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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-09-26 PL-INT-2024-008832 GP 2045 Draft Comments - B. Yuhnke DeVera, Ashley From: Bob Yuhnke < Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2024 3:22 PM To: Planning General Plan Subject: Comments on the need for a second arterial access road for Waikoloa Village Attachments: WSAW Comments GENERAL PLAN 2045 (1).pdf Aloha Planning staff: Attached for your consideration are comments on the draft General Plan submitted on behalf of Wildfire Safety Advocates for Waikoloa. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this process. Bob Yuhnke ( 1 WILDFIRE SAFETY WSAW Comments-General Plan 2045 4q, ADVOCATES Sep 26,2024 WAIKOLOA - HAWAII CONTACT: GENERAL PLAN 2045 Comments Related to Establishing a Second Access Road for Waikoloa Village General Plan Purpose The General Plan is required to be prepared by the County Charter to serve as the County's policy document for the long-range comprehensive development and preservation of the Island of Hawaii pursuant to provisions for its purposes and contents. It is based on community values, goals, and objectives. Capital Improvements Programs (CIP) Purpose This is a six-year program of planned capital improvements adopted by the Hawai'i County Council that sets forth improvements to be funded, how much each will cost for each of the next 6 fiscal years, and funding sources. The CIP includes infrastructure such as roads.The County charter states that "Capital improvements shall be prioritized based on criteria aligned with the general plan, community development plans, emergency expenditures and other pertinent functional plans." Section 10-6(a)(2). These comments are submitted on behalf of Wildfire Safety Advocates of Waikoloa on behalf of the organization and its members. These comments reflect the deep concern by residents of Waikoloa Village that a second arterial access road into and out of the Village was first recognized as a critical priority to protect the lives and well-being of residents during fire evacuation emergencies after the 2005 wildfire event, was highlighted again after the wildfire in 2018 and urgently demanded after the fire and evacuation order issued by the Mayor in 2021. Community residents experienced significant delays in exiting the Village during the 2021 fire as a result of traffic being backed up on Paniolo Drive while seeking access to Waikoloa Road, and along Waikoloa Road seeking access to Queen Ka'ahamanu highway. This experience during a wildfire evacuation emergency clearly demonstrates the need for a second arterial road in and out of the Village. 1 WILDFIRE SAFETY WSAW Comments-General Plan 2045 4q, ADVOCATES Sep 26,2024 WAIKOLOA - HAWAII CONTACT: In addition the Hawai'l County Deputy Fire Chief acknowledged the need for a second access road to ensure that the crew and equipment based at the Puako Fire Station will have access to the Village to protect lives and property during wildfire events while residents are seeking to evacuate the Village. A second access route would become critically important as the only access route if Waikoloa Road is blocked by fire, or if fire penetrates the Village to block fire truck access to sections of the Village north of the fire. But despite the broad acknowledgement among residents, elected officials and decision-makers that such a facility has been needed for two decades, no action has been taken by the County to assure its completion. Now new residential development in the Village has been approved, including both affordable multiple dwelling unit and single family housing totaling about 1200 units, that is expected to increase the population of the Village by about 3500 residents, or 50%, during this decade. Nearly all of this development is planned for the north end of the Village, furthest from Waikoloa Road, and most at-risk of being trapped during a wildfire emergency. This additional population, including young families with children in the affordable housing development, will be put in harms way if additional road access to the north end of the Village is not made available concurrent with other development in the area. This development increases the urgent need for action to ensure that an additional arterial road is open to traffic this decade. Policies. Commenters support the three policies aimed at addressing this situation in the draft General Plan: 32.h. Establish, map and maintain alternative and emergency evacuation routes in each high risk hazard area. 32.k. Develop and/or improve secondary access roads for those communities with only one means of ingress/egress. 32.20 Prioritize hazard mitigation projects in the CIP (Capital improvement plan). The draft plan includes seven road projects for the Waikoloa area between Waikoloa Road and Kawaihae Road. Only three of the seven projects mapped for the Waikoloa area satisfy the first two policies: the Hulu widening and upgrade, the Kamakoa Drive extension to Queen Ka'ahumanu, and the extension of Paniolo Drive to Kawaihae Road. But the Plan does not implement the policy to "prioritize hazard mitigation projects" for the CIP. It should. 