HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-12-17 TNani MauO
A regularly advertised hearing on the application of
NANI MAU INC. (SP 73-159)
was called to order at 9:13 a.m. in the County of Hawaii Aupuni CenterConference Room,
101 Pauahi Street, Hawai`i, with First Vice-Chairman Earl Fujikawa presiding.
PRESENT:Earl Fujikawa ABSENT & EXCUSED: Fred Galdones
C. Kimo Alameda
William Graham
Jeffrey McCall
Ren² Siracusa
Francis Smith
Hannah Springer
Ivan Torigoe, Deputy Corporation Counsel
Christopher J. Yuen, Planning Director
Norman Hayashi, Planning Program Manager
Phyllis Fujimoto, Staff Planner
JeffDarrow,StaffPlanner
And 4 people from the public in attendance
APPLICANT: NANI MAU INC. (SP 73-159)
Request to delete condition no. 7 (Highway 11 Makalika Street intersection improvements) of
State Land Use Commission Docket SP 73-159 which allowed the establishment of the Nani
Mau Gardens complex, including a commercial arboretum for public tours and the sale of
agricultural products on approximately 23 acres of land within the State Land Use Agricultural
District. The Nani Mau Gardens complex is located along the north side of Makalika Street
within the Panaewa Farm Lots Subdivision, Waiakea, South Hilo, Hawaii, TMK: 2-2-48: portion
of 13.
FUJIKAWA:On Application No. 2, were back on Nani Mau again. This is for the
Docket No. SP 73-159; and its a deletion of condition no. 7 roadway improvement. They
requested to delete condition no. 7 (Highway 11 Makalika Street intersection improvements) of
the State Land Use Commission Docket SP 73-159, which allowed the establishment of the Nani
Mau gardens complex, including a commercial arboretum for public tours and the sale of
agricultural products on approximately 23 acres of land within the State Land Use Agricultural
District. Staff?
HAYASHI:Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, the subject property is indicated by this red
dot on the overall location map. It is situated on the north side of Makalika Street. Again, this
would be the Belt Highway that runs towards Puna, and this would be towards the airport
direction.
EXHIBIT A
This particular Special Permit, and I just wanted to clarify theres also some reference to this
particular permit being Special Permit No. 247. Special Permit No. 247 is the Countys
identification of this particular permit. The official permit number is SP 73-159, inasmuch as
this permit is issued by the State Land Use Commission.
The permit was granted initially back in 1973 and there have been several amendments over the
years. At one time the permit, the Special Permit covered an area of approximately 58 acres, that
includes this blue area as well as this area that is shaded in yellow. Within the blue area, there is
the botanical garden which would be on the east side of the property. And for those of you who
have been to the Nani Mau Gardens, there is a restaurant which also has a gift shop in there.
There also is a building here which has the Nani Mau Salon and Spa; and in the back there is a
small office building on the mound that is the Nani Mau Inc.s administrative office building.
There also is a maintenance building that is situated at the west side of the property.
This particular area indicated in, outlined in yellow is currently approximately 30 acres; and that
particularpermit,thisparticularareawasdeletedfromtheSpecialPermitbackin1994.There
were some uses that were proposed as part of that amendment back in 19-, which the
Commission, within the area that included an equestrian trail, some expansion of the retail
services. Those uses were since deleted from the permit.
At that time that these uses were included, however, the retail, additional retail services, a
condition was imposed. That was Condition No. 7; and that was recommended by the State
Department of Transportation. The condition that was adopted by both or recommended for
approval by the Planning Commission and subsequently adopted by the Land Use Commission
indicated basically three improvements at the Makalika Street/ State, Hawaii Belt Road
intersection. One of the improvements would have been to construct an acceleration lane along
the, I believe its Highway 11, if I have that correct, or the State Highway. They were also
required to construct a deceleration lane that would come into Makalika Street. And the third
improvement would have been to provide a street light, for additional street lights at that
intersection. These improvements, as evidenced by the maps or the photographs that were
circulated, have not been provided, except for the street light which was provided by the
Applicant.
Since the Applicant is not proposing to do the additional improvements that were granted, that
warranted the imposition of Condition No. 7, they are now requesting that that particular
condition be deleted.
The Planning Director is recommending that, he concurs with the Applicants justification,
reasons for the deletion of that particular condition, and is recommending approval.
