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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-04-21 Leeward Exh A (Amend REZ 443) LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I HEARING TRANSCRIPT APRIL 21, 2016 PLANNING DIRECTOR INITIATED AMENDMENT A regularly advertised hearing on the TO CHANGE OF ZONE ORDINANCE NO. 889 (AMEND REZ 443) was called to order at 9:38 a.m. in the West Hawai‘i Civic Center, Community Center, Building G, 74-5044 Ane Keohokālole Highway, Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i, with Chairman Keith Unger presiding. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Keith Unger, Scott Church, Collin Kaholo, Barbara Nobriga and Sonny Shimaoka ABSENT AND EXCUSED: Brandi Beaudet ALSO PRESENT: Danny Patel (Counsel for the Commission), Duane Kanuha (Planning Director), Daryn Arai (Planning Program Manager), Jeff Darrow (Planner), Christian Kay (Planner) and Noriko Sauer (Commission Secretary) And approximately 80 people from the public in attendance. INITIATOR: PLANNING DIRECTOR (AMEND REZ 443) The Planning Director has initiated an amendment to Change of Zone Ordinance No. 889, adopted by the County Council in 1983, which reclassified approximately 28 acres from the Agricultural-40 acres (A-40a) to an Agricultural-5 acres (A-5a) zoning district. The proposed amendment is to delete Conditions C and H which would remove the current agricultural use restrictions and instead allow agricultural land uses that are permitted by the State Land Use Law and the County Zoning Code. The properties covered by this ordinance are located north of Hawai‘i Belt Road and west of Kauakea Road in the Kauakea Subdivision, Pu‘ukapu Homesteads, nd 2 Series, South Kohala, Hawai‘i, TMKs: 6-4-017:023, 064-067, and 078 (formerly TMK: 6-4-017:023). UNGER: Agenda Item No. 1, Initiator, Planning Department, Amendment REZ 443. Staff? ARAI: Thank you very much. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Commission. And thank you, everyone in the audience, for attending. The first item on today’s agenda is a request from the Planning Director for a Change of Zone amendment to Ordinance No. 889. If I may direct your attention to the presentation screen. This is — UNIDENTIFIED PUBLIC MEMBER: Can we move the screen? Everyone here can’t really see it on this side. ARAI: I apologize. Given the capacity of the room, we are, part of the reason for the presentation is not to, not only to describe the proposal to the general public but also to the Commissioners, the very one who will be making a decision on the various applications today. So we want to make sure that we properly orient our Commissioners by going through our presentation. We 1 EXHIBIT A understand the difficulty. We try to provide the best accommodations that we could, but we do ask for your patience. Thank you very much. UNIDENTIFIED PUBLIC MEMBER: Well, then we would like to move our kupuna on this side then. ARAI: If the space does allow for it, please. But one thing I may want to ask, and I am sorry for getting off track here but, are most of you here for a particular agenda item? And I’m thinking Agenda Item No. 4 regarding Ocean Villas or the Lalamilo application. Because, the reason I’m asking is because when we get to a particular item that is of interest to most of the people in the audience, at that time we can try to make a decision of what we can do with the presentation screen. But to try to accommodate everyone through every single agenda item currently on the schedule, then I think that’s going to be a little too difficult. UNIDENTIFIED PUBLIC MEMBER: Are you folks okay with that? Okay. Thank you. ARAI: Okay, let me back up real quick. The first item is regarding an amendment request in Waimea. So if someone who is not able to see the presentation screen is particularly interested in this amendment request, maybe you can move now to view the screen. But if not, if you can stay put until this matter concludes. Okay. Thank you very much. Anyway, back to the presentation, this is a location map showing the Waimea area. Off to your left hand side where the arrow is pointing is the town of Waimea, and off to your right in the area identified by a red circle is Kauakea Subdivision, which is the subdivision that is the subject of this specific amendment request. The colors that you see are the various zoning districts that currently applies to this particular section of Waimea. Zooming in, and to give you a little bit of orientation, the subject property is located here. It is basically bordered by a red outline. The color represented is Agricultural-5 acres, which means Agricultural lands with a minimum lot size of five acres. Surrounding it, the blue color is Agricultural lands with a minimum lot size of 40 acres. The lighter green here off to the left hand side of Kauakea Subdivision is Agricultural one acre minimum lot size. This subdivision here I believe is Ho‘onani Subdivision, just for orientation purposes. And at the very bottom – oops, sorry – at