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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-08-16 Leeward Exh A - Bal Speedy Motors LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I HEARING TRANSCRIPT AUGUST 16, 2012 DANIEL BAL dba SPEEDY MOTORS A regularly advertised hearing on the applications of (SPP 12-135) was called to order at 9:50 a.m. in the West Hawai‘i Civic Center, Community Center, Building G, 74-5044 Ane Keohokālole Highway, Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i, with Chair Pro Tem Thomas Hickcox presiding. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Thomas Hickcox, Wayne Iokepa, Richard Nelson, III and Thomas Whittemore ABSENT AND EXCUSED: Brandi Beaudet, Lani Bowman and Geraldine Giffin ALSO PRESENT: Ivan Torigoe (Deputy Corporation Counsel), Margaret Masunaga (Deputy Planning Director), Daryn Arai (Planning Program Manager) and Noriko Sauer (Commission Secretary) And no one from the public in attendance. APPLICANT: DANIEL BAL dba SPEEDY MOTORS (SPP 12-135) Special Permit to allow the establishment of an automotive repair business and accessory uses within an existing agricultural building on a 0.5 acre portion of a 10-acre parcel within the State Land Use Agricultural District. The property is located along the south side of Māmalahoa Highway approximately 650 feet east from the intersection of Māmalahoa Highway and Mānā Road nd within Pu‘ukapu Homesteads, 2 Series, Pu‘ukapu, South Kohala, Hawai‘i, TMK: 6-4-031: portion of 004. HICKCOX: Next item on the agenda. Applicant, Daniel Bal dba Speedy Motors. SPP 12-135, special permit to allow the establishment of an automotive repair business and accessory uses within an existing agricultural building on a 0.5 acre portion of a 10-acre parcel within the State Land Use Agricultural District. The property is located along the south side of Māmalahoa Highway approximately 650 feet east from the intersection of Māmalahoa Highway and Mānā Road nd within Pu‘ukapu Homesteads, 2 Series, Pu‘ukapu, South Kohala, Hawai‘i, TMK: 6-4-031: portion of 004. Staff? ARAI: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If I may direct your attention once again to the projector screen. This property consisting of approximately ten acres is situated within the town of Waimea, or at least just outside of the town of Waimea, and is indicated by this parcel outlined in red. It is located on the south side of the Māmalahoa Highway, and I believe the subdivision on the opposite side, or north side of the highway, is Puunani Subdivision – correct me if I’m wrong. The subject property itself is situated within an area designated Agricultural-1 acre as indicated by this green color here. The other colors represented by the light greens and the blues are also various types of agricultural zoning district designations with minimum lot sizes ranging from three acres to five acres and even up to 40 acres. Off to the left of your screen, you’ll see some pink colors and yellow colors, that’s as you are entering the commercial, or village core of Waimea town. This is a rendering of the General Plan LUPAG Map. The project site itself, as indicated in red, is situated within an area 1 EXHIBIT A designated for low density urban development, again, single-family residential uses. Surrounding lands basically constitute agricultural type of uses. This is a depiction of the South Kohala Community Development Plan. The dash line running left to right is the Māmalahoa Highway. The subject property is indicated by this blue dot. As you will note, it is situated within an area where the Community Development Plan recommends small farms and ranches preservation program. And as you can see, the property is extensively cultivated in various forms of agricultural uses. The project site is outlined in red, the ten acres. The applicant wishes to utilize approximately half an acre of land within this larger ten-acre piece. The Māmalahoa Highway itself is located off to the left of the photograph as indicated by my pointer. Access is in this particular vicinity here, and the access then comes down and then goes right between these two agricultural structures. Again, the applicant requests for a special permit to allow an automotive repair business and accessory uses on a half-acre portion of this larger ten-acre parcel. The existing ag storage building, consisting of roughly 5,500 square feet, currently exists on the project site, as well as an existing two-bedroom single-family dwelling. No more than 25 vehicles associated with this repair business will be stored on the site at any point in time. Hours of operation proposed from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday. This is a view of the ag building that the applicant is contemplating to convert into the automotive repair business. You may see the driveway, gravel driveway, I should mention, off to your right, and this is the gravel driveway coming in from the Māmalahoa Highway with the proposed facility off to the right of the photograph. And this is a view of the entrance to the proposed facility. And again, to clarify, the applicant is proposing to use roughly half of the existing 5,500-square foot