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Home My WebLink About2025-03-11 KCDP Minutes Final KONA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN 1 ACTION COMMITTEE 2 COUNTY OF HAWAIʻI 3 DRAFT MINUTES 4 March 11, 2025 5 CALL TO ORDER 6 Chair Charles Young called the Kona Community Development Plan (CDP) Action Committee 7 (AC) to order at 12:08 p.m. This meeting was held in person at the West Hawai’i Civic Center, B2 8 Conference Room and online via the Zoom platform. 9 The full YouTube video of this meeting can be found here: 10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kj-KN8wQVw&t=211s 11 ROLL CALL 12 Members Present (in person): Nancy Pisicchio (Vice-Chair) 13 Members Present (via Zoom): Charles Young (Chair), David Huerta, John Pelletier, and Heather 14 Korotie 15 Members Absent: Roselyn Molina and Charla Thompson 16 County Staff Present (in person): Jessica Lahip, Shan Miller and Kawelo Kalili 17 County Staff Present (via Zoom): Maryam Palam 18 There were approximately 6 members of the public in attendance (4 in person and 2 via Zoom). 19 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 20 Vice-Chair Nancy Pisicchio moved to approve the minutes from the February 11, 2025, meeting 21 as drafted. Committee Member John Pelletier seconded the motion. The motion passed 22 unanimously. [SEE YOUTUBE TIMESTAMP 11:45] 23 PUBLIC TESTIMONY 24 Janice Palma-Glennie provided testimony regarding the County Council Ad Hoc Committee and 25 supports strengthening the role of CDPs and opposes the weakening of their authority. [SEE 26 YOUTUBE TIMESTAMP 14:24] 27 Rebecca Melendez provided testimony urging officials to prioritize resources over new 28 construction. [SEE YOUTUBE TIMESTAMP 18:50] 29 Pricsilla Basque provided testimony regarding the General Plan language being unclear due to 30 abbreviations and vague language. [SEE YOUTUBE TIMESTAMP 24:42] 31 BUSINESS: 32 1. Kealakehe Regional Park Update – Update from Action Committee members and discussion 33 regarding any actions the Committee may pursue. [SEE YOUTUBE TIMESTAMP 26:04] 34 This item was called to order at 12:29 p.m. 35 KONA CDP ACTION COMMITTEE Minutes of March 11, 2025 2 Committee Member Pelletier introduced Executive Orders #4355 and #3665, which pertain to 36 setting aside land for public purposes, referencing Communications No. 2025-06 and 37 Communication 2025-07 found in the State archive. He expressed support for allocating the 38 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) budget funds for the park and suggested the AC contact 39 County Parks and Recreation Planner James Komata. Chair Young shared insights from a 40 conversation with Parks Director Honma, indicating that the park project is stalled at the 41 Department of Environmental Management (DEM) due to the absence of RS1 WWTP 42 development, which is required for RS1 water. Vice-Chair Pisicchio noted that the preliminary 43 budget states the Environmental Assessment (EA) is completed but the the executive orders do not 44 mention RS1 requirements. Chair Young confirmed the EA’s completion but clarified it has not 45 been approved. Community member Janice Palma-Glennie inquired about federal funding, and 46 Committee Member Pelletier confirmed that the budget is entirely county-funded. Planner 47 Maryam Palma added that the CIP document outlines the sources of project funds, including 48 county bonds and state and federal contributions. 49 This item concluded at 12:37 p.m. 50 2. Leeward Planning Commission Testimony Update – Vice Chair-Pisicchio and Committee 51 Member John Pelletier to provide an update on the Leeward Planning Commission meeting. 52 [SEE YOUTUBE TIMESTAMP 34:45] 53 This item was called to order at 12:37 p.m. 54 Vice-Chair Pisicchio shared that she and Committee Member Pelletier testified at the first General 55 Plan review before the Planning Commission, discussing the Hokuliʻa redesignation and transit-56 oriented development (TOD) issues. The Planning Director later recommended keeping Hokuliʻa 57 designated as agricultural instead of changing it to rural, but the final decision is up to the County 58 Council, so it is important to follow up. She also mentioned that the TOD testimony submitted to 59 the Leeward Planning Commission was based on an outdated version of the General Plan and 60 needs to be updated before sending it to the County Council. She suggested adding a clearer 61 explanation of TODs since some council members may not be familiar with the concept. 62 Committee Member Pelletier agreed, noting that it is important to be well-prepared when 63 presenting to the Planning Committee. 64 Chair Young asked if the Leeward Planning Commission is hearing similar concerns about the 65 General Plan’s challenges and the need to catch up. He emphasized that while the committee 66 advises on issues aligned with the CDP, it is ultimately up to the public to advocate for themselves. 67 Seeing a nod in response, he took that as confirmation. 