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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-03-17 Leeward Exh A (USE 15-060) LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I HEARING TRANSCRIPT MARCH 17, 2016 CELLCO PARTNERSHIP DBA A regularly advertised hearing on the application of VERIZON WIRELESS (USE 15-060) was called to order at 9:35 a.m. in the West Hawai‘i Civic Center, Community Center, Building G, 74-5044 Ane Keohokālole Highway, Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i, with Chairman Brandi Beaudet presiding. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Brandi Beaudet, Thomas Whittemore, Collin Kaholo, Sonny Shimaoka and Keith Unger ABSENT AND EXCUSED: Scott Church and Barbara Nobriga ALSO PRESENT: Danny Patel (Counsel for the Commission), Duane Kanuha, (Planning Director), Jeff Darrow (Planner), Maija Jackson (Planner), Christian Kay (Planner) and Noriko Sauer (Commission Secretary) And approximately 14 people from the public in attendance. APPLICANT: CELLCO PARTNERSHIP DBA VERIZON WIRELESS (USE 15-060) Request for a Use Permit to allow the construction of a new telecommunication facility, including a 60-foot tall steel monopalm and related facilities within a 750-square foot portion of a 13.859-acre parcel situated in the County’s Agricultural 5-acre (A-5a) zoning district. The property is located on Hooper Road, approximately 700 feet south of the Kao Road-Hooper Road st intersection, Portion of Honalo-Kawanui 1, North Kona, Hawai‘i, TMK: 7-9-003: Portion of 008. BEAUDET: Our first applicant today is Cellco Partnership dba Verizon Wireless, a request for a Use Permit to allow the construction of a new telecommunications facility. Staff? KAY: Thank you, Mr. Chair. If I can direct your attention to the screen. The applicant is Cellco Partnership doing business as Verizon Wireless. They’ve applied for a Use Permit. The subject 13.859-acre parcel is located in the North Kona District of Hawai‘i Island. It’s here outlined in red. More specifically it’s located in the Honalo area. For reference we have Hooper Road running north-south through the slide, and the subject parcel is to the north of the intersection of Kuakini Highway, Māmalahoa Highway and the Hawai‘i Belt Road. Here is a closer view of the subject parcel again outlined in red. For orientation again we have Hooper Road here, Kuakini, Māmalahoa to the south. Also please note the 750-square foot project area, which is indicated in this black dashed line. The subject parcel and much of the surrounding area is zoned Agricultural-5 acres as indicated by the light green. Properties to the north and east of the subject parcel are Agricultural-20 acres and Agricultural-5 acres as well. Directly to the south of the subject parcel is Family Agricultural-2 1 EXHIBIT A acres, and across Hooper Road to the west is Multi-Family Residential and that is the Kona Coffee Villas townhomes. The surrounding uses in the area are agricultural, these residential uses and vacant land. The State Land Use designates the property split between Agricultural as indicated in green and Urban as indicated in the pink color. The General Plan Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide Map also splits the designation of the subject parcel, Important Agricultural Lands indicated in green and Low Density Urban indicated by the mustard color. The Kona CDP designates the subject parcel as partial within the Rural Transit Oriented Development Area as indicated by the blue line that runs through the parcel. Here is a couple of aerial photographs. The one on the left is just showing the entire 13-acre parcel; again, you can see Hooper Road running north-south, the Kona Coffee Villas townhomes to the west. On the right hand side here zoomed in and the yellow dashed line is indicating roughly where the telecommunications tower would be located. The applicant is requesting a Use Permit to construct a 60-foot tall steel monopalm tower with twelve eight-foot panel antennas mounted on top of the tower and related facilities within a 750-square foot portion of a 13.859-acre parcel situated in the County’s Ag-5a zoning district. The monopalm will emulate the appearance of a palm tree with the pole made to look like trunk painted brown and imitation palm fronds on top of the pole. Additionally, the