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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-28 Aloha Independent Living Hawai'i Testimony From: Systems Advocacy To: Planning WPC Testimony Subject: Written Testimony — Item 4, KBXtreme Hilo, LLC (PL-REZ-2024-000074 / AMEND REZ-09-000113) — October 1, 2026 Date: Monday, September 28, 2026 8:42:22 AM Attachments: 10012026 HC WPC KBXtreme Hilo AILH Testimony.pdf Aloha, Thank you for accepting written testimony for the Windward Planning Commission'sOctober 1, 2026 meeting. Attached is the written testimony of Aloha Independent Living Hawaiʻi on AgendaItem 4, the application of KBXtreme Hilo, LLC to amend Change of Zone OrdinanceNo. 10-45 (PL-REZ-2024-000074 / AMEND REZ-09-000113), TMK: (3) 2-3-037:006.Our position is Comments. Please include it in the record and distribute it to the Commissioners. We would appreciate a short reply confirming receipt. Mahalo, Leelynn BradySystems Advocacy CoordinatorAloha Independent Living HawaiiP.O. Box 283 Pearl City, Hawaii 96782 CONFIDENTIAL: The information contained in this e-mail message and its electronic attachments or linkages is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the intended recipient from Aloha Independent Living Hawaii. Any unauthorized use or dissemination of the material is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the original e-mail message, any attachments, and all copies. Thank you. Testimony of Aloha Independent Living Hawaiʻi Item 4 — KBXtreme Hilo, LLC (PL-REZ-2024-000074 / AMEND REZ-09-000113), amendment of Ordinance No. 10-45 Hawaiʻi County Windward Planning Commission — Thursday, October 1, 2026, 9:00 a.m. Submitted to WPCtestimony@hawaiicounty.gov Position: Comments — keep Conditions J and K, or replace them with specific pedestrian access commitments Thank you for the opportunity to comment. Aloha Independent Living Hawaiʻi is a consumer-controlled, federally designated Center for Independent Living. We serve Hawaiʻi Island from our Hilo office. We work with people of all disabilities to live, work and take part in community life on their own terms. That depends on being able to get there. The subject property sits at 279 Komohana Street, about 150 feet from the Ponahawai Street intersection. Condition J of Ordinance No. 10-45 requires curb, gutter and sidewalk along the Komohana Street frontage. Condition K requires the streetlights and traffic-control devices the Department of Public Works requires. These two conditions are what give a person on foot, in a wheelchair or using a white cane a safe way to reach this site. The Komohana–Ponahawai intersection already serves medical offices, specialty clinics and laboratories. People with disabilities and older adults travel there for care. Many of them do not drive. They arrive by bus, by paratransit or on foot. Federal law already requires the future business on this site to provide an accessible route from public sidewalks and transit stops to its entrance. That route has nothing to connect to without a public sidewalk. Deleting Condition J leaves that gap in place, or shifts the cost of closing it to the County. Lighting matters for more than visibility to drivers. People with low vision need it to find curb edges and crossings. People who are Deaf or hard of hearing need it to communicate after dark. Everyone crossing a wide street at night is safer when drivers can see them. The applicant also asks for a 10-year extension to complete construction. Condition J applies only before a Certificate of Occupancy is issued. It places no cost on the applicant until the building is ready to open. Extending the construction deadline does not require deleting the frontage obligation. In 2019, this Commission declined to make sidewalks optional for the Wailani project district across Komohana Street. We ask the Commission to apply the same standard here. We respectfully urge the Commission not to delete Conditions J and K unless they are replaced with specific commitments. These should include a continuous sidewalk along the frontage, built to the U.S. Access Board’s Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines; curb ramps with detectable warnings at each crossing serving the site; lighting at those crossings and at any transit stop serving the site; and accessible pedestrian signals if a signal is installed. If the two new conditions proposed in this application provide these commitments, our concern is met. We ask that the record show which frontage improvements exist today, and how the requested changes affect the pedestrian path of travel and night visibility, before the Commission acts. If a Traffic Impact Analysis is required under Condition L, we ask that it address pedestrian, wheelchair and transit access, not vehicle movements alone. Hawaiʻi’s complete streets law, HRS §264-20.5, calls for streets that serve persons of all ages and abilities. We take no position on Conditions B, E, G and H. We ask only that any change to site access keep a safe, accessible pedestrian crossing. Mahalo for your consideration. Roxanne Bolden Executive Director