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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-06-14 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, June 14, 2011 Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER Vice Chairperson Jeffrey Krepps called the Puna Community Development Plan (PCDP) Action Committee (AC) meeting to order at 3:07 p.m. in the Pāhoa Community Center, with the following persons present: Action Committee: Barbara Bell, Greg Braun, Madie Greene, Keikialoha Kekipi (arrived late), Jeffrey Krepps, Tim Tunison. Excused: Frank Commendador, Wesley Owens, Dan Taylor. Staff: Larry Brown (Planning Department, Project Manager), Elizabeth “Liz” Hultman-Salfen (Planning Department, Community Planning Assistant), Cynthia Lahilahi Verschuur (Planning Department, Recorder). Public servants: Gwen Kupahu (County Councilman Fred Blas’ office, 5th District) Members of the public: 6 ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA None ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. Barbara announced that the Pāhoa Transfer Station dedication ceremony will be held Thursday, June 16 at 10:30 a.m. 2. Rene Siracusa from Mālama O Puna handed out a flier about the Kahu Wai project and announced a public reception at the Pāhoa Village Museum Friday, June 24 at 7 p.m. Student work will be on display there June 24-July 22. PUBLIC TESTIMONY 1. Yen Chin, new president of Friends of Puna’s Future, spoke about their work on a proposed resolution to create village center steering committees. Larry commented that the Planning Department doesn’t have the budget to support such committees and that most communities are not ready for that step. Jeffery urged Yen to join the AC task action group on village centers. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Barbara moved to approve the minutes of the May 10, 2011 AC meeting; Madie seconded. Barbara made one correction on page 4 to Joy Gannon’s name which had been misspelled. The motion passed unanimously as corrected. 2 GUEST SPEAKER 1. James Weatherford introduced the goals and objectives of the Hawai‘i Sustainable Communities Alliance (HSCA). a. The group is asking for AC support of their Sustainable Rural Habitat (SRH) Resolution as a first step towards an ordinance to amend the Building Code for rural areas. Some of the key elements proposed for amending the building code include: i. Alternative limited-density, owner-built rural dwellings ii. Use of locally-grown building materials such as bamboo, eucalyptus, albesia iii. Use of recycled building materials; 10% of the waste going into the dump could be diverted iv. Allowing land owners to build homes and live in agricultural parks to increase productivity v. Composting toilets and education on use of grey water b. They plan to submit the resolution to the Council in July as stepping stone to ordinance. 2. AC members commented and gave feedback. a. On the owner-dweller requirement, James said the ordinance would prohibit renting, leasing or having workers occupy such structures. b. On liability, he said it would be exempted as it is for indigenous architecture. c. Full disclosure would have to be recorded on property deeds. d. He said their aim is to help people have permited structures rather than provide loopholes around the current building code. e. When following amended building codes the plan reviewer would be able to use reasonable judgment and could waive inspections i. Larry pointed out plan reviewers in the building department are not engineers, so aren’t in the position to be able to look at a set of plans and make educated decisions regarding structural safety. The County may have to upgrade the position or the permit applicant would have to provide an engineer’s statement. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS 1. Communication No. 2011-9 regarding HSCA’s request for a letter of endorsement for their SRH resolution. A. Barbara suggested endorsing the concept rather than the resolution as written. B. Greg expressed liability and engineering concerns. C. The AC requested James Weatherford draft a letter of support for them to sign, to be approved at the July meeting. 2. Sub-committee reports A. Amendment Sub-committee 3 i. Larry gave an update on the AC’s 2nd group of amendment recommendations to the PCDP. One amendment is the non-substantive and minor phraseology corrections that were missed in Bill 194. The second amendment is to reinsert the word “preliminary” in the legend of all of the village center maps which was deleted in Bill 194. These amendments will be on the Windward Planning Commission calendar for July. B. Budget & Finance Sub-committee i. Jeffrey said there is still no standing meeting. They are clarifying priorities; one is to make sure PCDP priorities are on the Capital Improvement Project (CIP) list, another is support- staff funding. The Sub-committee is looking for people to reach critical mass. ii. Larry said that Liz’s contract has been extended through May 31, 2012. C. Public Outreach Sub-committee i. Jeffrey reported that the highlight of the group’s activities is the new web discussion board with 25-30 members so far. Larry encouraged AC members to log on and start discussion threads. ii. Hannah Hedrick announced the Neighborhood Place of Puna-Uka meeting will be tomorrow, June 15, on N. Kulani Rd. at 3 p.m. D. Mālama I Ka ‘Āina Sub-committee i. Tim reported on the Biosphere Reserve Buffer Zone (BRBZ) Action Task Group’s activity to seek United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designation, County support, and special district status. They are working on drafting a resolution, which may be ready for discussion at the next AC meeting. ii. Kapoho wastewater treatment--Barbara reported that she is trying to pull the community together. E. Managing Growth Sub-committee i. Madie reported for the Parks and Recreation Action Task Group on County Councilman Fred Blas’s improvement efforts: a. Pohoiki-Isaac Hale Beach Park: he is working to put floodlights on the new bathroom structure and to move the door to the other side, install streetlights where people are camping and a security house. b. Ahalanui Park: he is working to pave the parking lot. c. Hawaiian Beaches Park: he is working to extend the upper field, add a scoreboard and lights. ii. The Pohoiki makai land acquisition is the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission’s (PONCE) 1st priority, which went before the County Council at the last meeting. Purchase is under negotiation. iii. Hazmat work is finished on the old Pāhoa fire station. Next will be upgrading the driveway to meet the American Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. iv. Larry reported the future location of the Puna Regional 20-acre park is being considered at Maku‘u and 16th across from the Hawaiian Paradise Park (HPP) Community Center, which will need an environmental assessment. The County will get community input during the 4 process. General terms have been agreed to; the HPP Board of Directors is expected to deed the land over to the County. v. Larry reported the Volcano Community Association is looking at how to do a master plan for Volcano Village probably using their Vision 2020 plan as a starting point. vi. Larry spoke on the need for a master plan in Pāhoa. a. Rene Siracusa said the planning director was going to put in an amendment to change the map boundaries and that the community should wait and request zoning changes rather than ask for special use permits now. F. Transportation Sub-committee i. Larry said he met with Tom Brown, reviewed his draft island-wide master plan and provided feedback. He felt it needs work before the Mass Transit Action Task Group looks at it. ii. PMAR update a. Larry reported the State CIP fund release in April did not include the PMAR. He prepared a letter from the mayor to the governor encouraging him to release money for the environmental and preliminary engineering studies. This is time-critical because $188k from Federal Highway funds cannot be re-obligated. AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING 1. Planning Director 2. Tom Brown 3. Pahoa Village Center-Rene Siracusa 4. BRBZ resolution 5. Discussion of schedule for meeting venues 6. Larry mentioned the two-year AC terms will be ending in October, so he will be starting the process to find replacements. He wants AC input on the review process, possibly creating a sub- committee for the selection and recommendation process. ADJOURNMENT Keiki moved to adjourn the meeting; Greg seconded; all voted in favor. Meeting adjourned at 5:33 p.m.