The State Department of Transportation also provided comments and indicated that they are
agreeable to deleting those conditions.
We also received a, comments from the State Land Use Commission. There are two conditions
in the permit that they indicated should be amended or cleaned out for housekeeping purposes;
and these are Conditions 4 and 5 with reference to those retail uses, and equestrian trails, so
forth -. If you look at the Staffs Recommendation, that would be on pages 4 and 5 of the Staffs
2
Recommendation. And Condition 4 talks about the hours of operation. That condition also
states the secondary uses, such as the restaurant, retailgift shop, equestrian trails, agricultural
museum. Those things are, some of those things were already deleted from the permit. So the
Land Use Commission had suggested that we also clean up the conditions. So well be
recommending, well be making the necessary adjustments to those conditions when this is sent
up to the Land Use Commission. Also, on Condition 5, they also, there are references to the fruit
and vegetable stand and the agricultural museum. So those would be also cleaned up before, or
we will be recommending those things be deleted from those two conditions.
Again, we are recommending approval of the proposed change to delete Condition No. 7. And,
as I indicated, this would be a recommendation by the Planning Commission to the Land Use
Commission since this property is more than 15 acres in size. Are there any questions?
FUJIKAWA:Any questions, Commissioners to the staff? Commissioner Graham?
GRAHAM:Norman, when we look at what the present operation consists and reading
thematerial,likeonecomponentisthesalonandspayoureferto,butIdontseethatanywhere
in the different amendments to the permit and all as a permitted used. Can you give us a little
background on the salon and spa, and maybe also the restaurant activities, which we dont really
see?
HAYASHI:I think that was back in the late 90s, I believe. The Planning Director at
that time determined that those, the massage and salon was part of the operation, related to the
operation. So those uses, that particular use was permitted under this Special Permit.
GRAHAM:And since it was a Land Use Commission thing, I was also struck when I
was first reading about the Planning Director granting extensions and the Planning Director
making this determination. Is that sort of common with Land Use Commissions decisions, that
the Planning Director in the County can, you know, make those kinds of determinations?
HAYASHI:Im not too sure as to the specifics about the salon, you know, how that
particular approval was granted regarding the salon and spa. But initially there was a, as far as
time extension, I believe the condition allowed the, the Land Use Commission allowed the
Planning Director to allow an initial time extension. Thereafter, all time extension requests had
to go to the Planning Commission, subsequently to the Land Use Commission.
GRAHAM:Thank you.
FUJIKAWA:Is there any other question, Commissioners, to the staff?
Commissioner McCall?
MCCALL:I guess, I need a little more clarification. Now, okay, were making a
recommendation to the Land Use Commission on this. And Im assuming that the
recommendation from the Planning Director is that without the pitch and putt course that the
traffic will not be, will be low enough that these highway improvements arent needed. Now, we
still have, and you made some mention of removing, there still are things about the Ag museum
and a couple of other things that are still on here that youre recommending be removed also
from the Land Use Commission. I mean, should these all be in our recommendation that these
3
go together, or vice, or the other thing is, I mean, if were looking, if these are still on the books
when we make -. I mean, my question is, you know, if these are still on the books when we
make the recommendation to remove the highway improvements, are we, you know, are we
doing this prematurely or should these all be done at one time?
HAYASHI:What well be recommending to the Land Use Commission, if the
Commission accepts the Planning Directors recommendation, is to also include the
housekeeping changes of deleting the agricultural museum, the equestrian trail, the fruit stand
and couple of the other retail outlets that or uses that initially was proposed and subsequently
deleted, since that particular area was deleted from the Special Permit back in 1994. So,
technically, while the condition refers to those uses, those uses are not, were in the area that was
already deleted. So we should have done, made the necessary changes to those conditions when
the deletion occurred for this area back in 1994. So its basically a housekeeping change that
well be recommending to the Land Use Commission.
FUJIKAWA:Is there any other question, Commissioners, to the staff? If not, the
Applicantsrepresentative,youhavebeenswornin.Giveyournamesoyoumayproceed.
