make it more accessible and more, more useable to the general public. So, this aspect of it does, is in the public interest and there is a public interest standard for a shoreline setback variance. So then the question was raised about the trade off-, is public interest standard really, can you do a trade off here. And, it€s, it€s not exactly, the ADA access is not exactly project as the building out and the-, although you know they€re very closely related we€re talking about an intrusion is into this area of space but the improved access is into the same area of space. And I guess from, that we are very comfortable with the idea of a public interest trade off that, that, that we look at, that creating something in the public interest can be, can meet the standard for a, for a shoreline setback variance and are comfortable in recommending approval of this based on that standard in this location given a very small intrusion into the shoreline setback area. ALAMEDA:Thank you Director Yuen. Commissioners questions for our Director or? Go ahead, Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:I sort of have another one for the applicant. And this is regarding the handicapped access there. Not everyone with mobility problems is in a wheelchair. Some people use walkers and some people just have trouble walking and I was wondering if your new little ramp is going to include any handrails? Because I would strongly recommend one on each side so that people who have a little trouble walking but can still walk you know would be able to go up or down with the help of a handrail on both sides. Is that in the plan? LIM:Yes Uncle Billy will put that into the plan. SIRACUSA:Pardon me? LIM:Uncle Billy has agreed to put the handrails into the ADA plan. SIRACUSA:Good. Thank you. ALAMEDA:Thank you Commissioner Siracusa. Commissioner Watanabe? EXHIBIT A 12 WATANABE:Oh, just, just a comment not so much a question. You know the shoreline setback as I understand it is like 40 feet from the sea wall. And the proposed project as revised encroaches into that I believe only 8 feet 10 inches. And for the most part I€m quite comfortable with having the remaining 31 feet 2 inches as a shoreline setback. And in looking at the photos too I think the other benefit is the people who go to the restaurant will have a greater view of Kailua Bay etc., which is a little different perspective than what they have right now. So that was just personal comment. ALAMEDA:Thank you Commissioner Watanabe. Commissioner Springer? SPRINGER:I have some questions about the sea wall and the cement walkway that fronts it in front of the Kona Inn and I€m not sure if this is for the applicant€s representative or for the County. Whose responsibility is the condition of that cement walkway in front of the sea wall?Itswellillustratedinphotographnumber3andifIunderstandcorrectlythecertified shoreline is on the makai side of the sea wall but there€s a stilt (sic.) structure there. So whose responsibility is maintenance of it? LIM:The landowner is typically responsible for the maintenance of the sea wall. I have to look at my shoreline certification map to see whether its been certified at the face of the kind of the concrete walkway like you talk about or further back at the wall that you see sitting up 3 feet above the ground. But in any event the County is not responsible for that. SPRINGER:Thank you. ALAMEDA:Thank you Commissioner Springer. Director? YUEN:Typically it would be certified along the face of the wall and hence the top of the wall is public, is private property. Is there actually a, I mean I know that as a matter of custom there€s, the general public goes out to the lawn in front of Kona Inn. Is that actually, technically part of a public access? LIM:Not as far as we€re aware, no. YUEN:No, but it is, you know. I mean part of this that is different is that it does form a, the lawns are in fact used for muse by the public which is different than the typical situation where you have a shoreline setback and its private. It€s still private property but it€s a shoreline setback. I mean as a practical matter, people who want to you know go, they go through the Kona Inn, they walk out to the lawn and they you know they have access to the shoreline in this area through the Kona Inn. ALAMEDA:Commissioner Springer is that a follow up? Okay, Commissioner Springer and then Commissioner Siracusa right after. Commissioner Springer. SPRINGER:Is the ramp then indicated in photograph 2 part of the public access to the shoreline through the Kona Inn Shopping Complex? EXHIBIT A 13 LIM:That, that will be part of the revised public access. The original public access way back when, when they had the original SMA permits I think required mauka-makai on the north and south sides of the property but that€s not feasible at this point. So we€ll be filing a new public access plan with the Director for his approval. SPRINGER:Which is not part of our discussion today? ALAMEDA:No, not that I know of, yeah, I don€t think so. SPRINGER:Okay, thank you. ALAMEDA:Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Yes,wouldtheproposedlanaihaveegressontothelawnareaorvisa versa? LIM:It will have steps down-, SIRACUSA:Or would it be fenced off or-, LIM:-it will have steps down to the lawn area. SIRACUSA:So in other words if someone who is mobility impaired is down there already on the grass they would not be able to get up into the lanai. They would have to go all the way back up the handicapped route and go into the restaurant in order to do that? LIM:That€s correct. SIRACUSA:Thank you. ALAMEDA:Other Commissioners questions before we entertain a motion and go into discussion? Seeing that there€s no other questions. What€s the pleasure of our commission at this time? SPRINGER:Mr. Chair? ALAMEDA:Sure. SPRINGER:In the matter of Kailua Kona Village Development Group, Shoreline Setback Variance application SSV 05-001, I move