HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-05-04 Windward Planning Commission Hearing Transcript SP 11-115
WINDWARD PLANNING COMMISSION
COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I
HEARING TRANSCRIPT
MAY 4, 2011
APPLICANT: ARTS AND SCIENCES
A regularly advertised hearing on the application of
CENTER (SPP 11-115)
was called to order at 9:22 a.m. in the County of Hawai‘i, Aupuni Center
Conference Room, 101 Pauahi Street, Hilo, Hawai‘i, with Chairman Zendo Kern presiding.
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Zendo Kern, Dean Au, Takashi Domingo, Wallace Ishibashi, and
Stephen Ono
STAFF PRESENT: Julie Mecklenburg (Deputy Corporation Counsel), Daryn Arai (Planning Program
Manager), Phyllis Fujimoto (Staff Planner), Maija Cottle (Staff Planner), and Jeff Darrow (Staff
Planner).
And approximately 51 people from the public in attendance
APPLICANT: ARTS AND SCIENCES CENTER (SPP 11-115)
Application for a Special Permit to allow the establishment of a charter school campus offering a full
range of academic and extracurricular opportunities for up to 400 students from Kindergarten through
th
12 grade, and provide continuing education and meeting facilities for the larger Pāhoa community on
14.251 acres of land situated within the State Land Use Agricultural District. The subject property is
situated southeast of the Pāhoa Bypass Road and Post Office Road intersection, Nānāwale
Homesteads, Pāhoa, Puna, Hawai‘i, Tax Map Keys: 1-5-006: portion of 002, 012, 026.
KERN: Application number one, Arts and Sciences Center (SPP 11-115), and we will start with a staff
presentation. Maija.
COTTLE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning everyone.
KERN: Good morning.
COTTLE: And thank you very much for your patience during our technical difficulties here. The first
application is a special permit request. The applicant is Arts and Sciences Center. And the subject
property is located in the Puna district just outside of Pāhoa town. You can see there are three
properties that make up the permit area, and they are outlined in red here in the middle of the slide.
You have Kea‘au-Pāhoa Road running through the middle of the slide, and this area here is known as
the Pāhoa Bypass, and then Post Office Road running kind of in an opposite direction of the Bypass,
also in the middle of the slide. So there’s one property here, another property here, and then the
applicant proposes to use a portion of this third property to the east. The property is currently zoned
Agricultural 5 acres, that’s shown in the light green. And surrounding properties are also zoned
Agricultural 5 acres as well as Agricultural 1 acre across the Bypass in the darker green.
The General Plan designation for the property is Urban Expansion, and that’s shown in the cross-hatch;
and surrounding properties are in Extensive Agricultural designation, and that’s shown in the white.
And then you can see the Urban designation of Pāhoa town in the middle of the slide here.
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The property is located outside of the Pāhoa Regional Town Center boundary on the Puna CDP map.
The boundary is shown with a dotted dash line, and you can see the subject properties just on the other
side of the Pāhoa Bypass.
A little history of the development of the existing campus, there is a campus existing there now as you
may know. When the applicant came in to establish the campus in 2001 there was a State law that the
Planning Department determined exempted charter schools from needing to get a special permit to
establish a school on State Agricultural Land. The Planning Department erred in that determination
because in 2005 the Third Circuit Court ruled that public charter schools do in fact need a special
permit in order to operate in the State Land Use Agricultural District. So shortly after that ruling the
applicant was notified by the Department that they needed to get a special permit; and they are
submitting this application today to fulfill that requirement.
Currently there are several buildings on the campus, and I’ll show you that in one of the next slides.
There are also 250 students and about 30 staff members on site at this time. So the applicant’s request
is to get a special permit to legitimize the current campus operations and also to allow the expansion of
the charter school campus to serve 400 students from kindergarten through twelfth grade. They’d also
like to provide continuing education and meeting facilities for the larger Pāhoa community.
This is a site plan of the property. Again, you can see the Pahoa Bypass on the right side of the slide,
and Post Office Road at the bottom of the slide, and the campus in this area here. There are three
driveways off of the Post Office Road, those are show in pink. And the existing buildings, it’s a little
hard to see but they are shown in light green. There’s an administration building here, two classrooms
on the lower campus, and then two classroom buildings on the upper campus. And then the proposed
future buildings are shown in a darker blue color, two classroom buildings on the upper campus
property, and a building that would be used as cafeteria and auditorium, as well as another classroom
building on the lower campus.
So I’ll just kind of walk you through a view of the campus. This is if you’re turning off of Pāhoa
Bypass, which will be just off the slide in the foreground, and then turning on to Post Office Road.
You can see it’s paved and then drops down to gravel. The campus is actually on the right side of the
slide. You can see a portion of the existing macadamia nut orchard here, and then off in the distance is
their driveway access. This is a close-up view of the driveway access to the right off of Post Office
Road. And their parking lot is gravel with marked up parking spaces. This is the administration
building. This is one of the duplex classroom buildings. There are two classrooms in each of these
structures. And then this is a covered wood platform that is on Parcel 2 which is a portion of the
property that is owned by the Roman Catholic Church. The school is going to use this property for
outdoor recreational and agricultural education. And then on the upper campus you have two duplex
classroom buildings, one here and then there’s actually another duplex classroom building inside of
this quonset hut structure. And then you can see the gravel driveways throughout and the exit, I’m
sorry, the entrance. This is the entrance that is closest to the Pāhoa Bypass, and then a view of the
Pāhoa Bypass looking towards Kea‘au. Again, this is Post Office Road which accesses to the campus,
and then a view of the Pāhoa Bypass looking towards Kalapana. And across the intersection, so Pāhoa
town would be further down this road here.
The Planning Director is recommending approval of the special permit; and we do have conditions to
that approval that were presented to you. We also would like to make a correction to the conditions
and add one more condition. So if I can just direct your attention to the goldenrod recommendations
that we handed out to you.
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Condition No. 8, the year it says fall of 2010 school year, that should be fall of 2011. And we’d also
like to add a condition, and I’ll just read it to you. It’s one of our standard conditions. Okay, it would
read something like this, “The proposed use shall be conducted in a manner that is substantially
representative of plans and details contained within the application for a special permit and the
representations made before the Windward Planning Commission. So we just want to make sure that
what was represented in the application is actually carried out.
The Commission also received several letters of support. I will just quickly go through and name them
rd
off. One was presented by the Board of Education dated May 3, Friends of Puna’s future dated
ndthth
Cynthia Albers
May 2, dated April 28, GB Hajime dated April 27, Dawn Hawkins dated April
ththth
27, Representative Faye Hanohano dated April 28, Laura Moses dated April 28, Heather Dodge no
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date, Celeste Barcia dated April 29, and Fred Blas dated May 4. And we also handed out another
packet of letters of support this morning. And you also received a letter from the applicant’s
th
representative Ted Hong this morning dated May 4 with suggested changes to the conditions. Are
there any questions?
KERN: Any questions for staff? Seeing none, thank you, Maija.
COTTLE: Thank you.
KERN: Will the applicant or representative please come forward. Good morning. I’m going to swear
you all in. Will you all please raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth today before the
Windward Planning Commission?
REPRESENTATIVES: I do.
KERN: Very good. With that you may begin.
HONG: Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Windward Planning Commission, Planning Director and staff.
We want to thank you for your patience and cooperation through this process, and especially the
Planning Department’s professionalism. My name is Ted Hong. I represent the applicant. I ask for
your forgiveness this morning. I just caught a cold that I inherited from my son, but will try and work
through this. I have a few introductory remarks. And I’d like to introduce everybody, and then
highlight some, a brief summary of their role and what their participation in this process has been.
Being here this morning before the Planning Commission, and certainly the Planning Department
before that, kind of reminds me of the Beatles’ song “Long and Winding Road.” This has been years
in the making. This is our third submission to the Planning Department. And the Land Use Law
concerning charter schools is finally settled. And let me note parenthetically the presence of Charles
Toguchi, the former DOE Superintendent. I mean I don’t think when he was in the Department that he
realized what education would evolve into in our state. We’re here today out of a great sense of
accomplishment and appreciation for the assistance of the County in bringing us here. This morning
with me is Gail Clarke, president of ASC, the nonprofit and the applicant; Steven Hirakami, principal
of Hawaii Academy of Arts and Sciences; Paul Nash, civil engineer; Phillip Rowell, our traffic
engineering; and I would also acknowledge the assistance of Sue Lee Loy from my office.