agricultural storage building. This is looking from the driveway towards the Māmalahoa Highway, and as you may note, the driveway access is gravel. This is a close -. BAL: (Inaudible.) ARAI: Okay, one moment, we’ll bring you up so you can testify and provide additional comments. And by all means, correct me if I made any misrepresentations. This is a shot of the driveway itself as it, the driveway aprons, I should say, as it enters into the Māmalahoa Highway. There is a section that is currently paved, and I’m not exactly sure how far it goes back. Maybe the applicant can clarify that point. The Director is recommending approval of this special permit application subject to a number of conditions that is indicated by the goldenrod report that was previously distributed to you. I should make one note on Condition No. 3 on Page 6 of your recommendation report. If you were to look about midway down the condition, about the third line up from the bottom of the page, it starts off “proposed uses, prepared by a professional engineer licensed in the,” and that word should be “State of Hawai‘i.”; so I just need to insert a “t” into Condition No. 3. I was just informed this morning that the proposed facility does not have internal plumbing. I have attempted to make calls with staff so they could contact both the Department of Water Supply and Building Division to understand what are the basic requirements of those two agencies. As you may note, our approval of this, or recommendation for approval of this request, is based on a number of conditions that pertain to water: Condition No. 3 requires an estimated daily water usage calculation as prepared by a licensed engineer; Condition No. 4, and forgive me I’m paraphrasing here, Condition No. 4 speaks to insulation of a reduced pressure type backflow prevention assembly near the entrance with the Māmalahoa Highway – let’s see, and I recall that there was one other condition, and visually I’m 2 EXHIBIT A sort of missing it right now,oh, here; Condition No. 6, “The applicant shall secure and finalize the necessary building, plumbing and electrical permits to convert the existing agricultural building to an automotive repair facility ….” So you have three conditions that basically make reference to water. As I stand here today, I have not been able to secure all the information I need to make a definitive determination as to whether or not the scope of improvements, water system improvements, that will be required in order to support the proposed facility. The applicant has mentioned to me that there is a portable toilet located at the rear of the building. And you may also see by looking at this particular photograph that there is a water spigot and a garden hose right on the outside of this agricultural storage building, and that is where the applicant obtains all of the water necessary to run his business. And he has indicated to me, and he can clarify this when you bring him forward, that he doesn’t use a lot of water. Now, my understanding is this water spigot is tapping into the existing two-bedroom home that is located right next to the agricultural storage building. So my attempts to contact Building Division and Water Supply was first of all to understand what does the Building department require as far as industrial structures such as this automotive repair facility. Is there a code requirement that indoor plumbing be necessary; I have not made that determination yet. Secondly, the call with Water Supply is to determine whether or not tapping a line from an existing house and dragging it to the ag storage building for use for an industrial structure, will that be permitted by the Department of Water Supply; I have not yet found that out. So as it stands, there are some unanswered questions that remain. And the implications upon the applicant could be significant, if Water Supply requires that the entire water system in the area be improved to industrial standards, if there is such a specific standard. Because, as you can see, the backflow preventer will be required at the Māmalahoa Highway entrance or thereabouts, and that is something that we will still require, because my understanding is backflow preventers are also required for residential uses. There is a one-inch waterline that comes from the highway to these buildings and services these buildings. Whether that line needs to be upgraded, I do not know; but it does bring in about 1,000 gallons per day, which the applicant feels could be more than sufficient to support his proposed use, which doesn’t use a lot of water. So at this point, when the Commission is ready, you can bring the applicant up to speak more directly to the concerns that I have mentioned at which time, or thereafter, I’ll be able to provide additional recommendations to the Commission. I believe – I understand the concerns of the applicant, I understand that we do not have necessary information from the reviewing agencies as of yet – but I believe I have a solution. So with that, I’m ready to turn this presentation over to the Chairman. HICKCOX: Thank you, Daryn. Any questions of staff, Commissioners? Yes, Mr. Whittemore. WHITTEMORE: Daryn, I had a couple