antennas will be painted green to match the frond color. The reason for the request is to allow Verizon to provide adequate wireless telephone service to the residences and businesses of the Honalo area as well as travelers passing through along Māmalahoa Highway. And the height of the facility will also allow sufficient handoff of signals to existing telecommunication towers at Keauhou and Kealakekua. This is the applicant’s site plan. Again, on the left it’s just kind of showing where the project area is going to be relative to the larger parcel, and on the right a zoom-in showing again relatively where the telecommunications tower is going to be; in this case Hooper Road is running through the bottom of the slide east-west. Here is elevations of the telecommunications facility, again, made to look like a palm tree showing the fake palm fronds around the antenna. And this is a photograph of the project area from Hooper Road; generally, the facility will be located right around here to the left. And just some pictures of Hooper Road looking south with the Kona Coffee Villas to the right and the subject parcel to the left, and then opposite looking north the parcel to the right and the Villas to the left. The Planning Director is recommending approval with conditions. With that I complete my presentation. If there are any questions from the Commission, I’d be happy to answer them. BEAUDET: Commissioners, any questions for staff? Thank you. KAY: Thank you, Mr. Chair. BEAUDET: Would the applicant please come forward? 2 EXHIBIT A SUNG: Good morning. BEAUDET: Good morning. If you could just please raise your right hand. Do you swear now and before the Leeward Planning Commission to tell the truth? SUNG: Yes, I do. BEAUDET: Thank you. If you could introduce yourself. Speak into the mike. SUNG: Yes. My name is Steve Sung with Wireless Resources. We are agent for Verizon Wireless. BEAUDET: Thank you. SUNG: Thank you. BEAUDET: So I’m assuming that you’ve gone through the conditions on the recommendation. And if there is any discussion or concerns with any of the conditions, now is your time to discuss that. SUNG: Yes, we would, we would pretty much adhere to all the conditions as required for this Use Permit application. BEAUDET: Okay, thank you. If you’d like to proceed with a presentation or some discussion, please go ahead. SUNG: So in general I think Christian has done a, pretty much made a presentation for me. But the reason for this particular request, we’ve been having a lot of complaints in the Honalo areas as well as, you know, having the traffic on Māmalahoa Highway, that we are getting a lot of drop calls, and that’s the reason for this particular application. We, now, because you have more data usage, especially people using, you know, Facebook, you know, all this social media thing, that one download equals somewhat like maybe eight to ten phone calls. So the need is there and that’s, you know, the number one reason that we want to make sure we have the coverage and capacity around the Honalo area. BEAUDET: Thank you. SUNG: Thank you. BEAUDET: Commissioners, any questions of the applicant or discussion? Okay. With that, thank you. SUNG: Thank you, sir. BEAUDET: Staff, have we got anyone from the community to testify? Okay. Being that there is no one in the audience who wishes to testify, for the record I’d like to close the public testimony 3 EXHIBIT A portion of this meeting. If there is no further discussion, Commissioners, could I ask for a motion? SHIMAOKA: Yeah, I move that the application for a Use Permit, Docket No. USE 15-060, be approved based on the Planning Director’s findings, recommendation, and proposed conditions, which shall be adopted. KAHOLO: Second. BEAUDET: It has been moved by Commissioner Shimaoka and seconded by Commissioner Kaholo. Any discussion? Staff? Staff, roll call, please. KAY: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Commissioner Shimaoka? SHIMAOKA: Aye. KAY: Commissioner Kaholo? KAHOLO: Aye. KAY: Commissioner Unger? UNGER: Aye. KAY: Commissioner Whittemore? WHITTEMORE: Aye. KAY: And Chair Beaudet? BEAUDET: Aye. KAY: Okay, thank you. The motion carries, five-nothing. SUNG: Thank you. The discussion ended at 9:44 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Noriko Sauer, Secretary Leeward Planning Commission 4 EXHIBIT A