With the permission from the Chair, we have distributed an amendment for consideration of the
Planning Commission. And, again, as I mentioned, I know Ms. Clarke and Mr. Hirakami would like to
make a brief statement. After I follow that, then we’ll take questions from the Commission.
Let me provide some introductory remarks. In terms of our lives, in the course of our lives, we’ve had
basically three educational alternatives. One is public school, one is private school and the third is the
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school of hard knocks. And in terms the third alternative, I’ve certainly been probably referred to that
school a lot more in my lifetime. But in the last decade, especially in Hawaii, charter schools have
become a viable and important alternative to the regular education system that we’re all accustom to.
The difference between charters and regular schools is that charters have been successful and popular
despite the lack of resources. They get less money per student, they have no administrative support
from the DOE, and more importantly they are not given money for their facilities that you saw in the
slide show this morning. For me the most important difference between charters and regular schools is
the energy and commitment of the parents, the students, the teachers and staff of the school. Out-of-
the-box thinking and creativity are the hallmark of charter schools. It is that out-of-the-box thinking
and creative thinking that has brought us here this morning. Where parents, students, teachers, staff do
it all in the charter school, they sometimes inadvertently get ahead of our land use planning laws. And
we’re here today to make sure and pledge to the Commission and the County that ASC is committed to
the process and the requirements of our County’s land use laws. So with that having been said, I’d like
pass the mike to Gail Clarke.
CLARKE: Thank you, Ted. Good morning, Commissioners. This has been a long time coming. As
president of the Arts and Science Center since 2003, I want to assure the Commissioners and the
Planning Director of our commitment to provide safe learning environments, including travel to and
from our site. ASC formed as a 501c3 in 2003, to provide support and infrastructure for community
based learning. Would the members of the current board of directors please stand and waive?
(Approximately 5 stood up and waived) I’m going to do this so that we can demonstrate who we have
without everybody having to testify today.
In Pāhoa, ASC houses the Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science public charter school that has grown
to serve hundreds of students each year in grades K-12. Would the faculty, staff, students and families
supporting this application please quietly stand and waive? (Approximately 25 stood up and waived)
Thanks, guys. Working hard to meet needs in our community, the growth of this project reflects the
population increase and the diversity now typical in Puna. And the last stand, would all supporters
please stand and waive? (Approximately 45 stood up and waived). We’re a kinesthetic bunch here.
Thanks, guys. I’m not sure what the count is but maybe we can capture that in the minutes somehow.
The Planning Department letter of recommendation is a fair and accurate view of the status of ASC
and HAAS. I want to express appreciation for their hard work during this application process. There
are two requests regarding suggested conditions for approval, and Mr. Hong will be putting those forth.
I request that you consider them very carefully.
Classrooms and programs have been established and it is time to renew focus on facilitating the
required partnerships to improve the intersection of Highway 130 and Post Office Road. I believe you
have heard plenty about Highway 130 from Kea‘au to Kalapana. We want to be a part of the solution
finders to increase safety for all community members through education efforts as well as facilitation
and grass roots pressure and to support planning, funding and improvements to the best of our ability.
Thank you for consideration of our application.
HONG: Our next speaker this morning is Steve Hirakami, the principal of the school.
HIRAKAMI: Good morning.
COMMISSIONERS: Good morning.
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HIRAKAMI: Well, Ted covered a lot of things that I was going to speak about so let me update you a
little about charter schools. When we started the Hawaii Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001, there
were 23 charter schools; and today there are 31. So there has been much growth in the number of
charter schools ten years later. But the number of students, we started statewide, we started with about
a little over 2500 students and we have about 9500 students this year, expected over 10,000 next year.
So it has been exponential growth. And, you know, one thing that rings true with what Ted said is that
we don’t get the kind of support that a DOE school gets, and that’s both in per pupil funding and zero
dollars in facilities. So they expected us to educate children and somehow find ways to house them.
And so we were really inventive in the early days. We rented a lot of places in Pāhoa and we vanned
kids all over the town. And then we got our first structure, which was a circus tent, believe it or not.
And we started in those humble beginnings in a tent. And, you know, it was our commitment to
education and to house our kids in regular facilities because the kids were getting a good education but
they were getting it when the wind blows and the rain. As you know Pāhoa has a lot of rainfall, and it
was just a horrible condition.
So what we did was, and what a lot of charter schools had to do was form private and public
partnerships to make facilities come true. So there has been a lot of creative thinking, it has been a lot
of hard work. But our kids are proud of their school. I tell you there are three things about charter
schools that you all know. One is community, we formed community. And in teaching our kids, we
just don’t teach them subjects. Well, we teach them about being part of the community. We are totally
involved in community service. We have two full community service weeks where we go out into the
community and in an area that was a historically a takers, you know, dependent on welfare and
housing and food stamps. We’re teaching the kids to give first, to build up self-worth by being
volunteers in the community, to build a better citizenship for the County of Hawai‘i.
The other word is choice. We’ve provided choice in public education. There was no choice. There
was the public school and private school like Ted said, or the school of hard knocks. Well, so we
provide choice. And by proving choice we provide a little competition and everybody gets better, the
whole education system gets better.
And the third is quality. We want quality. There is no exception for not giving our students the best
quality education. So in that quality, when you build quality, you get students to come to your school.
We’re built on a business model. If we don’t build quality, we don’t get students. We don’t get
students, guess what? We don’t get the per pupil funding. So we would get no funding at all. So
that’s the big difference between charter schools. There are five charter schools that are conversion
schools. And conversion schools mean that they were chartered with former DOE facilities. So they
don’t have quite the problem of start-up schools. Start-up schools in urban areas are easier to find used
storefronts like Kress Building and stuff for Connections and Nani Mau. But in the rural Puna, in
Pāhoa especially, that’s about the hardest place to start a charter school as far as building facilities. So
we’ve come through a long way.
But, you know, I like to remind you, your Mayor, you know, I met him when he was a teenager and he
was walking to the beach with his surf board in Kalapana, and that kid became your Mayor. And you
know what, he always says no tell me how no can, tell me how can. And, you know, that’s the thing
that I want to hear from you - tell us how can and make it reasonable. I know there are conditions, and
we will do it. Like Gail said we are committed to doing it, but make it reasonable so we can continue
this education. You know, 100 years from now it won’t matter what kind of cars we drove or what our
bank accounts are but that we made a difference in children’s lives. And so today you have that
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chance to make a difference in hundreds of children’s lives. So I ask humbly for the approval of this
project. Thank you.
HONG: Our next speaker this morning is Paul Nash, our civil engineer who will highlight what he did
for this project.
NASH: Good morning. So I was hired to analyze the water needs for the school and possible
solutions for providing that, and also analyze the sewage needs, the wastewater needs, and come up
with solutions for that. As far as the wastewater goes, they will need to put in some septic systems.
There is plenty of room and the Health Department allows one septic system for every 10,000 square
feet of land. They’ve got plenty of land, they’ve got plenty of opportunity, so that should be pretty
easy for them to accomplish.
The water needs, there are different avenues that they can pursue for water needs. They can bring in
some waterlines from three different directions. They can also, they have fire protection which can be
provided by catchment on site. They have much of the tanks already there for the fire protection. And
they also have the option to bring in potable water by truck. So probably the best way to go would be
a combination of these options for their water needs. But all in all, it is very doable.
HONG: Thank you. Our last speaker this morning is Phillip Rowell, our traffic engineer.
ROWELL: Good morning. I prepared the traffic impact analysis report. And I think it’s important to
note that we looked at various levels of student population on the campus and we developed a series of
mitigation measures so that that particular intersection will operate at acceptable levels of service and
safely. I think that’s the key issue that we stressed in developing these mitigation measures, was what
is going to be the -.
PUBLIC: We can’t hear.
KERN: Yeah, if you could just speak up a little bit, speak closer to the microphone. Thank you.
ROWELL: Oh, I’m sorry.
KERN: Thank you.
ROWELL: Thanks. The important thing is that we wanted to, that intersection assessing the school to
operate it at an acceptable levels of service and also be consistent with the Kea‘au-Pāhoa traffic study
developed by the State.
HONG: Mr. Chairman, that concludes basically our presentation from the panel this morning. You
have before you and the Planning Commission the amendments that we’re proposing to Condition No.
8 and also Condition No. 9, just some language changes. With that being said, we appreciate, again,
the opportunity to be before the Planning Commission and certainly the assistance we have gotten
from the Planning Director and her staff. Thank you.
KERN: Very good. Thank you. Are there any questions from fellow Commissioners?
ONO: Yes.
DOMINGO: I -.
KERN: Commissioner Ono, and then followed by Commissioner Domingo.
