HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-24-2012 SKCDP AC Minutes Final
SOUTH KOHALA
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN
ACTION COMMITTEE MEETING
MINUTES OF MEETING
Held September 24, 2012
A regular meeting of the South Kohala Community Development Plan Action
Committee was held on September 24, 2012. The meeting was called to order at 5:10 p.m. at the
Waikoloa Village Association Community Room, 68-1792 Melia Street, Waikoloa Village, Hawaii,
pursuant to notice.
The following members of the Committee were present when the meeting was called to
order:
Mike Fischer
John Hoover
Robin Inaba
Achahn Schulze
Jojo Tanimoto
Committee members Margaret Horwatt and Chris Roehrig were not in attendance. Also present
were Project Manager Terry Dunlap from the Office of the Hawaii County Planning Department
and members of the public.
The Chairman called the meeting to order and noted that a quorum of the Committee was
present.
Members of the public were asked to submit a form if they wished to address the meeting.
Margaret Wille requested a change in the draft of the minutes of the August meeting, stating
that she had not used the phrase disrespectful campers. She also suggested that a community
center for Kawaihae be proposed as an addition to the CIP budget.
Robbie Robertson also requested a change in the minutes for the August meeting concerning
his remarks, stating that he had not indicated that the authorities were not getting the job done and
had not discussed forfeiture of any fee. He stated that camping is not allowed but nevertheless there
are visitors to the area who camp overnight, and suggested that regulating the camping might
provide a means of tracking who is responsible for any abuses of the environment at that location.
Peter Hackstedde discussed the problem of the dumping of trash at night in the Puako area
and felt the addition of a gate as contemplated in connection with the entrance to the state park
would help to prevent that activity.
The Committee then tabled consideration of the minutes of the meetings held on July 23,
2012, and August 27, 2012, after several members suggested language changes and the Chairman
requested that they submit the suggested changes to him in writing to ensure the changes can be
made accurately and efficiently. The members agreed to send the changes to the Chairman in
writing before the October 2012 meeting so that the approval of the minutes for the July and August
meetings could be considered at the October meeting.
The Committee members next considered the Land Use Permit Activity Report that had
1
been made available by Mr. Dunlap in advance of the meeting, which summarized recent land use
permit activity. There were no questions raised by the members concerning the permit activity
referenced in Mr. Dunlaps report.
The next item on the agenda was subcommittee reports.
Ms. Tanimoto reported for the Kawaihae Subcommittee. She introduced a motion that the
Committee support the updating of the Hawaii County Tsunami/Evacuation Website to include the
Hawaiian Homes Residential Subdivisions on Maps 10 and 11. The motion was seconded and the
members discussed how the resolution would be implemented. Mr. Dunlap stated that he would
contact Civil Defense in writing to let them know that the Committee had adopted the resolution
and added that he had previously discussed the matter with Civil Defense at the request of Ms.
Tanimoto and Civil Defense had agreed that it would update the Website as called for in the
resolution when the maps were next updated. Mr. Dunlap agreed to find out when the maps would
next be updated. The members then unanimously approved and adopted the resolution.
Ms. Tanimoto next made a motion that the Committee support the effort to fund, plan and
construct an emergency road from the (Mauka) Hawaiian Homeland subdivision to safety at higher
ground. The motion was seconded by Mr. Schulze who then suggested that it be amended to
provide for the inclusion in the County CIP budget of the development of such an emergency road.
It was noted that the CDP calls for the development and construction of such an emergency road.
Ms. Tanimoto noted that the area to be used for the road is presently state land and also stated that
the road would not be gated to limit access so that it could be used to provide access to the park
from the highway. The motion then was restated to provide that the Committee wishes to have the
emergency road in Kawaihae as proposed by Ms. Tanimoto added to the County CIP budget,
whereupon the motion, as so amended with the consent of Ms. Tanimoto and Mr. Schulze, was
unanimously approved and adopted by the Committee.
Ms. Tanimoto then introduced a third motion which provided for an update of the Kawaihae
section of South Kohala CDP. The proposal had not been included in the published agenda for the
meeting and therefore was tabled until the Committee meeting in October.
Mr. Hoover then delivered the Puako Subcommittee report. He summarized the hearing held
on September 15, 2012, concerning the preparation of the State Historic Preservation Plan and
indicated that there is a risk of the loss of federal funds. He also stated that consideration is being
given to creating a county historic council or board in each county within the state which would
work with the state officials to achieve goals consistent with state objectives. Mr. Hoover
questioned whether the Committee had any means of making recommendations concerning the
addition of sites to the historic register. He stated that the draft of the State Historic Preservation
Plan 2012-2017 is available for review at
http://hawaiihistoricpreservation.com/.
Mr. Fischer then reported for the Waikoloa Subcommittee. He informed the Committee that
the Waikoloa Subcommittee was organizing a Candidates Forum to be held in Waikoloa Village on
th
October 5 at which the Mayoral candidates and the candidates for the 9 County Council District
would appear to address community issues.
There were no other subcommittee reports.
The Committee then addressed old business and began with a discussion of the proposed
Hapuna Beach State Park improvements and plans for limiting access to Old Puako Road by adding
a gate that would be open during certain hours and closed at other times. It was noted that the
2
County presently owns the road and that the State will have to assume title to the road before the
project can proceed. Mr. Schulze suggested that the Committee should urge the County to retain
control over the road until a complete assessment of the impact of the proposal on South Kohala
District can be made.
Mr. Schulze then discussed the State plan to charge non-residents for access to Hapuna
Beach State Park. He said that the State contemplates contracting with a private party which would
manage parking at the Park by issuing parking permits that are to be displayed on vehicles in the
Park. This is to be a one year pilot program and then the State will analyze the results and make
such modifications as it deems desirable for purposes of enacting a five year program. He added
that there is no plan to install a gate on Old Puako Road until the one year pilot program is
completed.
