The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutAC Minutes Special Meeting 22Sept2014 JNZY OF h,� William P.Kenoi �:•'�� '.ol Duane Kanuha Mayor Director Bobby Command f•• N�M >e oF'N►�' Deputy Director County of Hawaii PLANNING DEPARTMENT PUNA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE Aupuni Center • 101 Pauahi Street,Suite 3 • Hilo,Hawaii 96720 Phone(808)961-8288 • Fax(808)961-8742 Monday, September 22, 2014 Special Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Patti Pinto called the Puna Community Development Plan (PCDP) Action Committee (AC) to order at 10:00 a.m. at the Nanawale Community Center. The following persons were present: Action Committee: Sharon Daun, Elmer Solis, Leila Kealoha, Patti Pinto, Susan Osborne, June Conant and Rene Siracusa. Oshi Simsarian arrived at 10:07 a.m. and Farris Etterlee arrived at 10:10 a.m. Staff. Duane Kanuha—Planning Director,April Surprenant—Long Range Planning Program Manager, Larry Brown—PCDP Planner, Hans Santiago—County Planner and Keiko Mercado—PCDP Planning Assistant. Members of the public: 12 ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: None ANNOUNCEMENTS: None PUBLIC TESTIMONY: Four people signed up to testify, one chose to testify at the start of the meeting and three chose to defer their testimony until their agenda items came up for consideration by the AC. 1. Jon Olson, testified about the importance of maintaining the level of service to the community. The idea of temporary relocation permits will be costly for business owners. Need to insure that the level of service to the population that remains does not decrease. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: No minutes were approved at this special meeting. The minutes for the regular meeting of the PCDP Action Committee meeting held on September 9, 2014 will be available for review and approval by the AC at the October 14, 2014 regular meeting. NEW BUSINESS: 1. June 27 Lava Flow: In response to the request of the Planning Director, the AC considered the impacts of the June 27 lava flow that is currently predicted to impact Pahoa Village to the Hawai`i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer extent that structures and existing infrastructure may be seriously damages or destroyed and provided comments and recommendations on the relocation of existing businesses with respect to the land use goals, objectives and actions of the PCDP. Public Testimony: 1. Catherine Ford testified about her concerns regarding roads. She is appreciative of the activity thus far with emergency access roads being constructed by the County, but would appreciate reassurance that if isolation does happen, ocean access is feasible. She has been working on outreach to the homeless community and expressed concern for outlying areas like Wa`awa`a and Kapoho where no Community Centers exist, that they tend to fall by the wayside when it comes to services offered. Agrees that sticking with the PCDP is the way to go. 2. Nancy Kramer is a CPA in Pahoa and the Treasurer for the Mainstreet Pahoa Association. Two main concerns she's been hearing is 1) Provision of gasoline and the environmental and safety concerns that go along with that, and 2) Having a transportation hub out of Pohoiki via water as a viable alternative. 3. Gilbert Aguinaldo, owner of Big Island Electrical Services and has been a lifelong resident of Pahoa testified that he has been in contact with HELCO and Hawaiian Tel who are doing everything they can to ensure power and communication services continue. He does not want to leave the town he grew up in and wants to do everything he can to ensure he can stay unless the safety of his family is threatened. He offered his property on the corner of Hwy. 130 and Hwy. 132 for the County's use. Action Committee Discussion: Susan asked the Planning Director, Duane Kanuha, to start the discussion with some of his thoughts regarding the issue at hand. Duane stated that he asked Larry to convene this special meeting because of issues that were brought up at some of the community meetings being held by Civil Defense and the County of Hawaii. For example, where will businesses be allowed to relocate,what permits will be needed, if businesses move without proper permits will there be actions taken against them by the County? If the lava flow continues in the way that is expected at this time, it will drastically change the landscape and social structure of the community. From a planning standpoint, every potential consequence leads to another and it never ends as it relates to existing services, county services, community services, security etc. The ramifications of this will impact the entire island. Discussion continued between all Action Committee members and the following are viewpoints shared across the board: a) The Action Committee's commitment to remain consistent with the Puna Community Development Plan. b) The importance of supporting a sense of community and taking into account the feelings and concerns of community members. c) The need to have support in place in order to continue to provide services to the community. d) Interest in developing Village Centers throughout the district as called for in the PCDP. 2 e) Allowing for commercial zoning in Village Centers. fl Not allowing for"strip mall" like development. g) Exploring areas that are already high traffic areas. As more discussion ensued, the following are suggested possibilities for implementing the above viewpoints: a) Designating the pre-existing Community Center areas as Village Centers in each community where infrastructure already exists, making the transition easier and less costly. b) Possibly redefining the barriers of the Village Centers. c) Possibility of mobile businesses or tented structures in the Village Centers. d) Build with the idea of resilience and sustainability in mind. e) The AC should help to guide the relocation of businesses. fl Stick with what the PCDP calls for regarding land use and commercial development. g) Take into account the voices of the communities. h) Streamline permitting processes and waive fees for business owners relocating. Another point made regarding land use was that this opportunity allows the County to possibly rectify some of the poor land use decisions that contributed to the difficulties in providing for a growing community. Long and short term concerns shared across the board are public health and safety, education, healthcare, economic vitality, electricity, water purification, transportation and communications. It is difficult to address the long term needs because the full impacts of the lava flow are unpredictable making long-range planning for such a large are essentially a guessing game. AC members were split on the idea of allowing "already in use"places like Kalani Honua and Uncle Roberts to become commercially zoned, but were united in the idea of being cautious of allowing "opportunistic"businesses of questionable sustainability and lacking consistency with the PCDP popping up just anywhere. Sharon moved to amend the Town Hall Subcommittee role to include the responsibility of conducting a preliminary investigation into which Community Centers within the Pahoa service area are able to provide feasible infrastructure to become a Village Center. Second by Elmer. Motion passed with 9 votes aye. Duane introduced Cathy Wiltz, State Director for Hawai'i Small Business Development Center. She was available to answer any questions the AC may have. Duane also put forth the idea of designating one or two AC members as contacts who would have access to the Command Center that's currently set up in Pahoa. Leila moved to have Susan and Rene be designated as the contacts for the Command Center. Second by Elmer. Motion passed with 9 votes aye. 3 Agenda for the AC regular meeting on October 14, 2014 will include a report from the Town Hall Subcommittee and from Susan and Rene. Farris expressed concern that the AC did not adequately respond to the questions put forth by the Planning Director. Duane assured the AC that the information they provided was valuable and advised them to keep these questions in mind as the situation unfolds. Larry also added that the questions were provided as a framework and that the discussion will broaden as circumstances play out. ADJOURNMENT: The Chair, without objection, adjourned the meeting at 11:45 a.m. 4