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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-04-12 PCDP AC Minutes County of Hawai‘i PLANNING DEPARTMENT PUNA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE Aupuni Center • 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 • Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720 Phone (808) 961-8288 • Fax (808) 961-8742 Hawai’i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer BJ Leithead Todd Director Margaret Masunaga Deputy Director William P. Kenoi Mayor Tuesday, April 12, 2011 Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Daniel Taylor called the Puna Community Development Plan (PCDP) Action Committee (AC) meeting to order at 3:09 p.m. in the Kea’au Community Center, with the following persons present: Action Committee: Greg Braun (arrived at 4 pm), Frank Commendador, Madie Greene, Jeffrey Krepps, Wesley Owens, Daniel Taylor, Tim Tunison. Excused: Barbara Bell. Unexcused: Keikialoha Kekipi. Staff: Larry Brown (Planning Department, Project Manager), Elizabeth “Liz” Hultman-Salfen (Planning Department, Community Planning Assistant), Cynthia Lahilahi Verschuur (Planning Department, Recorder), Amy Self (Deputy Corporation Counsel). Members of the public: 4 ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA 1. Dan suggested adding Stephanie Bath’s written correspondence to the agenda. Larry pointed out that an item may not be added to the agenda if it is of reasonably major importance and will affect a significant number of persons. He recommended putting it on the next meeting’s agenda if the AC wished to discuss and act on Stephanie’s written correspondence. 2. Dan asked about the amendments going before the Council. Larry said he would give an update during the Amendment Subcommittee report. 3. Jeffrey proposed discussing the nature of the subcommittees and how to make them more effective. Dan said it would come up during unfinished business. ANNOUNCEMENTS None PUBLIC TESTIMONY 1. Hannah Hedrick offered her help on public outreach and mentioned Neighborhood Place of Puna as a resource. 2. Jon Olson testified on public transportation, specifically with respect to the reluctance of MTA to operate Hele-On buses over private subdivision roads. He said the County has never raised a 2 question about senior services and schools having buses go into private subdivisions. Along with most of those services, Hele-On buses are 80-90 percent federally funded. He indicated that he plans to write a letter to Federal Transportation authorities to get their opinion on the issue of public buses going onto private subdivision roads since the County is using federal dollars to fund Hele-On. He also pointed out that the State Department of Transportation is required to do a long- term plan every 10 years. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Madie moved to accept the minutes of the March 8, 2011 meeting. Wes seconded. Larry pointed out a correction to the draft minutes that was made after they had been emailed to the AC. The correction deletes a statement attributed to Dan Taylor calling for the termination of public testimony at the end of the meeting because it was past the scheduled end of the meeting time. Madie and Wes reaffirmed their motion and second to approve the minutes as amended. The motion passed unanimously. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1. Draft Annual Report A. Dan expressed dissatisfaction with the draft report and felt there should be honest analysis of how the committee operates and how priority items were selected. B. Wes suggested indicating which items the AC participated in. C. Jeff said it reported on the PCDP, not the AC’s implementation. D. Larry said the report was supposed to indicate progress toward implementation of the PCDP. E. Dan expressed disappointment that the AC is doing more procedural work than implementing the PCDP. He said there is a community perception that the AC is an “inaction committee”. F. Madie brought up holding AC meetings at other venues in the Community. G. Wes moved to reject the draft report, pending further revision. Dan seconded. Six voted in favor; Frank voted against. Motion passed. H. Larry read from the County Code that the AC is tasked to “monitor the progress and effectiveness of the CDP.” I. Amy suggested keeping the report short and concise, no more than 2 pages. J. Discussion ensued on how to facilitate the revision process. Wes and Dan offered to come up with a revised draft to be promulgated online before the next meeting. GUEST SPEAKERS 1. Steve Hirakami from the Public Access, Open Space & Natural Resources Preservation Commission (PONC) provided the Action Committee with a brief presentation and solicited suggestions. A. The 