Mr. Schulze expressed the opinion that the use of a gate limiting access to Old Puako Road
is an unnecessarily extreme approach to resolving the issues that exist, such as the dumping of
waste and unlawful camping. He added that there is an agency in place already having
responsibility for dealing with unlawful camping at the location and stated that the gating of Old
Puako Road will unreasonably prevent surfers and fishermen from accessing the area lawfully.
Although the South Kohala CDP calls for the use of a gate to limit access to the area, Mr. Schulze
was of the opinion that the gate was provided for in the CDP in contemplation of a new road and the
initiation of super ferry service which would further burden the area, but the new road and the super
ferry are not likely to become a reality in the near future. He urged that the County retain control of
Old Puako Road until there is better information available concerning other alternatives that might
resolve the issues without restricting lawful access to the area.
Mr. Hoover then addressed the issue and stated that it is his understanding that the gate will
be contracted in the very near future and before completion of the one year program. He added that
the inclusion in the CDP of provision for a gate on Old Puako Road reflected significant input from
the community and the steering committee and the focus groups that drafted the CDP. Mr. Hoover
also indicated that a part of the area accessed through Old Puako Road is in a no fish zone and
thus access by fishermen is not an issue in that regard. Mr. Hoover also stated that the community in
Puako clearly supports the installation of a gate to limit access, as evidenced by correspondence
sent to the County Mayor by community representatives in July 2012. He said it is his
understanding that there will be community meetings to decide on how the logistics would work,
such as whether a ticket booth for access would be utilized. He added that he understood that the
State has requested transfer of Old Puako Road from the County and that he believed the County
intended to proceed with the transfer, contrary to what Mr. Schulze has been informed.
Mr. Dunlap agreed to find out whether the County was proceeding with the transfer to the
State of title to Old Puako Road and would report to the Committee concerning that point at the
next meeting.
The Committee then discussed the request that had been sent to the Office of Corporation
Counsel for an opinion regarding certain aspects of the operations of the Committee. A copy of the
request had previously been sent to all Committee members. Mr. Schulze moved that the
Committee ratify and authorize the request and adopt it as an action of the Committee. The motion
was seconded by Ms. Inaba and discussion followed. Mr. Hoover expressed his dissatisfaction with
the manner in which the affairs of the Committee have been administered by the Planning
Department. Ms. Tanimoto indicated that she did not want the result of the request to limit the
ability of the Committee to achieve its goals in the future. The question was then called and the
motion was unanimously approved.
3
The Committee then turned to new business.
Mr. Dunlap reviewed the manner in which the Committee will continue to participate in the
interviewing of candidates for membership on the Committee. Two members of the Committee,
designated by the Chairman, will participate in all interviews of candidates. Mr. Dunlap added that
the Planning Department is expecting to receive four applications for membership on the
Committee in the very near future. It was noted that there will be four vacancies on the Committee
when the terms of Mr. Schulze and Ms. Inaba are concluded in February 2013.
Mr. Dunlap had not yet received a response from the Planning Department to the
Committees request that advertisements be placed in the public media regarding the openings on
the Committee.
Mr. Dunlap also indicated that the Planning Department is aware of the adoption by the
Committee of a resolution asking that the Committee be notified of, and be given the opportunity to
provide timely comments on, all applications to the Planning Department. He stated that the matter
would be discussed at a meeting on September 25, which will be attended by Ms. Leithead-Todd,
Mr. Dunlap, the Chair and Co-Chair of the North Kohala and South Kohala CDP Action
Committees, and others. Mr. Fischer indicated that the Committee would be advised at the October
Committee meeting of the discussions at the September 25 meeting
In connection therewith, Ms. Inaba stated that it is unclear how the Planning Department
determines which applications will be sent to the Waimea Design Review Committee for comment.
She noted that various types of applications have been sent to the Design Review Committee but
that the Longs Drugs application was not sent to that committee despite it being one of the most
significant applications concerning Waimea to come before the Planning Department recently.
The next item on the Agenda was statements from the public.
Gunnar Mensch stated that Ms. Tanimoto and the committee should investigate getting fuel
and hazardous materials out of the tsunami zone. He stated that the log storage program will be
using the area dredged in Kawaihae Harbor, which is a safer location than is now being used to
store the logs, but that there is insufficient ingress and egress at the main gate and the south gate to
the area for such usage. He urged that a left turn pocket lane be added to improve traffic flow and
safety under the circumstances.
Robbie Robertson stated that the correspondence that Mr. Hoover had referred to from
representatives of the Puako community to the Mayor which was sent in July 2012 was consistent
with the South Kohala CDP. He noted that access to Wailea Bay is limited by a gate but that this
alone has not resolved the issues that have been discussed, and that the additional gate on Old
Puako Road (and perhaps others) will be needed to deal with these problems in the future.
Bob Green said that the gates that limit access to areas on the Big Island, such as at Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park, have tended to reduce the use of such areas by people from the Big
Island, leaving these areas for use mainly by tourists, and he stated that this is not a desirable result.
The members then discussed the agenda for the next regularly scheduled meeting. The
following items were suggested for inclusion in the agenda:
1. Response from Corporation Counsel to opinion letter request; and
4
2. Participation by the Committee in commentary on submissions to the Planning Department.
The Chairman then noted that the next meeting of the Committee is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
on Monday, October 22, 2012, at the Lilly Yoshimatsu Senior Center (Waimea Senior Center), 67-
1199 Mamalahoa Highway Waimea, Hawaii 96743.
There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting was adjourned at
7:05 p.m.
______________________________
Michael B. Fischer
Chairman
5