68 Rebecca Melendez provided testimony regarding the need for public knowledge on topics 69 mentioned in the Final Draft General Plan. [SEE YOUTUBE TIME STAMP: 39:49] 70 Vice-Chair Pisicchio confirmed that the Leeward Planning Commission has made their final 71 recommendations, and it is now out of the AC’s hands. The next step is for the County Council 72 Planning Committee to review it, though the timeline for that is uncertain. The public will have a 73 chance to testify at the Council hearings. 74 This item concluded at 12:48 p.m. 75 KONA CDP ACTION COMMITTEE Minutes of March 11, 2025 3 3. State Legislature Testimony – Discussion and potential action on whether the Action 76 Committee should submit testimony to State Legislature on bills relevant to the Kona 77 Community Development Plan. [SEE YOUTUBE TIMESTAMP 45:26] 78 This item was called to order at 12:48 p.m. 79 Chair Young introduced SB 1602, which focuses on monitoring water in the Keauhou aquifer, with 80 the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) planning to install two monitoring wells 81 in the water system. Vice-Chair Pisicchio then introduced SB 867, which aimed to establish a 82 working group to study drilling wells for affordable housing units, but Committee Member 83 Pelletier informed the AC that the bill was killed that day. Both Vice-Chair Pisicchio and Chair 84 Young expressed their support for SB 1602, as it benefits Kona’s water resources. Vice-Chair 85 Pisicchio moved for the AC to submit testimony in support of SB 1602, with Committee Member 86 Pelletier seconding the motion. Vice-Chair Pisicchio and Chair Young will collaborate on drafting 87 the letter, and the motion passed unanimously with an all-in-favor voice vote. 88 Janice Palma-Glennie provided testimony in support of SB 1602 [SEE YOUTUBE TIME STAMP 89 54:03] 90 This item concluded at 1:01 p.m. 91 4. Update on SB869 SD1 & HB686 HD1 – Vice-Chair Pisicchio to provide update on the status 92 of the bills at the current legislative session. [SEE YOUTUBE TIME STAMP 57:17] 93 This item was called to order at 1:01 p.m. 94 Vice-Chair Pisicchio provided an update on a bill related to the State Sunshine Law, which limits 95 committee discussions to items on the agenda and restricts public input. This bill aimed to ease 96 those restrictions, allowing more freedom for committees to take public testimony and hold 97 conversations without a quorum. While the bill passed three votes in the Senate, it was killed in 98 the House after being referred to the Finance Committee. However, the Senate bill is still alive and 99 has been referred to the House Judicial and Hawaiian Affairs Committee, which is a positive 100 development. Vice-Chair Pisicchio highlighted the importance of this bill for the island, as it would 101 improve how the committee functions and encourage community participation. The bill has 102 garnered significant support from various community groups, showing the hard work put into 103 advancing it. 104 Chair Young congratulated Vice-Chair Pisicchio and Committee Member Pelletier for their efforts 105 in advancing the bill, which is new to the island. He acknowledged that Vice-Chair Pisicchio 106 played a key role in drafting the bill and working with legislators to get it introduced. He also 107 mentioned their encouragement of Representative Tarnas to support the bill. Chair Young 108 expressed optimism about the bill’s progress despite some challenges, like the heavy volume of 109 bills in the legislative process, which can cause less prominent bills to be overlooked. He reflected 110 on the need to continue networking with other committees and commissions, though he admitted 111 falling behind on some efforts. Finally, Chair Young encouraged everyone to track the bill’s 112 progress online through the Hawaiʻi State Legislature’s website, where they can see updates, 113 comments, and scheduled hearings. 114 KONA CDP ACTION COMMITTEE Minutes of March 11, 2025 4 This item concluded at 1:10 p.m. 115 PROPOSED AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: [SEE YOUTUBE TIMESTAMP 116 1:06:45] 117 1. PONC Committee Presentation 118 2. Kealakehe Regional Park 119 3. Capital Improvements Program Draft Review 120 4. Senate Bill Updates 121 Janice Palma-Glennie provided testimony requesting that the AC consider revisiting amending the 122 Kona CDP. [SEE YOUTUBE TIME STAMP 1:11:15] 123 Rebecca Melendez provided testimony regarding General Plan land use designation letters. [SEE 124 YOUTUBE TIME STAMP 1:12:17] 125 ADJOURNMENT 126 The meeting was adjourned at 1:48pm. [SEE YOUTUBE TIMESTAMP 1:44:19] 127 These minutes and all related documents are available in the Planning Department’s Kona 128 Community Development Plan Action Committee folder via the County of Hawaiʻi Public 129 Documents Repository. These documents may also be requested from the Planning Department by 130 calling (808) 961-8288 or emailing cdp@hawaiicounty.gov. 131