the very bottom this line running left to right is the Māmalahoa Highway off to the right heading toward Honoka‘a Town. And as you can see from this map, this plan, Kauakea Subdivision currently consists of five individual lots with a minimum lot size of five acres. This is a map showing the subject property outlined in red. Please note that the entire area is designated for agricultural uses by the State Land Use Commission as indicated by the light green color. Looking at the General Plan Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide Map, note that the subject property is largely within this green colored area that is designated for Important Agricultural Lands, and a small portion on the mauka side, or north side, is within an area designated for extensive agricultural uses. This is an aerial photo of the subject property once again outlined in red. And while not depicted, there are basically five lots: One lot in this area here fronting the highway, then another lot here around these facilities and buildings here, another lot here the third lot, and then the fourth lot here 2 EXHIBIT A roughly in this triangle shape, and then the last in this polygon shape here. So, again, there are five individual five-acre lots within this subdivision. When Ordinance 889 was passed by the County Council in 1983 to rezone this particular area consisting of 28 acres from Ag-40 to Agricultural five-acre minimum lot size, it was done so in order to accommodate the subdivision of the 28-acre property into six lots, which included one roadway lot. The ordinance required that the subdivision be developed in two distinct increments. And it also placed strict limitations on the types of agricultural uses that could occur on the properties. The Director has initiated this particular amendment to delete Conditions C and H, which would remove the currently limited agricultural use restrictions and add a new condition that allows for the full range of agricultural uses that are permitted by the State Land Use Law and the County Zoning Code. The Director is recommending that the Commission issue a favorable recommendation of this request to the County Council. Just to kind of briefly summarize, the conditions that were imposed on this subdivision back in 1983 made a requirement that the agricultural uses on the property be encouraged in order to allow for its development in two distinct increments. But the agricultural, reference to these agricultural uses were very, very limited; they were largely crop production and a few other uses, but that only represented five of the uses permitted, five out of the 14 uses that are currently permitted under Chapter 205, which is the State Land Use Law. So what we are simply doing is saying instead of just restricting it to these five uses prescribed by the ordinance, allow these properties to be used for various agricultural uses that are currently permitted by the State Land Use Law and that is made available to all lands designated, similarly designated Agricultural in the State. So with that, I stand ready to answer any questions that you may have. UNGER: Great. Thank you. Commissioners, do you have any questions of the Planning Department at this time? Will the applicant please come forward? \[Speaking to the Planning Director,\] do you want to — KANUHA: We initiated — UNGER: Right. Do, does the Commissioners have any questions for the Planning Director? Very good. If there are members of the public that are interested in testifying on this matter, please come forward at this time. Okay. I would like to request a motion from the Commissioners to close this portion of the public hearing. SHIMAOKA: Yeah, I move that a favorable recommendation be forwarded — UNGER: First we need to close, we need a motion to close public hearing. SHIMAOKA: Okay, I motion to close. UNGER: Do I have a second? KAHOLO: Second. 3 EXHIBIT A UNGER: We have a motion by Commissioner Shimaoka, second by Commissioner Kaholo, to close public hearing. Public hearing is now closed. At this time I’m requesting a motion from the Commissioners in regard to this agenda item. CHURCH: Is this on? Mr. Chair, I move that a favorable recommendation be forwarded to the County Council on the application to amend REZ 443, based on the Planning Director’s recommendation, findings and proposed conditions, which shall be adopted. UNGER: Do I have a second? NOBRIGA: Second. UNGER: We have a motion from Commissioner Church, second from Commissioner Nobriga. Any further, we have a motion on the floor, any discussion from Commissioners? Very well. Staff, roll call, please. ARAI: Thank you. Commissioner Church? CHURCH: Yea. ARAI: Commissioner Nobriga? NOBRIGA: Aye. ARAI: Commissioner Kaholo? KAHOLO: Aye. ARAI: Commissioner Shimaoka? SHIMAOKA: Aye. ARAI: And Mr. Chairman? UNGER: Aye. ARAI: Mr. Chairman, motion carries with five aye votes. The discussion ended at 9:49 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Noriko Sauer, Secretary Leeward Planning Commission 4 EXHIBIT A