ONO: I was just curious and, of course, it’s not related to our responsibility on planning. But being a
former teacher I just wanted to know, I didn’t see any letters of support from the Department of
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Education regarding your proposals. It’s not our kuleana to determine your program, but I am just
curious. Did you seek support or a letter of support from the Department regarding this?
HIRAKAMI: Well, we have a Board -.
NOMURA: Microphone, please.
DARROW: Use the microphone, please.
HIRAKAMI: We have a letter submitted by the new Board of Education Member from Hawaii Island,
Brian De Lima. And I work closely with the Department of Education, with Cathy Matayoshi, and
various people in the Department. But it never occurred to me to get their support because actually the
monies are separated from the Department. We have our own EDN number so they’re kind of
separated out. When we first started we had to depend on the Department of Education to provide us
funds the first two years; and that was a real contentious relationship because it was robbing Peter to
pay Paul kind of things that I heard a million times and then believed in. But in 2004 the law changed
to where there was established a charter school administrative office, which is kind of like the DOE.
And they received directly, monies directly from the Legislature and deposited into an account and
distributed directly to charter schools. So we don’t have that fiscal relationship with the Department,
except for Federal and special education services.
ONO: No, please don’t misunderstand me. My concern is the students, their higher education, after
they leave you is my concern. So I was just wondering in terms of where do the graduates go or have
they succeeded in college?
CLARKE: Thank you for your question, Steven. Two things: One, as we speak Pāhoa High School
music ensemble students are performing on the HAAS campus for our students. We have a very close
partnership with Pāhoa. We are both solutions in our community. And not all charters are working as
closely with the DOE schools that they are in the community with. But out in Puna it is essential; and
we work very close with them. We did create a video last year with the County supported funding for
nonprofit called Class of 2010. I don’t know if any of you have seen it or heard of it. But Cathy
Matayoshi as superintendent of the DOE made very strong statements about the value and role of
charters in our community; and I’d be happy to share that dvd out if you guys have time to watch it.
Our legal team didn’t advise putting it in the application.
And then secondly I think it’s the third or four letter that is listed on the packet that you got this
morning, we have a student Anna Kupcha a graduate of HAAS, she’s 18 years old and she is about to
complete her first year of medical school in Texas. And she wrote a letter that almost had me in tears
the other night because of the support she got from an out-of-the-box school that allowed her to
actually be co-enrolled at the university while she was still enrolled in high school. The larger high
schools, Hilo and Waiakea, have stronger schedules and requirements and the kids pretty much are in a
track and that’s how they get through the system. Charters allow a lot of flexibility; and we have
students that are enrolled, co-enrolled at Running Start, early enrollment at the UH, and doing amazing
things.
Diane Gentry also wrote you a letter. Her daughter is excelling in the World Of Fine Arts in New
York City at this time. She was in our first graduating class.
KERN: Commissioner Domingo.
DOMINGO: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Steve, I need to congratulate you and the staff and, in fact,
the whole community for your dedication and, especially, your ability run a school as this -- It shows
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by the amount of support, community support, you’re having here today. And as I look at the number
of, the list of letters that have come in, it’s, individuals, who’s who in the State of Hawaii that is really
supporting you. When you first started I know you mentioned that you folks had to go about,
throughout the community and find facilities that would be able to, you folks can use. So in the course
of time as your student population increased and the demand for space were there, how did you folks
manage to obtain these buildings? Because there are no means of finance from the State of Hawai‘i or
the DOE, so I’m wondering what you folks did to do it.
HIRAKAMI: Well, a lot of this is magic and coincidence. And -.
DOMINGO: Who’s the magician?
HIRAKAMI: Well, one is in the audience right here. He’s a realtor and a very close friend and he sits
on the ASC Board. Bu he came up to us and he says, wow, there is this piece of land, which is the
original 3.7 acres, that’s for sale for $26,000, and it got utilities, and water is available nearby, and
everything. And when we went out and looked at it, it was just a fallow cane field, just cane and what
not. And right there the vision started. Right there we said, wow, $26,000. And coincidentally right
at that time we had an unrestricted donation of $10,000, just enough to put down the original money
for that land. And so the nonprofit jumped on it and there began the partnership. But it really was a,
really a miracle that that land came to us in that fashion. And from there because, when I said we were
all around town, we were at New Hope Church Puna, we used their pavilion, we were at Pāhoa
Village Center, we had about four classrooms there, we had rented a space on the Neighborhood Place
of Puna, that was another one. And so we were all over the place. And, you know, the thing about
renting is it doesn’t build equity so we really wanted to have our own thing. And like I said Pāhoa is
probably the hardest place in all of Hawai‘i to develop a campus. So it was a bunch of miraculous
things that came. And, you know, I’m glad you thanked everybody because, you know, it was our
community that helped us. And the economic benefit that charter schools bring to the island of
Hawai‘i, there are 13, there are more charter schools on Hawai‘i island than any in the State, and
collectively we bring in over $25,000,000 a year to the County of Hawai‘i. Most of us spend it right in
our community. So our school is a major employer in Pāhoa. We have a $2,0000,000 payroll. We
spend all of our, even it costs us more we then write to Paul’s Repair, KTA, HPM, and all the things.
So we enrich the community in more than education. But financially we’re really a big force in Pāhoa.
DOMINGO: Well, I agree with that. Thank you very much. You mentioned that there are several
conversion schools that have more morphed into charter schools, and I believe Laupahoehoe High
School is in the process of doing that. And I think I can recall another school on this island who has
already done that and is on that same course. I’m wondering if charter schools will eventually become
the mainstay in the education of our children in the state because of your folk’s ability to really spend
money wisely and make the dollar go as far as it can. So I just was -.
HIRAKAMI: I, you know, we’re not trying to take over the education department. But the thing
about charter schools is they’re kind of like the research and development arm of the Department of
Education in the State. This state is the only state that has one school district, one size fits all. Big
schools are better, that’s why Laupaheohoe is under threat. They want to be charter school. They just
closed down Liliuokalani School in Kaimuki. They closed down Haleiwa School in Haleiwa. These
are all community schools. Schools are communities. And whether or not they are small, that’s better.
I mean education statistics show that small schools do better. We like our classrooms smaller and we
like a small school community. So I think what we’re showing is that we’re doing things a little
differently.
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And the financing, you know, we’re not encumbered by the big bureaucracy. In other words, it doesn’t
take two months to get something purchased. We can get something purchased and shipped to us in
three days. We can purchase on the internet. So just in procurement and the needless waste that at the
end of the year it’s spend it or lose it thinking in the Department of Education, that has to end. There
needs to be, you know, more business thinking in education. And I think with Cathy Matayoshi at the
helm I think there will be great changes, yeah.
DOMINGO: Yeah. I’d just like to add also that there have been a number of teachers from public
schools who have opted to going into charter schools to work in there; and I think it speaks well of the
whole concept of charter schools. And, lastly, Ted Hong mentioned that this whole process was like
that song the Beatles made popular, the “Long and Winding Road.” I liked the Beatles. One of my
favorite songs was “Imagine.” I was wondering if Ted could sing that song for us now (Laughter).
HONG: You know, Mr. Domingo, I would but this cold is kind of holding me back, you know
(Laughter).
DOMINGO: Okay, thank you.
KERN: Any other questions, Fellow Commissioners? Seeing one, a little housekeeping, you’ve got
the recommendation and conditions. Do you agree with those conditions?
HONG: We agree with the recommendations and conditions, with the exception of the changes that
we proposed and submitted to the Chair and the Commission.
KERN: Very good. Thank you. Great, you all may have a seat. We’ll start the public testimony.
HONG: Thank you.
KERN: Yeah, thank you. I’m going to call six testifiers at a time. Come up and have a seat and then
you’ll testify in the order in which you are called. So, first, Rob Tucker, Jon Olson, Malia Becker,
Brooks Maloof, Aruna Dee, and Kahea Nakila. I’ll swear you all in at the same time. If you can all
raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth today before the Windward Planning
Commission?
TESTIFIERS: I do.
KERN: Very good. So before you start your testimony, just state your name and the district in which
you represent, and then you may begin. It’s going to be three minutes. You ready there, Julie?
MECKLENBURG: Yes.
TUCKER: Yes, I’m Rob Tuckers with Friends of Puna’s Future and I live in the Pāhoa village. We
had submitted written testimony a few days ago. I believe you all have that in hand, so I’m not going
to try and regroup that. We did just this morning got to read some of the recommendations.