of questions I want to, and I apologize because this is probably, the experienced Commissioners already know this. But I noticed in the presentation that, not your presentation but the written one, that there were several building permits still outstanding that are significantly dated. In particular with the subject building, I believe, even that has not been finalized. Where does this go? I mean, do we have to -. It seems to me that the County has got to require that those be finalized before we can even approve occupancy or, you know, they can even be given occupancy. Yet this is going on for a long time, so -. ARAI: Thank you, Commissioner Whittemore. Yes, it has been going on for a long time. As you may note, Condition No. 6 of our recommendation asks that, should this permit be approved, “the applicant shall secure and finalize the necessary building, plumbing and electrical permits to convert the existing agricultural building to an automotive repair facility within one year from the date of issuance of Final Plan Approval.” Now, that condition speaks only to the building that he’s attempting to locate his business in. There is the other agricultural building next door that also has 3 EXHIBIT A not finalized its building permits. I cannot, and maybe Corporation Counsel, Deputy Corporation Counsel, Mr. Torigoe, could speak to this, but because a special permit doesn’t encumber that adjacent agricultural building, I don’t believe it’s proper to include a condition in this permit that forces the applicant to resolve an issue that is outside of the project site; we can only deal with the area affected by this special permit application. I have spoken to the applicant and he is well aware of the comments by the Department of Public Works regarding the outstanding building permits. But while we can do something to address the proposed converted structure, I don’t think it’s proper to deal with other deficient structures, maybe I should say. WHITTEMORE: And just another clarification point, just for my understanding. The real property tax assessments, what happens to that, if you have an unpermitted facility that is being used for commercial use? I don’t know whether the tax records show that as being an actively used building because it has never been given occupancy. ARAI: The Real Property Tax Division does rely quite heavily on permits and actions by the Planning Department because we do tend to copy them. And at that point they can then update or assess values for the property. Whether it has been done in this particular instance, I do not know. However, I also understand that appraisers from the Real Property Tax Division do go out from time to time and physically assess, and if uses are occurring on the property, they may adjust their assessed values appropriately. WHITTEMORE: Okay, that’s fine, I guess, that’s -. ARAI: Okay. WHITTEMORE: I know I -. Let me ask just one more question – this is my day to ask questions, I guess. But I’m a little bit familiar with the site there and the roadway and everything. I’m concerned about, I’ve always worried about access out of the left turn. And I noticed it in the Police Department, they didn’t report a concern about that; they were more concerned about gravel and, you know, debris being carried on the road. But that left turn has got to be a killer there. And nobody seems to be concerned about that. I think the speed limit is 45 through there, and people do move through there, so -. ARAI: We, when assessing this, we didn’t, we weren’t presented with an impression that the number of vehicles coming to and fro from the proposed project would be significant, meaning it would have a direct impact to the functionality of traffic running along the Māmalahoa Highway. Bear in mind it’s sort of like all relevant. This is an agricultural piece of property. As you can see from the photograph I have up on the screen, a lot of ag is probably being conducted, and while I don’t have specific numbers, I can only imagine that there are a lot of agricultural type of vehicles going to and fro onto the highway and off from the highway. Now, it is true that maybe left turn movements may be difficult, given the volume of traffic along the Māmalahoa Highway, but that’s probably the case for every use along that highway, along every road that accesses the highway. And I don’t see that this particular use by in and of itself is so detrimental to this situation. So I hope that answers your question. WHITTEMORE: That’s fine. 4 EXHIBIT A HICKCOX: Any other questions? Thank you, Daryn. Will the applicant or his representative please come forward. Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Hawai‘i County Planning Commission? BAL: I do. HICKCOX: Okay. Please state your name and the area that you reside in, and you may proceed. BAL: My name is Daniel Bal. I’m the applicant, and I live in Waimea. HICKCOX: Thank you. Do you have a presentation to be made to the Commission? BAL: I do not. In fact, Daryn did a good job. I would point out one thing – can you go to the picture that, where you showed the water spigot on the end of the building? Right there. This is actually the landlord’s side of the building, and the water spigot that he has put on this side of the building is for his use only. There is another one on the opposite side of the building that I use. But he actually put these in for his use. And my water usage is approximately ten gallons a week. There’s no water inside the building. We have Big Island water for drinking water. And I also built this mobile hand washing station that uses a five-gallon bucket on top of a five-gallon catch can on the bottom, and we go through that like once a week. In fact, I work by myself, so, you know, the five-gallon washing station last with me for a week. And I might have to go out and fill three- or four-gallon jugs of water for topping off radiators and windshield washers and stuff like that. But other than that we don’t use hardly any water there. But this one, this side of the building here, is for the landlord and he uses this side, and he uses probably more water on the spigot then I do. HICKCOX: Thank you. Commissioners, any questions on the applicant? BAL: I have one more comment. We talked about the traffic. I have three to four customers a day. The farmers go in and out of the road more than I do. So the traffic for me, I mean, that I generate in and out of that road is pretty insignificant. HICKCOX: Yes, Mr. Whittemore. WHITTEMORE: Just, I’m curious with the number of cars that you want to have permitted to park there, 25. If you say you get daily maybe four, what would cause there to be up to 25 cars there? It just seems like -. BAL: There is, I have like five there, and there is probably always five that are sitting there waiting for parts, and then five, I mean, normally there would be, like, 15 there, would be normal. Twenty-five is just to give some leeway in case there is some long term jobs or sometimes people tow something up and they will say, you know, there’s no hurry, just work on it whenever you can, and it will sit there for a month before I can get to it, so -. Yeah, 25 is like the outside, and I think the normal complement would be normally around 15 cars there. IOKEPA: Mr. Chair? HICKCOX: Yes, Mr. Iokepa. 5 EXHIBIT A IOKEPA: You know, you mentioned the usage of water is minimal. But these Conditions 4 and 6 that specifically speak to you providing, or provisioning, for a higher usage. Do you have any concerns about those conditions? BAL: Well, I would, I mean, there is a condition that I hire an engineer to calculate the water supply. And I can, you know, I can tell you it’s ten gallons a week. I mean we don’t have any, I don’t see the reason for the condition, and that’s what Daryn and I were trying to work out this morning. But I will do, I will do whatever the Commissioners think that I need to do, I mean, it’s, it’s fine. I will do whatever you think I need -. Also -. No, that’s all. IOKEPA: Okay, thank you. HICKCOX: Any other questions, Commissioners? Staff? ARAI: Thank you. While we have not figured out the positions of both the Building Division or the Department of Water Supply, I would like to offer to the Commission that the conditions as recommended by the Planning Director remain as is. And let me explain why I feel that way. It is true that Condition 3 does require water usage calculation as prepared by a professional engineer; however, I will go on record as to say that, should the applicant – I shouldn’t say “should” – the applicant shall meet with the Department of Water Supply and coordinate with them. And if at their election they determine that the volume of water that you use will not require a licensed engineer for the calculations, then we will consider this condition satisfied. And again, the reason why I’m saying this is because whenever conditions are incorporated within a permit or approval, we always apply some reasonableness in the interpretation and application of the particular condition. Condition No. 4, “shall install a reduced pressure type backflow prevention assembly,” that is a standard requirement of the Department of Water Supply, and their intention is to install these devices on all uses island-wide. So because you are applying for a special permit, this is an opportunity for the Department of Water Supply to ensure that any uses that benefit from water services to the property also meet their most current standards. So we feel this condition should be left in. Condition No. 6, “the applicant shall secure and finalize the necessary building, plumbing and electrical permits”; the operative word is “necessary.” Should the Building Division find that water is not necessary for this industrial type of use, then a plumbing permit is not necessary and plumbing itself would not be required to be installed in this building. What all of this is basically saying is that the conditions as we offered to you provides an enforcement mechanism to ensure that the applicant works with Water Supply, works with the Building department to make sure all proper approvals and requirements have been satisfied. So the conditions represent like a safety net. And if the applicant is able to resolve those issues, whatever the outcome is what the Planning Department will, would be willing to accept. So I don’t see the conditions as written