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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAC Minutes 13Jan2015 DRAFT William P. Kenoi Duane Kanuha Director Mayor Bobby Command Deputy Director County of Hawai‘i PLANNING DEPARTMENT PUNA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE  Aupuni Center 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720  Phone (808) 961-8288 Fax (808) 961-8742 Tuesday, January 13, 2015 DRAFT Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Patti Pinto called the Puna Community Development Plan (PCDP) Action Committee ' (AC) to order at 2:59 p.m. in the Keaau Community Center. The following persons were present: Action Committee: June Conant, Sharon Daun, Farris Etterlee, Susan Osborne, Patti Pinto and René Siracusa. Leila Kealoha arrived at 3:06p.m. Elmer Solis and Oshi Simsarian were absent. Staff: Hans Santiago – PCDP Planner and Keiko Mercado – PCDP Planning Assistant. Members of the public: 6 ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: None ANNOUNCEMENTS: 1.Patti announced that the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) will be offering training beginning on January 24th and continuing for four consecutive Saturdays. The CERT program provides residents and businesses alike with the basics in how to properly prepare and respond to an emergency at home, at work or in the community. CERT training is a 27-hour certification course. If you are interested please contact the CERT coordinator at francescaHCCD@gmail.com. 2.Patti also announced that Greggor Ilagan and Danny Paleka are holding a series of community meetings this week and the first meeting was held on 1/12/15 in Mt. View and was well attended. The PCDP Action Committee has been invited to speak, explaining the intent and purpose of the PCDP AC and answer questions the public may have. 3.Patti announced that the CERSC has met with Warren Lee and there will be a report for the next AC meeting. PUBLIC TESTIMONY: Three people signed up to testify. One chose to testify at the start of the meeting and two chose to testify at the time of their agenda item. 1.Jon Olson testified on agenda items #5 and #9, Communication No. 2015-1 and Impact of the Lava. Regarding agenda item #5, the acquisition of land adjacent to Luquin’s, Jon feels that there is a need for more negotiation between the County and the land owner. In order to see this through there needs to be compromise. Given the current situation with the lava, the landowner may now be more willing to negotiate. Regarding agenda item #9, impact of the lava, Jon raised the question “what are we planning for?” Will the County change the density Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer rules in high hazard areas? Right now Jon says we are reacting to the lava, rather than planning towards the future. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Susan moved to approve the minutes of the December 9, 2014 meeting as submitted. Second by Sharon. Leila pointed out the misspelling of Wai’opae. The motion to approve the minutes as submitted with the spelling correction passed with 6 votes aye, 0 votes nay and 1 vote to abstain (René voted to abstain due to her absence at the last meeting) NEW BUSINESS: 1.Pāhoa Steering Committee: Patti reported on the activities of the Pāhoa Steering Committee Subcommittee. Later on the agenda is a draft letter regarding the acquisition of land next to Luquin’s Restaurant as submitted by the steering committee. The steering committee is meeting less often than every other week. The next meeting is scheduled for the first Monday in February. 2.Proposed Planning Director-Initiated Amendment to Map 14 of the Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide (LUPAG) Map of the County of Hawai'i General Plan: The PCDP AC discussed and considered recommendations to the proposed Director-initiated LUPAG amendment changing the land use designation for portions of Kea'au Village and immediately surrounding Kea'au Village. Communication 2015-4 outlines the proposed amendment and can be found on the PCDP website as well as the County Website under public documents. Daryn Arai from the Planning Department was on hand to answer any questions the AC might have regarding the LUPAG amendment. Public Testimony: 1.Kimo Lee, representative from WH Shipman, testified in support of the County initiated LUPAG amendment. Kimo clarified that their “prime agriculture land” is outside of this proposed amendment and wouldn’t be affected by the amendment. 2.Larry Brown, former PCDP Planner, testified against the LUPAG amendment and believes it’s contrary to the PCDP. Larry stated that this would be opening the door to the “second city” concept and a high density use area and believes this does not serve the intent of serving local communities in Puna. He is disappointed in the time given to the AC for comment and suggested the AC ask for a delay on moving forward with this director initiated amendment until the AC is able to provide comment. AC members had several questions including how this would affect the already congested traffic, how the rural character will be preserved and whether or not the land will be used by big box type retailers. Daryn reminded the AC that the General Plan just sets policies and there are other mechanisms that then implement specific uses. Discussion ensued debating the alignment of the LUPAG amendment with the PCDP. Patti acknowledged that while we cannot and do not want to stop growth in the Kea‘au Town area, we do want the community to have a voice so that the growth is consistent with what the community wants. Right now traffic is unspeakable and this needs to be kept in mind during this process. Sharon also stressed the need to encourage local businesses within the Village Center. Daryn pointed out that this amendment doesn’t control who will be able to utilize the new zoning areas, it’s simply not that powerful, what this amendment does is provide basic land use controls. June directed attention to the fact that on the first page of Communication No. 2015-4 it states that this amendment is trying to align the General Plan with the PCDP and eliminate inconsistencies. AC members questioned the amount of time the AC was given to comment on the proposed amendment. Sharon moved to allow the Chair (Patti Pinto) to generate a response letter, utilizing the requests of the AC members, to the Planning