Specifically of concern to us are the ones requiring a nonprofit charter school to be making rapid
improvements on a State Highway and on County road at its own expense. Quite frankly we find this a
little astounding.
One of the points I’d like to make is I have been in discussions with Public Works a number of times
over the last several years. At no point in time has a road in limbo ever been mentioned by Public
Works in regard to Post Office Road. In every occasion I’ve dealt with Public Works, it has been a
County road, and they have recognized it as such. I do not know where the term road in limbo has
suddenly manifested itself. We are interested in just by what manner or, government organizes itself,
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EXHIBIT A
surrounds the needs of its population. And it has done so in the areas of health, in education and public
safety, transportation. We’re just really rather surprised at a request for the State and the County to
what appears to be shirk their responsibilities on these roads and try to transfer them on to a nonprofit
charter school. We just see that as a continuing history of kind of kicking the can down the road. And
we would like to ask the Commissioners to pass this special permit but to remove these what appear to
be onerous requirements for a private nonprofit to be spending huge sums of money in an absolutely
impossible amount of time on State and County properties.
Now I would like to point out a precedent has happened fairly recently on State Highway 130. We
have Makuu Farmers Market, and somehow out of magic of the air within about a six-month period the
State came up with $650,000 to make a left-turn lane improvement for a one-day event on a farmers
market at Makuu Farmers Market. Now we were happy to see that, that’s a wonderful thing that had
occurred. We were amazed at the speed at which the money appeared and the work got done. But to
transfer that precedent over on to Post Office Road, which is a County Road intersecting the State
Highway, and to turn that into asking a nonprofit charter school to spend hundreds of thousands of
dollars in less time than it took the Department of Transportation to write a letter is just absolutely
flabbergasting to us. But we support this submission. We ask you, I have not read the
recommendations or the request for changes from HAAS and ASC. But we would like to see that
these requirements for a private nonprofit school, to pay for things that should be paid by the State
Department of Transportation, and it should be paid by the County Department of Public Works, to
remove those.
KERN: Thank you very much.
TUCKER: Thank you very much.
KERN: Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, Jon Olson, name and the district you represent.
OLSON: Yes, my name is Jon Olson and I reside in Leilani Estates in Pāhoa, Puna. I’ve also been a
member to the Puna Traffic Safety Committee for 22 years and I am currently its chair. As that
function I have been on the community advisory committees for the highway improvements, different
road improvements, the Puna Regional Circulation Plan, the list is too long to go through in three
minutes. I will mirror what was just said about these conditions. There is no school, charter or
otherwise, that could meet these conditions in the Puna district, be it the private schools, the charter
schools or the public schools. As a member to the Pāhoa Main Street Society, I was on the SCBM,
School Base Management Committee, for ten years at the elementary school. The elementary,
intermediate and high school in Pāhoa, those offices are served by a 12-foot wide single lane road,
County road. This is ridiculous. These conditions cannot be met. It’s a poison pill. They need to go
away. This is a public charter school. You’re overreaching. And it’s going to kill the charter school
movement if this is the way you’re going to approach it; and we don’t want to see that. What these
people have done here with this school is nothing short of amazing. And you’ve got to find a way to
make this happen. Thank you.
KERN: Thank you. Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, Malia Becker.
BECKER: I’m Malia Becker and I am a sixth grader at HAAS, and so I’m just going to say what I
think about it in this letter.
I, Malia Becker, believe, along with many others, that HAAS and ACS should be kept open and given
the rights to have an educational center at the subject property. This school provides a valuable
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EXHIBIT A
education for many Puna students who would not have the opportunity for such a rich learning
experience elsewhere.
The given property is in the proximity of central Pāhoa town, allowing Puna district students with
limited transportation options to easily access the school.
Since HAAS offers an education teeming with classes and programs befitting the needs of a range of
many people, from aspiring athletes, to future science scholars, it provides an optimal choice for many.
This means that children who would otherwise be stuck in unhappy school situations due to restraints
such as transportation out of Puna or financial issues have an enriching classroom environment that is
free of charge and close to home.
Other students (such as myself) commute all the way from Hilo (or even Papaikou) to come to
programs at the ASC/HAAS property that serve them. I have gone to quite a few Hawaii schools, none
of which suited me. After never staying at the same school for more than a year in a row my mother
and I came across one of HAAS’ programs, and decided to give it a try. The school was great, the
education and academics superb, and the teacher(s) stellar. It is, by far, my favorite school I have
attended so far. I have made very close friends, and bullying rates seem to be much lower than at other
schools I have attended. This is probably because HAAS actually approaches the bullying problem
and has even implemented itself in a school-wide anti-bullying program to prevent harassment. HAAS
is the first school I have stayed at for multiple school years. I have been to multiple HAAS programs,
all of which inspired me to learn.
HAAS also has allowed me to excel into higher grades, which gives me the opportunity to learn things
important to me. This shows HAAS’ commitment to accommodate its students as best as it possibly
can.
HAAS offers unique programs such as Hui Malama, which has a hands-on based educational
philosophy. Their students do field work, much of it beneficial to their learning and also supportive of
the Hawaiian Ecosystem, such as tracking sea turtles.
If all this doesn’t clarify why HAAS is such a wonderful school deserving to be left running and intact,
maybe this will. What are we going to do if HAAS does close down? Where will we all go? It will be
no easy task to fit a couple hundred students into Pāhoa schools. Now that would be a disaster! In
additional all of HAAS’ previous students will be deprived of the good education they had. Also, what
would it say about the values of our community? We are willing to permit a Kentucky Fried Chicken
and Longs Drugs, but not a school? (Clapping)
HAAS has given me, and many more, a wonderful education and has helped me grow to be a more
helpful, intelligent person intent on giving back to our community. Please let HAAS remain the ripe
tree of knowledge it is today, so that more generations of our children can play, grow, and learn in the
HAAS community. (Clapping)
KERN: Thank you very much. Very impressive. I wish I could speak that good even at 30 (Audience
laughing). Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you. Brooks Maloof.
MALOOF: My name is Brooks Maloof. I’m on the ASC Board as a volunteer, and I’m proud to be
there, and this is a real good example of why I am proud. Along with Steve Hirakami, I followed the
development of the school over the years; and it’s just an amazing program and opportunity for Puna’s,
and actually the East side, students. I’m a little concerned after reading the Planning Department’s
recommendations. I think they did a great job analyzing the situation. However, again, just concurring
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EXHIBIT A
with the previous speakers, I think that asking the charter school to pay for road improvements, traffic
lights, median strips, turning lanes, all of this stuff – I mean you’re talking hundreds of thousands of
dollars. I mean are we running an education program or are we in Public Works as a charter school?
So I support Mr. Hong’s amendments, whatever they might be because I’m sure they’re going to speak
to, I haven’t read them but I’m sure they’re going to speak to these requests for the applicant and its
successor or assignees to be responsible for complying with all of the stated conditions of approval. So
these stated conditions of approval need to be amended to allow the school to do what they do, which
is educate and provide opportunities for our young people. So I hope that you’ll take a look at that
very carefully and can support Mr. Hong’s amendments to this application. Thank you very much.
KERN: Thank you. Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, Aruna Dee, name and district you
represent, and you may begin.
DEE: Hi. I’m Aruna Dee. I’m a parent. My daughter goes to HAAS School. She’s in the same
grade as Mailia. And I live in Pāhoa. I’m here basically to support this school. Just like Malia said if
the permit is not granted where will these kids go? I don’t want my daughter to go where she was
before because she was bullied right from the beginning from kindergarten. The school did bring in an
anti-bullying program but it wasn’t supported by the principal, because I was part of the program. And
there was no funding, so I supported it financially when it wasn’t going anywhere. My daughter is a
very bright student but bullying brought her down emotionally. And she couldn’t really concentrate on
what she was going to school for. Every day she came home complaining that this kid bullied her; and
I would be there asking the teachers, asking the principal – the principal was hard to work with so I’m
not going to go there. But like Malia said, Malia has said a lot of things that I wanted to say. And we
have to support the students. This is for the future of our kids, not us. So better school, better kids,
better people, better citizens we have. That’s all I have to say. Thank you.
KERN: Thank you. Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, Kahea Nakila, name and district.
NAKILA: I’m Kahea Nakila. I am a senior at Hawaii Academy of Arts and Sciences. What I would
like to say to support this is that I’ve been at HAAS since eighth grade. So I was there when there was
a ten and there was only like two buildings, so I’ve seen it grow. And one thing that I really love about
the school is the environment, and how Malia and the parent has said that it’s really close and all our
students are connected. It’s like family at our school with such small classrooms. Everybody is
connected. There’s no fights, there’s no bullying, even with the anti-bullying program we put that in
because there was one incident. And even the smallest incident they put that in so that we can keep
our school a bully free school and that there would be no fighting at our school and everything.