HSU:MynameisChianHsu.ImthemanagerofNaniMau,Inc.Andnow,
Norman basically talked about the whole story, but then Ill just kind of make, clarify some
things. So Nani Mau is still requesting deletion of Condition No. 7 from Docket No. Special
Permit 73-159. And Condition No. 7 was originally numbered as Condition No. 8 in the fourth
amendment, and the condition now of highway intersection improvement, that was originally
imposed upon the approved, the expansion plans. And since then Condition No. 7 has been
restated in the following four amendments.
Ill talk a little bit about the fourth amendment: Approved the arboretum to be expanded by an
additional five acres for storage and the establishment of forest trails for a total area of
approximately 58.793 acres. And, also, approved expansion of retail commercial activities from
the existing 10,562 square feet up to 25,000 square feet. The 25,000 square feet activities
include the main building, outdoor dining area, two proposed snack shops, proposed
fruit/vegetable stand and an agricultural museum.
The amendment increased the total area of Nani Mau Gardens project site to approximately
58.786 acres. Therefore, Condition No. 7 was imposed. I guess the No. 7 was imposed because
of the anticipated traffic impact resulting from this expansion plan. So Condition No. 7 stated
that the Hawaii Belt Highway shall be improved with a right- turn deceleration lane from the
Hawaii Belt Highway onto Makalika Street; and an acceleration lane for traffic entering
Makalika Street; and also additional street lighting; and the highway improvement should be
constructed within five years from the date of this amendment or when traffic volumes of the
Hawaii Belt Highway-Makalika Street intersection reach levels warranting such improvements
as determined by the State Department of Transportation or Department of Public Works.
And after the fourth amendment, the sixth amendment deleted the five-acre garden expansion
area which was approved by the fourth amendment.
And the following seventh amendment deleted approximately 30 acres from the Special Permit.
This amendment deleted the area of the proposed 9-hole pitch and putt golf course.
4
Andour Nani Mau, Inc. current situation is we have dropped the following previously proposed
expansion projects mentioned in the amendments: include the two proposed snack shops,
proposed fruit/vegetable stand and agricultural museum, stables and horse trails covering 58
acres and a proposed 9-hole pitch and putt golf course on 15 acres of land.
As the proposed expansion plans were deleted from the current Nani Maus development plan
and will not now be pursued in the future and, we feel that Condition No. 7, which was imposed
based on the anticipated traffic generated by the proposed expansion activities, is no longer
justified and should be deleted.
And also Nani Mau, Inc. has conducted annual traffic surveys since 1998 on Makalika Street and
turning into Nani Mau Inc. between 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Traffic Survey revealed that the total,
the average total number of vehicles using Makalika Street during the survey period was 230
vehiclesperdayor6,900permonth.TheaveragenumberofvehiclesturningintoNaniMau
Gardens was about 70 vehicles per day or 2,100 per month. This is turning into the garden. And
this is less than 3,500 per month, which was demanding the improvement of Hawaii Belt
Highway/Makalika Street intersection. And its worth noticing that the bulk of visitors brought
into Nani Mau, Inc. by large tourist buses or mini buses averages five to six buses per day during
the daytime, and half of the vehicles turning into Nani Mau are Nani Mau employees cars. And,
also, special functions held at Nani Mau generally occur on Friday and Saturday. On these
special function days, usually from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Nani Mau generates an additional 150
vehicles per week or 600 vehicles per month above the normal daily vehicle counts. The total
traffic entering Nani Mau averages about 2,700 vehicles per month.
In addition, at the time of initiating Condition No. 7, Railroad Avenue, the Railroad Avenue on
the other side of Makalika Street was a substandard road, but now its a fully-developed County
roadway. And the vehicles are now using Makalika Street as a thoroughfare between the Hawaii
Belt Highway and the Railroad Avenue. So we do a conclusion that Makalika Street intersection
was dominantly used by others rather than Nani Mau, Inc. customers. The amount of traffic
generated by Nani Mau has been, and still is, below the requirement for Condition No. 7, which
proves that the Condition 7 is not justified and should be removed.
And, furthermore, we received a letter of approval from Department of Transportation on
September 8, 2004. The Department of Transportation has agreed to remove the two conditions
stated in Condition No. 7: A right turn deceleration lane from the Hawaii Belt Highway onto
Makalika Street, and an acceleration lane for traffic entering the Hawaii Belt Highway from
Makalika Street.