as, and I hope this is the proper word, but like, fatal to the applicant, because the applicant -. And should the Commission approve this permit, it’s supporting this use. And like any other business and any other use that occurs on this island, if you want to do something, then you have to meet minimum requirements. It’s basically as simple as that. BAL: I think that’s very reasonable. I wanted to say one more thing about the building permits that were brought up. My landlord is very supportive, and he wanted to come today. He’s like the head driver for Meadow Gold Dairy, and he works from 5:30 in the morning till eight o’clock at night, and really difficult -. He said, you know, if the meeting was going to be held in Hilo, I can, I might be able to get away for a couple of hours to attend but -. He is calling me and he is very supportive. He is under the impression that all the building permits were finalized. Because that was one of the 6 EXHIBIT A things I asked him before we started on this application. If he had -. He said, “I have all the building permits, we did them all.” And evidently – and he has them all initiated – evidently, he didn’t know that he was supposed to call for final approval. But he, he actually did think that everything was legal. And if I had known before yesterday that they weren’t, you know, we would have tried to straighten this up before today’s meeting. But he said, “Oh, yeah, everything is good, I’ve got all the building permits, everything is good.” So I came here with the impression that that was all taken care of. HICKCOX: Thank you. I’d like to call up on the Deputy Planning Director to give us an assessment of the standing thus far and of the recommendations made by Daryn, please. MASUNAGA: Yeah, I concur with the staff, Daryn Arai’s recommendation. So I have no objections to his presentation at all, and support what he said. HICKCOX: Thank you. And Corporation Counsel? TORIGOE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a FYI, your Planning Commission authority comes from Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, Section 205- 6, and Subsection (c) says, “The county planning commission may under such protective restrictions as may be deemed necessary, permit the desired use,” so I think what the staff is proposing is consistent, you know, basically saying whatever permits are necessary will be required. Now, and that basically says, too, that if in the particular case, let’s say the Building Division says, “Yeah, you know, obviously, the building that you are going to be using has to be permitted,” but if in the particular case they also say, “Well, this other building next door is so close, and you’ve got to make sure that that thing is, you know, permitted also.” The Building Division could potentially require that, but -. BAL: You know, they are different owners. TORIGOE: They are different owners? BAL: Yeah. TORIGOE: Oh, okay. But anyway, so, to the extent that, you know, what is being required by the department is just what is necessary that would be appropriate with regard to this. I just also wanted to clarify maybe one thing that’s just a factual thing; I think staff mentioned that this location is right across from Puunani Subdivision. Is that -? BAL: Actually, Puunani is up just a little ways. I think it’s the next street up. TORIGOE: So it would be more like Mokuloa right across the street? BAL: Mokuloa, I think it is. I don’t remember what it is. I think it is Mokuloa. ARAI: Please use your microphone. Thank you. BAL: Oh, yeah, I think it is Mokuloa. It’s all the new houses, all the brand-new houses. 7 EXHIBIT A HICKCOX: Commissioners, any questions of staff, Corp. Counsel, the applicant at this junction? None? Okay, thank you very much. And I see we have no public testimony at this juncture. I guess at this point we’ll ask for a motion, Commissioners. IOKEPA: Mr. Chair, I’d like to propose a motion to approve a special permit application, No. 12-135, to allow the establishment of an automotive repair business and accessory uses within an existing agricultural building on half-acre portion of a 10.148-acre parcel within the State Land Use Agricultural District, with all conditions, including amendment to Condition 3, a typographical error, including a “t” on the word, from “Sate” to “State.” WHITTEMORE: Second. HICKCOX: It has been moved by Commissioner Iokepa and seconded by Commissioner Whittemore. Staff? ARAI: Commissioner Iokepa? IOKEPA: Aye. ARAI: Commissioner Whittemore? WHITTEMORE: Aye. ARAI: Commissioner Nelson? NELSON: Aye. ARAI: Mr. Chairman? HICKCOX: Aye. ARAI: Mr. Chairman, motion to approve carries with four aye votes. HICKCOX: Thank you very much. Congratulations. And you will be informed in writing as to the findings of the Commission. BAL: Thank you, Commissioners. I want to thank the Planning Department, too. I’ve been through this three times now, and I think these are the hardest working people ever on the island, and they do a great job. Thank you very much. HICKCOX: I’m sure we all agree. The discussion ended at 10:22 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Noriko Sauer, Secretary Leeward Planning Commission 8 EXHIBIT A