Another thing I would like to support is our education. They have recently developed programs for our
students for different learning styles. They have a Running Start Program that allows juniors and
seniors to enroll in college early while still attending the school. They also have a math program so
that students if they don’t work well with the teacher in the classroom environment they have an online
program. So HAAS really support different learning styles. The other public schools don’t. I think it
was Mr. Hirakami who was saying that public schools have a really strict schedule and HAAS allows
students to break away from that and really let them study what they want to learn. And that’s pretty
much it, that it’s really environmentally based and a great community. Thank you.
KERN: Thank you very much. Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, you all may have a set.
Thank you. Just a quick bit of housekeeping, if you do have any written testimony that you’re going to
submit, please submit it to Sharon Nomura over here by the desk by the microphone, by the speaker,
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EXHIBIT A
excuse me. Thank you. All right, next six testifiers Erick Cockcroft, Matthew Cruz, James
Weatherford, Elizabeth Weatherford, Mike Ment, Mentnech, sorry, and Tyann Flower. I’ll swear you
all in first. If you will all raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth today before the
Windward Planning Commission?
TESTIFIERS: I do. So swear.
KERN: Very good. We’ll start with Erick Cockcroft, name and district you represent.
COCKCROFT: Hello. Hi, my name is Eric, Eric Cockcroft and I represent, I guess I live in Kapoho,
and I am representing a lot of hats here today. I sit on the board of ASC as the treasurer. I am also a
founding teacher at HAAS who took the leap of faith and went from Pāhoa High School to the tents
and the church sites and stuff ten years ago. I am also a parent of a HAAS graduate who did actually
go on to, is currently enrolled at the Oregon Institute of Technology doing alternative engineering and
I am hoping, hopefully a lot of people are doing that right now. Alternative engineering and,
engineering and alternative energy I think is really important with the current gas prices and other
things that we are seeing. He graduated from HAAS but he didn't start out at HAAS. He started out at
Pāhoa High School, he really loved Pāhoa High School. He was at Pāhoa Elementary School all the
way through sixth grade. He had a lot of negative experiences when he entered the middle school, and
he came over to HAAS. Then he didn’t have the best time at HAAS, and he went back to Pāhoa . And
then he came back to HAAS, and I think he went back to Pāhoa one more time. And then he came
back to HAAS, and he stayed there and graduated, and actually had about half of his college credits by
the time he graduated, going to early enrollment at UH. And then he got accepted into the Oregon
Institute of Technology with full scholarship, which was important because my other son broke the
bank going to Boston University (Laughter).
I have a daughter at HAAS right now. She is in the seventh grade, she's 12 years old, she loves her
school. And I really appreciate having that school for her to go to. She has been at HAAS since
basically first grade through all the different programs. I don't know if you are aware that HAAS
spreads out through the community into what used to be community home school groups and has
actually umbrellaed (phonetic) them and turned them into regular public charter schools. But let us
stick to the topic right now, which is that we have a beautiful high school and intermediate school right
there in Pāhoa, choice free for students and parents; and a long waiting list of people who wish they
could get their kids in.
But how do you really tell if the school is a good school in a small community like the big island of
Hawaii? Well, a lot of my information I get this on the golf course. I was playing some golf at the
Hilo Muni the other day and I was walking with a guy I had never met before. And he said, “Oh what
do you do?” I said “I’m a teacher.” And he said “Well, where do you teach?” I said “I teach out in
Pāhoa”; and he gave me that look I used to get for 13 years when I taught out in Pāhoa - sort of an “Oh
my God, you do, really? Wow.” And then I said. “No, well, I did teach at Pāhoa School and I really
loved Pāhoa High School. It has a lot of really great people working there and wonderful families that
support their kids, but I actually teach at a charter school we started there ten years ago. It’s called the
Hawaii Academy of Arts and Sciences, most people refer to it as HAAS.” And when he said, “Wow, I
heard that’s the best school in all of Puna,” I said to myself we’re doing something right. Because that
really is a barometer of your school, is how do people see it, what is its image in the community. And
so I’ll just leave it with that. I was blown away when he said that. And I was really appreciative that
that’s our image right now.
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EXHIBIT A
KERN: Very good, thank you. Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, Matthew Cruz, name and
district.
CRUZ: Hello everybody, my name is Matthew Cruz. I am a 12th grade senior at HAAS. I have been
going to HAAS for about five years, and I am here to help represent the senior class and all of the
student body. There are three things that I want to point out that differentiate HAAS from other
schools. Number one ohana, number two hands on learning, number three a voice in the students. The
thing about HAAS is that we’re all light tight bonds. You know, it’s all ohana based. And I wouldn't
like necessarily know how to say it but we all stick together and we all help each other out; and it
provides a better learning community. And as far as bullying, bullying does not, like it is not even
there, like it doesn't even exist. Like if one thing begins to happen, all of these students already
stepped in and it's done within the hour, like it is finished.
Now hands-on learning, the thing with the hands-on learning is that, how do I say this, well, the hands-
on learning we have a bunch of different things like fish ponds, gardens, we have surfing class, dance
class, creative dance, all that stuff. And I personally believe in the world that hands-on learning with
experience and stuff will technically enrich students and help them more than reading a book and
staying in a classroom all day.
Now the main thing is the voice, students have a voice. They can change anything as far as, how am I
going to say it, they can change the school in a way that they just go up to the teacher and they discuss
things. They have a voice kind of like a democracy in the real world, and it really helps. It really does
help like us just prepare for technically the real world, and it gives students a chance to be leaders.
And in conclusion, in conclusion, I ask that you guys support general growth and the being of the
school. And I promise you that you guys will see leaders emerge and generations bloom. Thank you
very much.
KERN: Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you. James Weatherford, name and
district, and you may begin.
J. WEATHERFORD: Yes, thank you. My name is James Weatherford. I reside in Council District 5.
Elizabeth and I, my wife, are owners of a nearby property that is not far from the HAAS campus. We
have about 60 acres total there in two parcels that we bought three years ago and we are developing
into a farm. Most of the land in this general area where our property is and where HAAS is is former
cane land. Some of that former cane land is making the transformation to small farms. Our own
children, of course, are grown, but some of the children or the families of existing farms in the
neighborhood walk to school to HAAS, some even ride their horses over there. And in addition to
those farms, there are a lot more cane land around there and I, well, a lot of us in the community feel
like we are kind of seeing a good turning point where there is a lot happening there. We view HAAS,
and I know I speak for my neighbors in saying this, we view HAAS as a good fit and as a good
neighbor in this dynamic and transforming community. And we would certainly want the Planning
Commission to do everything you can do to ensure its survival, both in terms of approval and
reconsidering some of the owner’s requirements/conditions that are to be put upon the highway.
Thank you.
KERN: Thank you. Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, Elizabeth Weatherford, name and
district, and you may begin.
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EXHIBIT A
E. WEATHERFORD: Hi, my name is Elizabeth Weatherford. With James Weatherford, we own, we
have some property very close to HAAS School. I'd like to thank you for taking everyone's testimony
and for your consideration of this matter. As someone who lives, who has land nearby we do consider
them a good neighbor. HAAS is a really good neighbor and an excellent school and a good
community member from everything that we have experienced of them to this time.
I was really surprised to hear of the condition to do roadwork. I guess shocked would be the best, the
best description of how I felt. And this is coming from Public Works, I take it. What astonishes me
most is that Public Works must not be aware of the, I am not sure if it is set in stone yet, but the
expressed intention of the Department of Transportation to build a roundabout, two roundabouts in the
Pāhoa vicinity, one at Kahakai Boulevard, and the awareness is necessary to realize that that is going
to change the traffic conditions considerably in that area. And an effective roundabout will be, will
take the speed limits passing through to about 20 miles an hour, which means that the traffic there will
be reduced considerably some more. I used to live in Australia. I lived there for several years; and
roundabouts are you know, they’re great. Here’s a roundabout pamphlet from the, this is from FHWA
saying your community deserves a lot less, deserves roundabout, deserves a lot less, less congestion,
less frustration, less pollution, less expense, fewer and less traffic collisions, fewer pedestrian/driver
injuries. Okay, that’s what’s going to be happening just a few hundred, just a couple hundred yards
away. So that please consider that. I mean I don’t, I really doubt that much will need to be done to
that intersection anyway if you take that into account; and that’s an ongoing plan that is being
developed. Thank you very much. If you can be aware of the traffic changes and the changes it will
make in the driver behavior in that area, then it should obviate the need to make this happen. Thank
you.