Nani Mau, Inc. is requesting the deletion of Condition No. 7 from Docket No. SP 73-159 based
on the deletion of proposed expansion plans, economic reasons, as well as the insignificant
amount of traffic generated by Nani Mau. And based on the aforementioned reasons and the
facts, Nani Mau is requesting the deletion of Condition No. 7 from Docket No. SP 73-159.
Thank you.
FUJIKAWA:Commissioners, any question with the Applicant?
SIRACUSA:Yeah.
5
FUJIKAWA:Commissioner Siracusa, go ahead.
SIRACUSA:Thank you. I have been to quite a few events in the evenings, special
events at Nani Mau Gardens, and I have never experienced any problem accessing from the
highway or leaving the highway, whether I was turning right or going across the highway to
make a left -- I was wondering if the Applicant has ever had any complaints -- and this was
during the time when they were, you know, like maybe 100 people for an event. So there will be
a lot of traffic coming in and leaving at about the same time. I was wondering if you have had
any comments from any of your visitors or customers regarding problems with either coming off
of the highway onto Makalika or the other way around leaving.
HSU:Most special functions are from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m., so usually the
tourists will visit the garden between 9 oclock and 4:30. So I dont think well have an impact
onthetourists.
SIRACUSA:Thatsnotmyquestion.
HSU:And,also-.AndusuallythespecialfunctionsisontheFridayand
Saturday only. From Monday till Thursday, usually we dont have functions. Only the two
days, and traffic -.
SIRACUSA:Im aware of that. Thats not my question. I have attended special
functions there, and I said that I had no problem with the traffic at the highway, either going into
Makalika or leaving -- and I was wondering -- and I have done it at a time when there was a
special function, which means that a lot of people are arriving at the same time and a lot of
people at the end of the function are leaving at the same time. So if I didnt, Im wondering if
anyone else had problems and if you had ever had any complaints or comments from your
customers that they had problems from, between Makalika and the Highway.
HSU:No, so far we havent got any complaints.
SIRACUSA:Thats all I wanted to know.
HSU:Thank you.
FUJIKAWA:Any other questions? Commissioner Springer?
SPRINGER:Thank you. Given the recommendation by the State Land Use
Commission that those, that mention of the two snack shops, the fruit/vegetable stand and the
agricultural museum and the equestrian stables and trails, given that that amendments be made to
Conditions Nos. 4 and 5 to delete references to those specific uses has been made, does the
Applicant have any comment on that?
FUJIYAMA:We had looked at that amendment; and when we got it, it was little late for
us to put it into, for this hearing. So our thinking was to request at a later date to do some
amendments. But as far as the cleaning out of the document itself, the areas in question have
already been deleted from the Special Use Permit, you know, the back section. So it was already
6
taken out. Technically, its not on the permit, but its still on the original form. So thats all we
have do, is take it out of the original form.
SPRINGER:Mr. Chair?
FUJIKAWA:Go ahead, Springer.
SPRINGER:Would you have any objections to us doing that today then?
FUJIYAMA:If it can be done, its fine.
SPRINGER:Thank you.
FUJIKAWA:Commissioner Siracusa.
SIRACUSA:Would we have to do a separate motion first to delete the references in
Conditions4and5toequestriantrailsandtwosnackshops,andthatsortofthing,andgetthat
cleared up first before we make a motion on the general deletion of
Condition No. 7? Im wondering if Corp. Counsel would care to comment on the proper or the
most expedient way of doing this?
TORIGOE:Well, in terms, you know, on the status of those other uses, youre saying
that they were already deleted in some fashion or -?
HAYASHI:Those uses were proposed in the area in the back, which is al -. This
particular area has already been deleted from the permit. So the Special Permit only is for,
includes this blue-shaded areas. The uses that the Land Use Commission had requested that
they be deleted in Conditions 4 and 5 were in these areas here. So, technically, this portion is
already out. So when the permit was amended back in 1994 to delete this portion here, the
Conditions 4 and 5 should also have been amended to take out those uses that were proposed.
TORIGOE:So youre saying this isnt a really substantive change at this point, its just
a formality to change and approving the paperwork -?
HAYASHI:Yes, I would think so. Thats correct.
TORIGOE:If that is the case, then, I think you can explore the motion, and include the
proposed amendments as stated by staff at this point.
FUJIKAWA:Commissioner Graham?