for approval by the Hawaii County Planning Commission. WATANABE:Second. EXHIBIT A 14 ALAMEDA:The motion was made by Commissioner Springer. Seconded by Commissioner Watanabe. Discussion? Commissioner Graham? GRAHAM:I know I was one who voted against it in the last meeting and I have more clarifications today but I still cannot support it and let me try to be clear why. There€s really 2 aspects. One is I€m uncomfortable with the issue that the Planning Director tried to discuss a bit about two separate items, one sort of balancing the other and coming to a net conclusion that it is in the public interest. You know I feel like in general the way the State Statutes are written when you do some activity in the shoreline area you know it should meet the criteria of the law not net it up with some other activity the 2 altogether should meet the criteria. And the other part of it is, if I felt this public access improvement to the north small lawn area really outweighed the intrusion into the grass and that would make it a more difficult decision for me. But since facilitating that public access to the north doesn€t go anywhere except into that grass and since the area right behind the grass is going to be a seating lanai for a restaurant I have a hard time believingthatmyselfwhosenotinyouknowmobilityimpairedaswellasanybodyelsewould kind of want to choose to leave the lawn which is a real public benefit to the community that€s on the south side, would want to leave and go around the corner to be in a lawn where you€re right in front of a bunch of people eating lunch out on a seating lanai. It€s sort of, not the kind of place you€d particularly want to go to I don€t think. And there€s no further access to the north so it€s not like utilitarian towards getting anywhere else. So the net of is, I don€t think even if we net the 2 together we€re really coming up with a real plus. I certainly don€t feel that it€s a major problem building this lanai. We don€t have a bunch of people here testifying please don€t do that and all but you know in the interest of trying to be faithful to the rules of the commission and to the law I can€t support it. ALAMEDA:Thank you Commissioner Graham. Commissioner McCall? MCCALL:I guess I€ll be speaking in favor of this motion. I do feel that, that we do need to be, to use care in going into the setbacks but I personally feel that the public benefit of gaining more area and having an area in Kailua Kona where you can get out to the ocean is a benefit. I do believe that this area around the Kona Inn has been you know for many years has been while it is a private area has been used as a public open space and I think that this will increase that open space and I think it is, it is definitely a benefit. And the more we can, I don€t feel that this intrusion of 8 feet into the area I think there€s going to be a net benefit to the public of access to this area and more open space. Thank you. ALAMEDA:Thank you Commissioner McCall. I€m going to Commissioner Watanabe and then Commissioner Springer. Commissioner Watanabe? WATANABE: Yeah, I€d like to speak in favor also because it€s my understanding that as private property they are not required to allow the public in there. You know they, they could actually have the public, just exclude the public from the area. But it€s my own personal knowledge that there, the public is welcome there. And it€s a nice place to go and visit and you know have your ice cream or coffee and watch the sunset and things of that nature. And like I said, I think you€re although you do infringe on the shoreline setback by 8 feet 10 inches, it€s quite minimal. Besides which I believe they€re going to improve the pool area, that they€re EXHIBIT A 15 going to fill that in so you know I think from a public safety standpoint maybe that, that€s also a benefit that we haven€t really discussed at this particular meeting. ALAMEDA:Thank you Commissioner Watanabe. Commissioner Springer? SPRINGER:I€m looking at photograph number 8. And in photograph number 8 the portion of the sea wall that€s to our left of the photograph is somewhat higher and not as hospitable, does not appear to be as hospitable for sitting on as what we see in pictures 3, 4 and 5. But if we follow the wall towards the gray building in the background, can you describe to me what that gray building in the background is? And, any? LIM:The buildings that are grayish, greenish on the north side of the property are portions of the Hulihee Palace. So as a practical matter what, in terms of the lateral public access what happens is they€ll walk along here or along the wall and then they jump over that shortwallintotheHuliheePalaceproperty. SPRINGER:Canyoudescribeformewhatisimmediatelyonthenorthsideofthat section of the wall fronting the gray building with the windows? LIM:I believe it€s a very small old house that was there and a fishpond Uncle Billy says. SPRINGER:The fishpond I believe is properly named Kiope and is that a historic site? LIM:Yes, I don€t think we know for sure but it€s part of the Hulihee Palace complex so I would imagine so. SPRINGER:Which is certainly a historic site and maybe on the National Register of Historic Places so in effect having public access to this area not only affords the view of Kailua View that Commissioner Watanabe described as being unique and distinctive there€s also that view into the Hulihee Palace, a historic site. If we look at photos 3, 4 and 5 we see a number of people using the lawn at Kona Inn and those appear to be photographs taken during daytime hours. At sunset time the number of people that go to the sea wall increases rather dramatically and I know that there are folks who don€t necessarily like to or don€t necessarily prefer to enjoy the sunset amongst a crowd of folks. And I know that there are people that go towards Kiope Pond to enjoy those late afternoon hours. So there is some public access towards the