Director. Second by Leila. More discussion ensued and it was decided that the AC wants to request that the Planning Director delay including this amendment on the Windward Planning Commission’s agenda until the March meeting to allow time for the AC to study the proposal and provide comment. Hans will provide the AC with clearer maps. The motion passed with 7 votes aye and 0 votes nay. June and Farris volunteered to research the amendment in depth and report back to the AC. 3.Communication No. 2015-2: State Land Use Boundary Amendment Application- Agriculture to Urban (SLU-14-000041) & Change of Zone Application-Agriculture-3 acre to Village Commercial-1 acre (REZ-14-000184) by 130 Holdings LLC for TMK 1-6- 010:083: The AC considered providing comments to the Planning Director on the consistency of the proposed with the Puna CDP. Daryn Arai from the Planning Department was on hand to answer any questions the AC might have regarding this change of zone application. Discussion ensued regarding the details of the application, concerns about traffic, handicap accessibility and the use of private roads. Concern was again expressed about the amount of time the AC is given to respond to these types of applications. Daryn clarified that the Planning Department is also bound by certain timelines. What exists on the property now is under a special use permit. Allowing for this change of zone would provide the applicant with more flexibility as to the use of his property. Patti commented that the AC’s recommendation to Planning Director Kanuha, during the special meeting in Nānāwale, was that Urban Centers be opened up in the Village Areas as an alternative to the shopping area that was being lost in Pāhoa and that this property is directly across from an already existing commercial area. The AC is in agreement that the traffic mitigation problems need to be highlighted. Susan moved to authorize Hans to draft a letter to be approved by Patti to favorably recommend this zoning change, highlighting concerns about the traffic impact to the community. Second by Sharon. After discussion, the motion and the second were withdrawn. Farris read a letter against the change of zone unless the traffic issue is properly addressed. The discussion continued, circulating back to the issue of traffic. Farris moved to send his draft letter to the Planning Director denying a recommendation pending traffic mitigation. Second by June. Patti moved that the letter be amended to start “The PCDP AC recognizes that this is an appropriate location for commercial development, however…” Second by René. After discussion Patti withdrew her motion and René withdrew her second. Patti moved to amend Farris’s draft letter to start with “The Action Committee recognizes that this proposal is consistent with the Puna Community Development Plans designation of the Orchidland Village Center, PCDP figure 5.10 located on page 5-16 of the PCDP, however”. Second by René. Motion passed with 7 votes aye and 0 votes nay. Original motion passed with 7 votes aye and 0 votes nay. 4.Communication No. 2015-3: Change of Zone Application-Agricultural 20 acres to Agricultural 5 acres (REZ-14-000185) by Harry and Sandra Freitas for TMK 1-8- 005:133: The AC considered providing comments to the Planning Director on the consistency of the proposed with the Puna CDP. Daryn Arai from the Planning Department was on hand to answer any questions the AC might have regarding this change of zone application. Discussion began with mixed views on supporting this change of zone application. Hans and Daryn confirmed that there are measures taken to inform the surrounding land owners. Patti moved that the AC does not provide comment on this rezoning application. Second by June. Patti stated that she is familiar with the neighborhood and believes the application is really dealing with the needs of a family and thinks the neighborhood impacts would be minimal to none. Leila questioned the opportunity to subdivide later after this initial rezone. Discussion continued with AC members still split on what kind of precedence this would set. Motion failed with 0 votes aye and 7 votes nay. René moved that the AC support the rezoning application. Second by Susan. After discussion, René withdrew her motion and Susan withdrew her second. René moved to approve the zone change application as it is consistent with the PCDP section 3.2 and it’s consistency with surrounding land use, the Chair will draft a letter to be sent to the Planning Director. Second by Susan. After more deliberation regarding the alignment of the rezoning with the PCDP, Leila called the previous question. Call the previous question passed with 7 votes aye and 0 votes nay. Main motion passed with 5 votes aye, 1 vote nay (Sharon) and 1 vote to abstain (Leila). 5.Communication No. 2015-1: Draft Letter Regarding the Acquisition of Land adjacent to Luquin’s Restaurant: The AC considered a draft letter urging the acquisition of the parking lot area adjacent to Luquin’s Restaurant. Patti noted that the letter should be directed to the Planning Director with CC’s to the persons addressed in the draft. Farris moved to accept Communication No. 2015-1 with amendment to send to PD and cc others listed in draft. Second by Sharon. Motion passed with 7 votes aye and 0 votes nay. 6.Communication No. 2014-82: Response to South Kohala CDP Chair: AC members reviewed a letter written by the Planning Director in response to a request for an Island-wide Action Committee Council. Patti proposed that she draft a letter in support of an Island-wide Action Committee Council. Second by Leila. Motion passed with 7 votes aye and 0 votes nay. 7.Impact of the Lava: The AC discussed the impacts that the lava flow is having on the Puna Community and the potential short term and long-range effect it may have on implementing the Puna CDP. The threat continues and the waiting continues. Another concern is the Popoki training area (took place during WW2) in Hawaiian Homesteads, which may have unexploded ordinances, and could potentially be in the path of the lava. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING: (February 10, 2015) 1. CERS Report 2. VLRP Report 3. Budget Report Feedback 4. Subcommittee Guidelines 5. LUPAG amendment 6. MTS Report 7. Mt. View SC Report 8. Grubbing & Grading Brochure 9. Lava Impact ADJOURNMENT: The Chair, without objection, adjourned the meeting at 6:06 p.m.