KERN: Thank you. Quick comment from the Madam Director.
LEITHEAD TODD: Mrs. Weatherford, typically I don’t comment or really engage in questions with
people who testify unless the question is raised. But since we’ve had prior testifiers who have
commented on this also, I thought for the benefit of the members of the public as well as other people
who are testifying that I should kind of explain the process by which we come up with
recommendations. We typically send letters out, in this case letters went to the Department of Public
Works as well as State Department of Transportation. Most of the conditions that people are
concerned about were requested by the State Department of Transportation. In particular they are the
ones that asked for the median strip. They are asking that all the mitigation measures in the TIAR be
implemented and that all the cost of construction between the State right-of-way should be planned,
designed according to State requirements and it’s all done at no cost to the State of Hawai‘i.
Typically what we do is when these recommendations come in we incorporate the recommendations
that come in from the various agencies. We don’t necessarily second-guess their recommendations.
We then submit them as proposed recommendations. We reserve the right to change or mitigate or
change the recommendations. And typically that occurs at a meeting such as this where we have an
opportunity for the applicant to comment on them, as well as the Commissioners to hear from the
public. And it is also from DPW from the County where the term roads in limbo came out because it
was in their comment letter. I just wanted to clarify that. Because it seemed to me that some people
think that the Planning Department just kind of comes up with these conditions out of thin air. In fact,
what they are is incorporating the comments that have come in from other agencies. And I think part
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EXHIBIT A
of the problem is that we’re trying to basically make legal an operation that under current law says it’s
not legal without the special permit. And so, and we’re basically, I’m going to tell you frankly that we
are under the direction from the Mayor to try and help the charter schools as much as possible, which
is why we came up with a process that we didn’t tell schools that they had to shut down while they
went through the process which we frequently do with other properties that don’t have the special
permits. We tell them to shut down. And it’s kind of a change in the way we handle things and it has
changed the way we handle other applications too.
But part of the problem is that you have the State saying that if this basically were coming in as a fresh
application this is not where they would want a school located. Because it’s adjacent to the Bypass
Highway and there are concerns that over time of the impact on the traffic there and so those are
incorporated. I think we are probably going to have a healthy discussion later when the applicants
come back up to the table on what’s appropriate and what timelines are appropriate. And perhaps, you
know, they may be looking at whether there should be a request made to your State Representatives as
well as County representatives to have some of the work done by the State and the County, in the State
highways and in the County portion, given the history of having improvements done at Makuu for the
Farmers Market.
KERN: Thank you, Madam Director. Are there any questions for the last testifier? Seeing none,
MikeMenttenech.
MENTNECH: Mentnech.
KERN: Mentnech, sorry.
MENTNECH: I’ve never changed my name to Jones.(jokingly). I’m here in favor. My daughter is an
th
8th grader going into the 9 grade. She has done very well there. She’s enthused about going to
school. I support the school. I’m on the local school board there. I would like to say that there seems
to be concern about everybody going to college and such. And I’d also like to say it’s important for
students that are going to be carpenters, or electricians, or any number of other professions that they
have a good education too. Because not everybody is going to be Bill Gates. There are going to be a
lot of people that are out there that deserve to be educated and understand what is going on in the
world and vote intelligently. And this school does that for a lot of students. And I like the school for
that. I think it’s an alternative that we need. So I’m definitely in favor of it. People have spoken more
eloquently than I can about the school. As far as the State not having to pay for the improvements, I
think that’s kind of silly because it’s a State school. So one way or the other you and me and
everybody here pay the taxes that are going to make these improvements. So whether it’s the
Department of Transportation’s pocket or the Department of Education’s pocket it boils down to it’s
our pocket. So I think the improvements will be made, but there are departments that have been set up
to do that sort of thing. And to cripple a school over it I don’t think is appropriate. And that kind of
sums up w hat I have to say. Thank you.
KERN: Thank you. Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, Tyann Flower and -.
FLOWER: Hi.
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EXHIBIT A
KERN: And district.
FLOWER: I am Tyann Flower. I live in Hawaiian Paradise Park. I have three children who have
thth
gone to HAAS. Two current, my youngest two are currently enrolled in HAAS, 9 grade and 8
grade. And my oldest is at Hawaii Community College right now, his second semester. So I feel that
HAAS has supported my children greatly in many areas that they would not have received had they
stayed in their district school. I spent a lot of time trying to get them into HAAS; and I was very
grateful when the opportunity came about to where my oldest boys were in a program that is an online
program. That’s how we came in. So I was able to take and supplement their education with this
online program to take them from where they were at their previous school to their grade level when
they went into main campus HAAS. So they were behind quite a lot. Actually, my youngest boy was
behind two grade levels when he went into the HAAS program; and in one year he was able to make
three grade levels, his grade level and the two he was below for the next year when he entered HAAS
at his grade level. So they do a lot of really beneficial things when it comes to education and what it is
that, what their choices are, what their options are. They are not limited to this is your program you
have to make it, if you don’t make it by this time then we’re moving on. You know, they’re able to
supplement different things in different areas because of their programs and their flexibility. I say it a
lot and I’m going to say it here, we’re not just raising students, we’re raising people. And so I’m
proud to have my kids at HAAS, through their influences and the people who are able to mentor them
and show them what it is to be a person. You know we, when we talk about the roads, and that being
one of the issues, it’s very stressful for me. I mean HAAS makes an effort to reduce traffic with their
vans and bussing. And we help clean up the roads twice a year with 250 free working students who,
you know, put a good four hours in cleaning up that whole stretch and all of Pāhoa, and other
outreaching places. So, you know, I hope that you will take into consideration that there are good
things happening. And to limit the passing of this and approving the special permit based on small
technicalities and recommendations and things that could -. You know, we’re willing to do what it
takes. You know, we’re willing to go through the motions that’s needed. It’s just make those motions
possible and then, you know, our students will step up and say we’ll do it. Our teachers, our parents,
everyone will step up and do it. It’s worth doing it for. Thank you.
KERN: Thank you. Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, you all may have a seat. Thank you
very much. The last testifier, Tiffany Edwards Hunt.
HUNT: Aloha.
KERN: Good morning. Raise your right hand real quick and I’ll swear you in. Thanks. Do you
swear to tell the truth today before the Windward Planning Commission?
HUNT: I do.
KERN: Very good. Name and district, and go for it.
HUNT: Aloha. My name is Tiffany Edwards Hunt. My husband and I own Jeff Hunt’s Surf Boards
which is in the Fifth Council District. And Jeff Hunt’s Surf Boards is located on Pāhoa Village Road
so we interact a lot with the HAAS School students and staff. And I’m also a registered substitute
teacher at HAAS even though nobody sees me because I have other roles in the community. I’m a
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EXHIBIT A
Main Street Pāhoa Association Board Member, and I’m a college newspaper adviser. I have dreams of
developing a journalism program for HAAS School, but that’s down the road when my kids go there.
They’re on the waiting list, I hope, still. Anyway full support for HAAS.
About the roads, the State, the County, whoever wants to take the ball, it shouldn’t be HAAS, needs to
develop Highway 130 at Kahakai Boulevard. I prefer a roundabout. It’s a stone’s throw from the
entrance to the school. If anything there needs to be a school crossing. That is all the State’s kuleana.
We should develop Nanawale Road, which is closer to Kahakai, make that an entrance to Pāhoa. Let’s
take the old road that goes, that is along Jan’s Barber Shop, let’s open that up on Highway 130. Make
Highway 130 that is bypassing Pāhoa bring people to Pāhoa. That’s, if you can try to envision -. We
don’t need stop light after stoplight after stoplight. We need maybe some yellow go slowly, there’s
children crossing into town, coming into town after school. Let’s not ignore that issue, but it should
not be HAAS that has to put that stuff in, maybe a little bridge right over the road. But let’s get the
State Department of Transportation to really start looking at Pāhoa and seeing, hey, you put Woodland
Center in, you made Kahakai with a right-turn only, let’s put it, let’s do it completely and correctly.