north side already that would be enhanced by this. And I think also body boarders go towards the north side there to access the body surfing, body boarding break out there or the surf break out there. ALAMEDA:Thank you Commissioner Springer. It€s wonderful that we can have these open discussions especially for the public to benefit kind of see where we€re coming from as Commissioners. Other questions or comments? We have a motion or go ahead Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:I€m the only one who didn€t put in my 2 cents here so I just wanted to say that I didn€t think that-. I mean with that incursion however minimal but still it€s a good EXHIBIT A 16 percentage of the total area that is public area. And I don€t feel comfortable reducing the public area by that much. By 8-1/2 feet whatever it is? But it€s 8-1/2 feet out and then the whole length of that area there so, to me that€s a considerable amount of taking away public space. ALAMEDA:Okay. Commissioner Watanabe? WATANABE:Just for clarification, I don€t believe that€s public area that€s private property. It€s just that the public is welcome on the private property. But like I had stated earlier I believe that the property owner has all the right to say you know, you€re not allowed here. They€re just being hospitable in my opinion. So I really don€t see that as public area. ALAMEDA:Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Could I get a clarification on that point from the Director about, I mean is shorelineaccessisrequiredbylawisn€tit?Imeanwhat€s,what€sthesituationhere? ALAMEDA:DirectorYuen? YUEN:It€s,no,it€saprivate,they€renot.There€sanSMA,there€sanexisting SMA permit that does require public access in front of the buildings. But it is private, it is private property. Let me clarify. What is the current? The current requires only a mauka-makai there? LIM:That€s correct. YUEN:Okay so the fact that people are allowed to wander around the complete area is a matter of actually of their grace as private landowners at the moment. If they wouldn€t-, there€s only a requirement of access to the area but not that they be allowed to use the whole area. SIRACUSA:I see. Thank you for clarifying that point. ALAMEDA:Thank you for bringing it up Commissioner Siracusa and Commissioner Watanabe. Commissioner Springer? SPRINGER:Maybe just to give Commissioner Siracusa a better visual of this. As I understand it from our discussion today the public access is indicated in photograph number 2 where the public come out of the shopping area and then they go down the ramp and walk as if in a straight line from the ramp to the sea wall there and I believe that that€s what (inaudible) public access and that the landowner is hospitable and does not exclude the community from wandering the lawn. ALAMEDA:Commissioner Graham? SIRACUSA:Thank you that clarifies it for me a lot more. EXHIBIT A 17 LIM:Excuse me Mr. Chairman I misspoke that the SMA permit does require a lateral public access easement 10 feet along the shore so that€s what this would be-. It may effect the implementing once we get it in place hopefully. And I guess one comment based upon the discussion so far. The, and its been an issue that I have when I listen to the Planning Commission discuss the shoreline setback variances. The Planning Commission, I guess in terms of the shoreline setback law that was established it€s in the Director€s recommendation the second paragraph. But essentially the shoreline setback law was intended to prevent structures from disturbing the natural shoreline processes and causing erosion of the shoreline. That€s what the shoreline setback variance is all about. The Planning Commission treats it a little bit more broadly I think. It mores a no development open space kind of a regulation. So to the extent that you know that€s relevant I€d like you to take that into consideration. In this particular case we€ve got a hardened sea wall that€s been certified by the State relatively recently when we did this application. And so those, the policies behind the shoreline setback law have been met and if you€re talking about disagreeing the project then it€s more on a no development in that shoreline setbackarearegardlessofwhathappenswiththeshorelineprocesses.Sothat€smyeditorial comment and I appreciate that, thank you. ALAMEDA:Thank you Mr. Lim. Commissioner McCall you had a question? MCCALL:Yeah, or maybe just a comment. I think just to make sure that we€re all clear, the public area is makai of the sea wall. Is that or? ALAMEDA:Mr. Lim? YUEN:Well the public ownership is makai of the sea wall. MCCALL:Public, yes. Public ownership. YUEN:But there is public access mauka, on the lawn mauka of the sea wall. MCCALL:Yeah, public ownership. The public has rights to be makai of the sea wall but anything mauka of the sea wall is at the you know forbearance of the, of the landowners and I think that the Kimis just have been very generous in allowing this open area to be used by the public. So, thank you. ALAMEDA:Okay. Other thoughts before we do a roll call? We got a motion again by Commissioner Springer. Second by Commissioner Watanabe. No further discussion. Staff? DARROW:Thank you Mr. Chairman. Commissioner Springer? SPRINGER:Yes. DARROW:Commissioner Watanabe? WATANABE:Aye. EXHIBIT A 18 DARROW:Commissioner Graham? GRAHAM:No. DARROW:Commissioner McCall? MCCALL:Aye. DARROW:Commissioner Siracusa? SIRACUSA:Aye. DARROW:And Mr. Chairman? ALAMEDA:Aye. DARROW:Themotionpasses5to1. ALAMEDA:Thankyou.You€llbeinformedinwritingofthisdecision. LIM:OnbehalfofUncleBillyandhiscompanythankyouverymuch. Appreciate your assistance. ALAMEDA:Thank you. KIMI:Thank you very much. You€ll see that (inaudible) it will be better from time to time. ALAMEDA:Very good thank you. KIMI:Mahalo, appreciate it. This discussion ended at 10:30 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Lynette Marushige, West Hawaii Secretary EXHIBIT A 19