GRAHAM:Ms. Hsu, you spoke of -.
FUJIYAMA:I would have a question with staff. On Condition 4, there was one area
that we didnt want to totally delete Condition 4, because it had in there a section that says -.
One second, I have to find it on here. Yeah, if we can, we would have no objection to delete the
secondary uses. Okay, thats fine.
7
HSU:Question is Condition 4, or Condition 5, or both references?
FUJIYAMA:No, just -.
SPRINGER:Just for clarification. Hearing what Norman has indicated and looking at
Mr. Chings letter, the only thing that would be considered for deletion would be the references
to the equestrian trails, the agricultural museum, and -.
FUJIYAMA:Fruit stand, yeah -.
SPRINGER:And stables and trails.
FUJIYAMA:Thatll be fine.
FUJIKAWA:Isthatclarified?
FUJIYAMA:Thatsfine.
FUJIKAWA:Okay.CommissionerGraham,youhaveaquestion?
GRAHAM:Yeah,IwantedtoaddressmyselftoMs.Hsusrepresentationbeforeusas
to the reasons for this request, the deletion of Condition 7. I made a note that you mentioned in
three ways: One is for the deletion of certain permitted activities, the second was for economic
reasons and the third was for the actual amount of traffic being less, perhaps, than what would
require it. So Id like to, if you dont mind a few minutes, kind of take them one at a time, just to
answer a few questions I have. Also, I want to let you know we have some copies in our
material of the Land Use Commission Findings and all, but we dont have a copy, as far as I can
tell, of the 1991 Findings when these conditions were put on you that conditions improvements
to the road. So its hard for me to know exactly what triggered the Land Use Commissions
decision to impose this condition. What we do have is we have a list of what the changes were
in 1991, which is when the condition was added.
HSU:Yeah, the first time -.
GRAHAM:Do you have the same background report that we have here?
HAYASHI:They have the same material that the Planning Commission receives.
GRAHAM:Okay. We have this one called the County Background Report. Do you
have this?
HSU:Oh, yeah, I have that one. And I also have this one, it has the summary of
the different amendments.
GRAHAM:Right, but this is from 1997. This is not the 1991 meeting, as I was
indicating.
HSU:You know what, maybe I dont have it.
8
GRAHAM:No, I dont have it either. But I would like to discuss with you, you know,
based on what we have on this one on pages 3 and 4. Okay, on pages 3 and 4 of the County
Background Report, starting at -.
SIRACUSA:The chronology?
GRAHAM:Yes, its called the Chronology, July 24, 1991.
FUJIYAMA:Is that Item No. 7?
GRAHAM:Yes, Item 7 there. Okay, so what Im trying to do is look at the three
factors that you put forth here and just try to evaluate the justification of the factors for removing
that condition. And since I dont have the 1991 documentation complete on what was decided at
thattime,ImsortofgoingbywhattheygavemehereinthisChronology,sothethingswhich
were added at that time which presumably are the reasons for the traffic requirement. The first
thing it says, a 5-acre expansionfor stockpiling, storage and establishing forest trails on an
adjoining parcel. So is that
5-acre expansion -?
HSU:Deleted -.
GRAHAM:Being removed?
FUJIYAMA:We dont have it -.
HSU:That was removed -.
NOMURA:Please use the microphone.
HSU:The amendment.
FUJIYAMA:It was a proposed leased parcel from an adjoining owner; and we dont
have that lease, so it was never consummated. The lease was never consummated.
GRAHAM:Okay. And then the second one it says, amend hours of operation for
secondary uses (restaurant and commercial uses) from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. So that amendment
stays, youre not deleting that amendment, correct?
FUJIYAMA:That stays because thats primarily our restaurant use.
GRAHAM:Okay. And then the third one here says, expansion of retail activitiesin
an area no greater than 25,000 square feet. And, so, that expansion also stays?
FUJIYAMA:Yes, we want to keep that.
GRAHAM:Okay. And then the fourth one say, additional access from Makalika
Street for special events parking. Does that also stay? We still have that additional access?
9
FUJIYAMA:I think right now we have three accesses from Makalika Street.
GRAHAM:Okay.
FUJIYAMA:But just two into the restaurant area.