2 WILDFIRE SAFETY WSAW Comments-General Plan 2045 ADVOCATES WAIKOLOA HA.A. Sep 26,2024 CONTACT: At the planning staff workshop last month in Kona, Zendo Kern highlighted your initiative to use the GP to set priorities which has not been done in the past.The County charter anticipates that the GP will be used for that purpose in section 10-6(a)(2) which requires that projects in the Capital Improvements budget be "aligned" with priorities in the Plan. Despite the Policy 32.20 which calls for hazard mitigation projects to be prioritized, the current GP draft only proposes priorities for waste water treatment and solid waste disposal. It should also address priorities for highway projects that implement the policies in 32h ("alternative and emergency evacuation routes in each high risk hazard area"), and 32k ("Develop and/or improve secondary access roads for those communities with only one means of ingress/egress"). The draft plan maps three new highways for the Waikoloa area that would implement these policy objectives, but does not prioritize them. Commenters ask that these road projects for hazard mitigation be prioritized. Projects need to be prioritized for three reasons. First, section 10-6(a)(2) of the County Charter links the selection of projects for the Capital Improvements budget to priorities established in the General Plan.The Charter makes clear that the General Plan is the appropriate planning tool for identifying priority projects that address community needs. Second the General Plan is the primary planning vehicle designed to guide growth, reflect community needs, and ensure that the impacts of growth can be accommodated in ways that protect community health and safety. With the north end of Waikoloa Village recognized as a center for significant growth, including residential development, a new library, and an expansion of the K-8 school to accommodate a growing student population, roads need to be prioritized to ensure that transportation infrastructure is adequate to serve planned new development. Third, the General Plan will serve as a guide for the development by HDOT of the Long-range surface transportation plan for the Island. Federal law requires that road projects be included in the LRTP to be eligible for federal transportation funds. The state also uses this planning process to determine if projects qualify for State funding. The second arterial road for Waikoloa Village should be prioritized in the General Plan to provide direction and guidance for the HDOT transportation plan. Criteria for Prioritizing Access Road Projects. At best, only one of the three projects in the Waikoloa area that satisfy the policies in 32h and 32k have the potential to be completed in this decade. We ask that you identify the extension of Kamakoa Drive to Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway as the first priority for three reasons: 1) Kamakoa Drive directly serves the parcels in the north end of the Village where almost all the new development is planned (including the library), 2) the costs born by the public will be lowest of the three projects because of commitments by the landowners, and 3 WILDFIRE SAFETY WSAW Comments-General Plan 2045 ADVOCATES �� WAINOLOA HAP, Sep 26,2024 CONTACT: 3) it will soon be half built because landowners with a vested interest in the on-going developments have submitted permit applications to excavate the right-of-way for a temporary emergency evacuation road that can be upgraded to meet the standards for a dedicated county arterial road. Clearly no second arterial road will be completed and open to traffic before the residential new development is built without public funds. The costs of these projects are significant within the context of both the County CIP budget and the State CIP. The odds of getting two funded during the next 5 years are virtually zero, and the odds of getting the Paniolo extension funded are close to zero without a major infusion of federal $. The Kamakoa Drive extension is the only option that has a reasonable chance of being affordable with available public resources this decade. The economic feasibility of projects should be a critical factor in prioritizing projects.The public cost of extending Kamakoa Dr to Q-K is far less than extending Paniolo to Kawaihae Road. The difference between the two could be as much as $100 million. The land for the Kamakoa extension is being donated by the land owners, they are constructing the initial alignment for the r-o-w, performing the environmental and cultural resource reviews, and there are no stream crossings that require bridges. The Paniolo extension to Kawaihae Road route is more than three times longer, has no commitment from landowners to donate the land, no work is being performed by private sources to lay out, excavate and build a r-o-w, and the route crosses four major gulches requiring expensive bridges. The huge additional cost of the Paniolo route ensures that NO resources will be available to complete it within this decade. Completing the Kamakoa route is at least financially feasible before the Village adds 50% more residents and the next fire emergency triggers an evacuation and the need for access by first responders from the Puako Fire Station. CONCLUSION. For these reasons discussed above, we ask that the General Plan implement policy 32.20 to prioritize hazard mitigation projects by assessing and ranking the three road projects that implement the policies in 32h ("Establish ... alternative and emergency evacuation routes in each high risk hazard area"), and 32k ("Develop and/or improve secondary access roads for those communities with only one means of ingress/egress"), and that you rank the extension of Kamakoa Drive to Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway as the highest priority road project for the Waikoloa area. We also ask that the General Plan make clear that additional an access road connecting the north end of Waikoloa Villege to the regional transportation network is a critical infrastructure need that must be satisfied before any further development is approved to further increase the population in that portion of the Village. Prepared by Bob Yuhnke, on behalf of Wildfire Safety Advocates of Waikoloa. Approved by— 4 WILDFIRE SAFETY WSAW Comments-General Plan 2045 ADVOCATES Sep26,2024 WAINOLOA HAWAII CONTACT: Matt Chalker Aislinn Chalker Rebecca Greto Kendra T. Bruno Halepua Street Serena Hernandez Waikoloa Village Homeowner 5