And, anyway, so if you guys could work on the recommendations and make that happen and just really
support these alternative schools because we need to be thinking out side of the box and we need to
look at the continuum. This school is very community oriented, and that’s why you have someone like
me who’s a business person coming to you saying I support the school. I can call up the campus
security guard and say, hey, come look at my shoplifting footage and make sure that there is no HAAS
School student here. You know, I have a very good relationship with the principal, the teachers, the
students that come in and shop at our store. It is about making sure that these kids know that they are
part of a community and not just inside an institution. And so let’s just try to, like, think big picture as
we mold the special permit into place. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Aloha. (Clapping)
KERN: Any questions for the testifier? Seeing none, thank you. Okay, now we’re done with the
public testimony portion of this. I’m going to kick a little bit slightly out of order here, and Planning
staff is going to say, uh huh, Puna boy. Born and raised on the Big Island, I got the fortunate, I’m just
going to kind of, yeah, get this portion in then we can kind of see what’s going on. Cause, you know,
I’m the chair and I can’t make motions and stuff necessarily. But, you know, I was born and raised
here, had the opportunity to go to a nurturing preschool and kindergarten, Montessori and Kinderhale.
From there I got a chance to go to Malamalama for a year, and that was an interesting experience.
From there I got a chance to go to Kea‘au School, second grade, and that was even more of an
interesting experience. From there since I grew up in lower Puna my parents were trying to kind of,
you know, keep me sheltered because I was growing up in the Kapoho area and they wanted to, I don’t
know, maybe not give me to the wolves quite yet. But the time came, third grade, I got to go to Pāhoa
School. And, you know, you say you got the three options, right, of private school, public school, and
school of hard knocks. Well, Pāhoa School was both of that public school and school of hard knocks.
And there’s no joke. I mean it was a challenging experience to say the least, issues that I still deal with
to this day based on going to that place as a, you know, haole boy. And at one point in time, you
know, I used to go to Mr., probably he doesn’t even remember me, but I used to go to Mr. Cockcroft’s
classroom at break and it was kind of this place of peace. You get to watch surf videos and like wow,
okay, I’m not going to get beat up in here. Cause everywhere else, I mean I was getting my lunch
money in front of security. I would get out of my car and would have to be scrapping, it was nuts. I’m
not there anymore.
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And now I have a daughter who is four years old, we’re in that district. She’s going to Montessori
eight days (sic) a
School. And I drive by HAAS at least four to week cause I do a lot of the pickup
and drop offs there. And, you know, I drive through there usually right before 8 or right after 8
o’clock and the traffic isn’t that bad. I mean there is traffic there but it’s not horrible. And we wait a
couple of minutes. I’m never late because of having to wait for HAAS traffic. They keep them
flowing in, they keep them flowing out; and the drivers in that area seems to actually kind of flow
together. So it’s kind of cool.
Some of the conditions that I see here, and I thought for my fellow Commissioners, in a way that’s for
a developer, a real estate developer. I don’t see HAAS as a real estate development. It’s a school, it’s
an education facility. This is a place for where hopefully when the time is right my daughter will be
able to attend there cause she’s not going to go to Pāhoa. It’s not going to happen. (Clapping) And
so, you know, that’s my background. It’s where I grew up. And I hope that we can do something as
we’re asked to by the community, by the public, to adjust this so it works and it’s not a burden that the
school can be opened and maintained and not have this anxiety coming up from oh, we got a year left,
we have got to account for a half a million bucks right now. We don’t need that. We need the focus to
be on education, on creating leaders and people. And, yeah, I’ll leave it at that. Thanks. (Clapping)
I’m still the chairman though. Commissioner Ono.
ONO: Yes. I’m sorry I need to make a comment. I was at Pāhoa High School as a teacher. I taught
the at-risk students and, frankly, my experience at Pāhoa High was a learning experience for myself. I
took the approach of looking at the students as a community, representing the community. So at the
end of the year I must honestly say to you that the students taught me more about themselves as
individuals. My approach for them was, for example, we did a craft fair for the kids and I told the
students I can’t cook, I’m not an artist, I’m terrible at craft work so, but I want to do something for you
to show your talents. So we did. We had a culinary experience, we had craft work for the students.
And I said you sell those things; and whatever you sell, I’m going to get into trouble with this but too
bad I’m retired, it’s yours. You know, you sell it but please understand that the students are, you’re
selling it to fellow students so don’t try to make a killing out of this thing. So, anyway we did that.
I’m also going to get into trouble because in retrospect I didn’t get the approval of the Board of Health
to do the cooking, so, too bad, again. But that was one experience that I did.
The other experience that I did was I did an outreach, outreach. I went to the student’s homes. They
cut out of my class. I went, after a couple of days, I did go to homes and I had the experience of going
into a home that had the smell of pakalolo in there, so I reported it to the parents. The kids came to
school and they hated my guts for a while, but it was all right. After a while we got to know each
other. They would rather sit on the back steps of my classroom, because we were converting some of
the teacher’s dorms into classrooms. And they sat on the back steps and my approach was to sit with
them on the steps and not bring them into the room. To me it’s a matter of listening to the students,
whether they are at your HAAS program or the public schools. If we look at the students as
individuals more, you know, and I think the teachers at Pāhoa did this a lot. So I just want to put in
defense of the school and our teachers that we do have good teachers even out at Pāhoa. So I just don’t
want to get, it’s a, I didn’t like the -. (Clapping) Thank you.
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KERN: Thank you very much. Now trying to get back to the order in which we are conducting our
business. I’d be willing to entertain a motion. Commissioner Au.
AU: I make a motion to approve applicant Arts and Sciences Center Special Permit 11-115 with the
recommendations of the Planning Commission with amendments that Mr. Hong has.
DOMINGO: Second.
KERN: Motion has been made and seconded. Discussion? I’ll jump in on this real quick. You know
the amendments that were presented don’t actually speak to a significant amount of money that will be
needed to be paid out. They partially do, but I just don’t necessarily see that. Or if you’re trying to
just say that you want this to be Condition 9, I think there needs to be some clarification there, and so
we can find a way to work with this and come to an agreeable solution to keep the school going.
HONG: Well, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your concern and the concern expressed by the
Commission. Going back to the song theme, it’s kind of like the Rolling Stone’s song, “You don’t
Always Get What you Want, You Get what You Need.” The recommendation submitted by the
Planning Department we can live with. We don’t like it. It’s going to cost us money. It’s going to
divert resources away from education in terms of our students. But can we live with them? Yes. Do
we like them? Absolutely not.
And in terms of Condition No. 9 and the amendments proposed to Condition No. 8, we feel that those
are reasonable amendments to the proposed recommendations by the Planning Department and the
Director. Again, what we appreciate also in the recommendation of the Planning Director and the
Department was that within five years if it doesn’t look like we can muster the resources, we have the
opportunity to extend it another five years. We’re very mindful that the State doesn’t have money, the
County doesn’t have money, and certainly our school doesn’t have money. So we’re hoping that
within the next five years, or certainly if we come in for an extension within those extended five years
that we can partner and generate or find those resources. The thing you can absolutely count on from
our school is that we’re going to find the creative, we’re going to find the out-of-the-box way to get
this done.
KERN: Okay, bear in mind that, you know, five years from now you may have a different staff, you
may have a different department here. I’m a little bit peeved at the State because our roads suck. We
don’t get nothing from the State. It’s a really bad thing. And so do we have to go give this money to
improve the State road? I mean we’re really trying to do that for our community; and the intent of it is
to keep our community safe and our road safe. But it’s a challenge. I’m having a hard time with it.
I’m have a really hard time with this condition myself. I think the intent of it makes sense to me that
we have these safe roads. Again, I drive there all the time and the roads aren’t really that bad. I would
think based on, you know, having a faith that, you know, five years from now if you do need to have
that extension being done -. But the bottom line is you could come in there and the director could say
no, good luck, I want it done there.
HONG: You’re correct. And we’re proceeding along the path of we think that everybody is going to
act in good faith. And we think that in terms of the Planning Director, whoever is around at the end of
five years will hopefully agree that given the circumstances that we would be entitled to or deserve an
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EXHIBIT A
extension. Again, this is not something we want and something that we don’t want to take on. And we
have, our reactions are the same as yours. But these are the recommendations proposed by the
Director. We’ve discussed it extensively with our client, and we don’t like them but we can live with
them.
KERN: Okay, very good. Madam Director, go ahead.
LEITHEAD TODD: Mr. Hong, I’m not wild about these conditions either. You know, these were
based on the recommendations of both DPW and DOT. I personally believe that most of these
improvements should be paid for by State DOT. But having said that, what I would suggest aside from
the conditions is that you work with your representative. You’ve got Faye Hanohano, you’ve got Fred
Blas. And I would recommend that within the next two months you make appointments with them and
ask that they try to incorporate these improvements into County and State CIP, and the argument being
that because this is a public school, although it’s a charter school but it’s part of DOE, it provides a
service to the State and that ultimately these costs should be borne by the State.