GRAHAM:So what my concern is, when I look at the conditions, when I look at the
expansion that went in in 91, which is what provoked the Land Use Commission to make this
additional requirement for you that were looking at today, maybe deleting that, many of these
are still in place. And, in fact, since then we also have the salon and spa which was, you know,
permitted by a decision by the Planning Director. So, in my mind, its not clear that the deletion
of the two snack shops and what have you, you know, is, is really getting into the heart of what
the expansion was all about, given that much of the expansion, including the commercial area, is
stillinplace.Soitsnotclear,tome,thatthereasonsforgranting,forrequiringthatconditionof
road improvement is really being alleviated by you making this particular deletion that were
talking of today. I just want to express that to you. And if Im incorrect in any of the stuff that
Ive said, I -
Can I move on to the second one so we can keep moving?
FUJIYAMA:Okay, go ahead.
GRAHAM:Okay. The second reason was for economic reasons. When I read your
annual reports which were included here, theres one of them which, these are not well paged
numbered for me but it has general report from August 17, 2002 to the present. So thats
probably one you put out in 2003; and, so thats like about 12 or 15 pages into the Background
Report here. Anyway, in that special report, it says on the third page of the report, The salons
construction work, purchase of equipment and supplies and the hiring of 20 new employees
incurred a large capital outlay for Nani Mau, Inc. this year. It is estimated it may take Nani Mau
six to eight years to cover this investment.
So, you made this investment that is going to take you six or eight years to recover at a time
when this particular requirement to improve the highway was still in effect. So, to me, the
economic hardship wasnt so great that you couldnt make a capital investment of this nature but
it is so great that its a problem for you to improve the highway, which was already a
requirement at that time. So that kind of concerns me.
FUJIYAMA:Can I answer that?
GRAHAM:Certainly.
FUJIYAMA:Okay. If you look at, well, our present operation, the way it is right today,
is still taking a big loss. And the only way we can probably turn this business around is to
increase the operation so we can generate more revenues; and so that was part of the risk that we
took. We tried to invest capital so we could increase our revenues. But if we just stay status
quo, wed always lose there. You know, and its just the nature of the location.
10
And, I guess, Mrs. Siracusa asked the last time about complaints. The biggest complaint we
have at Nani Mau and our biggest problem is location. Very few people can find us, even local
people, you know. So we have to think of something that can, you know, create a steady type of
business there. And this is why we need to, were looking at, you know, what other things can
we do to make it viable. But if we just leave it at status quo, its, were really taking a loss here.
Even the salon, you know, we had good intentions of, you know, making it viable with 20,
almost 30 employees we hired. We hired nearly all the JC Penny salon people just to see if we
could use that. Right now, we have four left. So, even that has been very difficult, you know, to
generate the business there. Okay.
GRAHAM:And then the third of the three items you mentioned was the amount of
traffic. My sense is that when this requirement was put in place, this was put in place based on
the Land Use Commissions sense of what kind of traffic could be generated from the permit
theywereputtingforth.Andwhatyouresayingisthattheamountoftraffichasnotbeenso
high, in your estimation at least, as to justify making this traffic, making these improvements on
the road. And my sense is even now youre saying we need to expand in order to make it viable.
So the condition on the road basically goes with the permit. If we remove the condition on the
road now, the success of your operation or whatever may increase your traffic a whole lot, or
may not. But the condition goes with the permit, not with how successful youve been so far. So
by removing it as opposed to having an extension or something, were foreclosing any options,
or the Land Use Commission would be foreclosing options to enforce what they thought was a
possible traffic scenario from this permit.
FUJIYAMA:As Chian had mentioned earlier on our business, probably, or the bulk of
the business are through groups. You know, we deal with wholesalers; and so most of our traffic
comes by buses. You know, so were not looking at large vehicle counts. In fact, we have
almost have a zero advertising budget to go after the FIT market, you know. So thats not our
plan. You know, were not looking at going after the people that drive cars, as far as tourism or
things like that. We definitely want to increase our local business because thats a good base,
you know, but from an overall tourist attraction, our main focus is by large movement vehicles.
GRAHAM:Just finally, you know, I would also indicate that when I looked at the
pictures that went around, the intersection looks reasonably okay to me, it doesnt look like a
particularly dangerous location. And, also, what Ms. Siracusa said her own experience was that
it didnt feel dangerous to her. Im just, you know, these reasons for the change, to me, theyre
all a little iffy in my mind, thats all.