2% initiative, previously suspended, will be reinstated in June. B. PONC has facilitated several land purchases; main focus has been shoreline properties. C. No land has been purchased for Puna. D. Number 1 suggestion last year was Pohoiki, the Ka’u side of the boat ramp area including the 3 little warm pond and one of most popular surf spots. E. Amy suggested the AC look at the PCDP and fill out a suggestion form as a group if there are lands needed for CDP implementation such as parks. F. Liz pointed out Cape Kumukahi was nominated several years and is on the AC priority list. G. Submission deadline is May 31, 2011. NEW BUSINESS 1. Public outreach A. Wes presented a new online forum organized by specific topics. AC member access is limited to respective subcommittee topics in order to prevent Sunshine Law violations. Different communities can create their own threads to have in-house discussions. The forum is at http://forum.punacdp.info. B. Wes moved to create a subcommittee for public outreach and offered to be the chair. Frank seconded. All voted in favor. Jeff volunteered to serve on the subcommittee. 2. Communication No 2011-2: Memo from Larry Brown to PCDP AC Chair, Dan Taylor and AC Members regarding Mass Transit Agency response to AC request for guidance on the process for securing County bus service over private subdivision roadways. A. Larry pointed out the County has a different liability exposure than private contractors. If specific answers to Jon Olson’s testimony are desired, he suggested drafting an official communication. B. Liz pointed out senior transportation is provided by a private company called Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council. 3. Communication No. 2011-4: Memo from Planning Director, BJ Leithead Todd regarding her directive to limit all CDP Action Committee meetings to a bi-monthly schedule as soon as practical, but no later than July 1, 2011. A. Larry reported that the planning director has agreed to allow Puna meetings to continue as long as there is no staff overtime and he is able to keep up with his other work. 4. Sub-Committee Reports A. Amendment Sub-Committee i. Larry gave an update on the three amendments generated by the AC that went before the County Council Planning Committee March 4. Two council members were disconcerted that no AC members were on hand to testify. Dan agreed to represent the AC at the next council meeting that covers the issue. B. Budget and Finance Sub-Committee i. No report C. Malama I Ka ‘Aina Sub-Committee i. No meeting was held since the last AC meeting. Written report submitted. D. Managing Growth Sub-Committee i. Jeff reported he will be submitting a suggestion form to PONC for acquisition of Cape 4 Kumukahi lands for park development. ii. Pahoa Regional Park Advisory Group formed to get community input; only one person has joined so far. iii. Jeff asked to resign from the Parks and Recreation subcommittee. Madie offered to take on Parks and Recreation and resign from Budget and Finance. Jeff will take on Budget and Finance along with Public Outreach. Greg also volunteered to serve on Parks and Recreation. iv. Larry reported that the Planning Department has received some permit requests that may have significant impact on the PCDP village center concept. He recommended that the Managing Growth sub-committee take a position on this and make recommendations to the Planning Director and Planning Commission. He expects it to take 2-3 months before it will get on the Planning Commission agenda. v. Larry said he would post all applications for land use permits. He reported there is an application to amend a special permit for religious activity on a lot in HPP, and another proposal to expand the regional town center of Pahoa to some lots for additional commercial development. vi. Discussion ensued on how to populate the Managing Growth Sub-committee. Larry suggested breaking it up into different subcommittees. Frank offered to take on Managing Growth which includes village centers. Jeff pointed out the Maku’u Farmer’s Association could be a stakeholder. E. Transportation Sub-Committee i. No report 5. Action Committee Workshops A. Dan proposed having a retreat to look at how to make the AC more effective. Larry suggested as an alternative having a special meeting with one agenda item that is open to the public. No action taken. B. Committee discussed having a workshop on land use permitting processes. AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING 1. Maku’u Farmers’ Market Association to present conceptual plan summary 2. HWY 130 commercial development ADJOURNMENT Madie moved to adjourn the meeting, Jeff seconded. All voted in favor and the meeting was adjourned at 5:58 p.m. Next meeting Tuesday, May 10.