KERN: Mr. Hirakami?
HIRAKAMI: Well, you know, even five years is too long. It’s something that even in five years I
don’t think that we can account it. So are we going to extend it to ten years? The whole thing about
our charter school, it’s opening up opportunities for a lot of families where we’re actually giving a
choice to a lot of families that move here or have been born here. And I see it as my commitment to
fulfill that, like your daughter and there’s other people waiting in line. Like now I drive there every
day and I cross that intersection every day from Post Office Road. The longest I’ve had to wait is 30
seconds. And, you’re right, there’s traffic there but it’s not unusual. The bigger, the bigger picture is
there are so much things happening on Highway 130 from Kea‘au Bypass, that traffic jam that they
haven’t been able to solve for six years and it keeps o getting worse. There’s a Malamala Market
intersection that’s getting worse and worse, accidents every week. There’s an intersection , the new
one at Burger King and that development that has had accidents with Kahakai Boulevard. So we’re
like a band aid. If you put a street light and median strips and whatever, crosswalks, that’s a band aid.
The big thing is the comprehensive plan. What is the State doing overall for Puna? And you’re very
right, we shouldn’t have to do it. It’s the State’s responsibility.
I’ll give you a history of the Bypass. You know why the Bypass is there in the first place? It was to
bring all the geothermal equipment because they couldn’t drive those rigs through the town. They fast-
tracked that in. They hired Bryson’s Cinders to mine Leilani Hill, 500 acres, 500 feet deep, to truck
down millions of cubic yards down there to, to -. We’re in Pāhoa as a business. I was in real estate.
And we go, wow, why don’t you shoot us? Because you’re taking all the businesses away and you’re
bypassing. For what reason? At that time people were still going through Kea‘au. When they built
the Pāhoa Bypass, mind you, there were traffic jams galore going through Kea‘au going past all the
schools. Why not Kea‘au first? Why Pāhoa Bypass? Scratch the head. So, anyway, that’s part of the
history. The Pāhoa Bypass was fast-tracked in with no design, no infrastructure, no electricity, no
water. It was just fast-tracked as a State project. Now the State won’t take responsibility. Here we are
the County and, you know, you expect the County or a nonprofit to take over that?
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EXHIBIT A
I’m in total sync with you. Let’s make it doable. Like I said we want to do it and we want to make it
right and we will make it right. We need some help. I could give you the history of charter school
funding. It hasn’t been looking good and the State has said no more money, no more money in the
budget. So that’s the excuse. Meanwhile they’re shortchanging our charter school students and, you
know, we’re in the mix. We hardly got time. When we put up the structures, charter school funding
was going up to over $8,000 a student. Right now we’re under $6,000 a student. That’s $2000 a
student less. For a school of 500, that’s a million lost in revenue. We simply cannot do it. So, you
know, when, I concur with you, let’s make it reasonable. You know, the timeline, it will just be a
delay. But if we have to develop a State road even in five years we’ll be back here, I guarantee you, to
ask for another extension. If we were to be required to work with the State and the County government
to find a solution for that, that’s a doable solution; and we can bring in resources. But to say that we
have to do it, I can tell you right now that we’ll be back here in five years. Because I don’t think in
five years we can come up with a million dollars to put in a traffic signal, turn lanes, exit lanes,
entrance lanes and left turn lanes. And so I really would like to see an amendment now that addresses
reality. And I hope the Commission will take that into consideration.
KERN: Very good. I’d like to throw out a possible scenario. We can look at a couple different
scenarios here since we’re in discussion. This Condition 9, you know, if we did basically white-out
everything up to, you know, “On site enrollment shall not exceed 250 students until all of these
improvements are constructed,” not saying who is responsible for that. It’s not putting the burden on
the school. It’s still allowing a potential quasi or one sided or the other to get that done. I think that’s
potentially a good solution. It’s a little bit tricky because I know of the demand. So how to you find
that medium balance, you know what I mean? And I know, well, one thing I hear about HAAS is like
there’s a lot of people want to get in there. And so I’m sure it’s, you know, there is the want and need
to get the higher enrollment. The question is can you wait, can we wait, can the community wait for
that enrollment until or can we find a middle ground potentially there? You know, that’s some of the
questions that I am pondering. Because I think we need the capacity. It’s huge. Commissioner
Ishibashi.
ISHIBASHI: Thank you, Brother Chair. Yeah, that was one of my concerns, this 250 students, and
we’re trying to build. Cause I commend you for a job well done for the community. Because the glory
of God is the intelligence of man; and all of our students are all individuals and they need the spark to
ignite their desire to learn. So I commend you in doing that. But this 250 is yeah. So I think it’s
around the right track that we move that out, take that out. So we’ve got to deal with enrollment so we
can get more money cause we’re taking cuts on that $2000 per student. So that’s one area of concern I
had, that 250.
KERN: I just had a quick question, Mr. Hirakami. Do you see the enrollment, you know, after five
years from now or you eventually see coming in for an amendment possibly to expand that enrollment
or do you think that’s going to kind of be the number of 400 (sic)?
HIRAKAMI: I think that -.
NOMURA: Microphone please.
KERN: Use your microphone, please
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EXHIBIT A
th
HIRAKAMI: I think that, you know, when we were thinking about, that’s a misnomer, the K to 12
because we never really tried to develop it as a K-12. We’ve been looking at other sites but the
th
economy really stalled us. We had a 20-acre site that Hawaiian Paradise Park had set aside on 26 and
Kaloli; and we were looking at that. The money essentially is drying up in the State and so, but we
weren’t really going to develop the elementary side. What we wanted to do is to, we have an upper
thth
campus that we, now we separated the 7 and 8 grade. We want that to be a true middle school
ththth
campus, 6, 7 and 8 grades. To do that we need six classrooms. So we’re two short. We’ve got
thth
four classrooms. So we needed another duplex there. And we need a true high school with 9 to 12
grades, there’s four, so we need eight classrooms there. Right now we have six. We have two in the
administration building and two duplexes. So we’ll need a duplex there and a duplex there to complete
a middle school campus and a high school campus. And without that much more enrollment, in other
words we don’t like to put 35 kids in a classroom. Twenty, 20, 20 kids in a classroom. So if you take
250 and divide it by 20 that’s 12 ½ classrooms. So we are short of classrooms. You know, we could
use, if we go up to 280 which would be a full complement 6 to8 middle school, and 9 to 12, that would
mean 14 classrooms. So those would be your two duplexes that would add to our complement of
classrooms. So it’s not expanding to a great school. The campus is small. We’ve got a lot of
sustainability projects going on. We have the mac nut orchards. And I think that, we’re not trying to
develop the whole school. We’re not trying to become another big school.
KERN: Okay. Let me ask this question. Would 280 or 300 be a better number with that condition
that that does need to get done until it exceeds that but it’s not putting the burden on you?
HIRAKAMI: Absolutely.
KERN: Well, I can humbly ask my Fellow Commissioners to adjust the motion so it shows that, if they
are so willing.
AU: I’m willing to adjust Recommendation No. 9 to exclude “within five years from the effective date
of this permit, the applicant, successors or assigns shall provide the following roadway improvements
at the intersection of Post Office Road and Pāhoa Bypass (Highway 130) meeting with the approval of
the Department of Transportation. Building permits for new structures shall not be issued and -.”
KERN: So that’s blanked out, it no longer exists.
AU: So we would like to leave “On-site student enrollment shall not exceed 300 students until all of
these improvements have been constructed.”
KERN: And all the rest would say the same underneath there. Can I get a second on that?
DOMINGO: Second.
KERN: Motion has been moved and seconded. Any other discussion?
COTTLE: Excuse me, Mr. Chair. Mr. Domingo, did you second the original motion?
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EXHIBIT A
DOMINGO: Yes, I seconded the original motion and I concur with the amendment to that motion.
COTTLE: Thank you. I had Commissioner Ono seconding the original motion so I was wrong.
KERN: Okay. Any other discussion? Seeing none, Maija.
COTTLE: Okay. Commissioner Au?
AU: Yes.
COTTLE: Commissioner Domingo?
DOMINGO: Aye.
COTTLE: Commissioner Ishibashi?
ISHIBASHI: Aye.
COTTLE: Commissioner Ono?
ONO: Aye.
COTTLE: And Mr. Chair?
KERN: Oh yeah.
COTTLE: Okay, the motion passes five-zero.
KERN: You’ll be notified in writing.
The discussion ended at 11:03 a.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon M. Nomura, Secretary
Windward Planning Commission
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EXHIBIT A