FUJIYAMA:Okay.
FUJIKAWA:Is there a question? Springer?
SPRINGER:Im wondering if the Planning Director can respond to the concerns that
Commissioner Graham has raised, particularly with regard to the traffic, both as it is now and as
it may be if business does increase.
YUEN:We did look at the same point. I accept what the Applicant is saying about
the past record of business and the likelihood of future expansion. Many of the things that were
11
contemplated and would have been possible traffic generators have been already dropped from
the permit. The level of activity now is nearly far below what would trigger the need to upgrade,
for this operator, to upgrade the intersection. The timing of the uses, it does, it tends not to
conflict with the major traffic along the highway. That side of the highway, you, the primary,
most of the traffic on that side is heading into Hilo in the morning, the busier side is going out in
the afternoon. Their large functions tend to be in the evening, after all the traffic, in fact, after
the major traffic in the area, and in a different, and not interfering with the major flow of traffic.
So we felt reasonably comfortable with eliminating this condition.
SPRINGER:Thank you.
FUJIKAWA:Is there any other question, Commissioners, with the Applicant, or the
staff, or the Director?
HAYASHI:Mr.Chair?
FUJIKAWA:Goahead.
HAYASHI:IlljustmakeoneclarificationregardingtheresponseIgaveto,Ibelieve
was Commissioner Grahams question regarding the salon; and my response was that it was
established sometime in the late 1990s. The salon and beauty shop, hair salon was established
within the main building, which also included the restaurant back in the late 90s. Just recently, I
believe, back in 2001, the salon and spa was moved to the building that is situated adjacent to the
main restaurant building. So I just wanted to clarify that.
Were proposing that Condition 4, only the words, and equestrian trails, agricultural museum,
be deleted.
And as far as Condition 5, were proposing that the two proposed snack shopsthe proposed
fruit/vegetable stand and the agricultural museum, and at the very end it says that the
equestrian stable and trails, those should be deleted. And the reason why, again, is that those
activities were proposed in this particular area shaded in yellow which has since been deleted
from the Special Permit.
SIRACUSA:Question?
FUJIKAWA:Siracusa.
SIRACUSA:Norman, what about the coin-operated dispensing machines and mobile
vendors, have those been deleted as well?
HAYASHI:No, those are left in; and the reason why is I believe those coin-operated
vending machines are situated or will be situated in front of the restaurant, or as part of the
restaurant complex.
SIRACUSA:Okay, cause I noticed you hadnt mentioned them. I was just wondering
if it was an oversight or if there was a reason for it. Thank you.
12
FUJIKAWA:Commissioners, any question with the staff, or the Applicant? Were all
on Item No. 2, Nani Mau, Inc. (SP 73-159). Any one of you in the audience would like to testify
on this Item No. 2 application? If not, Commissioners?
SPRINGER:Mr. Chair?
FUJIKAWA:Commissioner Springer?
SPRINGER:Regarding Agenda Item 2, by Applicant Nani Mau, Inc. regarding Docket
No. SP 73-159, which is the deletion of Condition No. 7 roadway improvements, taking the
Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations made by the Department and the Director,
including the recommendation to amend Conditions 4 and 5 as stated by
Mr. Hayashi, I move that the Hawai`i County Planning Commission forward a favorable
recommendation to the State Land Use Commission.
FUJIKAWA:Any second?
ALAMEDA:Second.
FUJIKAWA:It has been moved by Commissioner Springer and seconded by
CommissionerAlamedathattheApplicant,NaniMau,Inc.(SP73-159),beapproved.Any
question? If not, staff, go ahead.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Springer?
SPRINGER:Yes.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Alameda?
ALAMEDA:Aye.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Graham
GRAHAM:No.
HAYASHI:Commissioner McCall?
MCCALL:Aye.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Siracusa?
SIRACUSA:Aye.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Smith?
SMITH:Aye.
HAYASHI:And Chair Fujikawa?
13
FUJIKAWA:Aye.
HAYASHI:Mr. Chair, vote was six to one, motion carries.
FUJIKAWA:Thank you. Youll be informed by the County of Hawai`i Planning
Department.
The discussion ended at 10:00 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon M. Nomura, Secretary
14