Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-22-2012 SKCDPAC Minutes SOUTH KOHALA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES OF MEETING Held October 22, 2012 A regular meeting of the South Kohala Community Development Plan Action Committee was held on October 22, 2012. The meeting was called to order at 5:07 p.m. at the Lilly Yoshimatsu Senior Center (Waimea Senior Center), 67-1199 Mamalahoa Highway Waimea, 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 Chris Roehrig Jojo Tanimoto Committee members Margaret Horwatt and Achahn Schulze were not in attendance at the time the meeting was called to order. Also present were Project Manager Terry Dunlap and Bennett Mark from the Office of the Hawai’i County Planning Department, William Brilhante, Office of the Corporation Counsel of the County of Hawai’i. 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 encouraged the Committee to have its subcommittees include members of the public. The Committee then tabled consideration of the minutes of the meetings held on July 23, 2012, and August 27, 2012. Regarding the minutes of the meeting held on September 24, 2012, Mr. Hoover requested correction of the spelling of the names of Gunner Mench and Robin Inaba and Ms. Tanimoto requested that George Robertson be referred to by that name rather than referring to him as Robbie Robertson. The minutes of the meeting held on September 24, 2012, were deemed accepted subject to the foregoing corrections. The Committee members next considered the Land Use Permit Activity Report that had 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. Dunlap‘s report. The next item on the agenda was subcommittee reports. Ms. Inaba submitted the Waimea subcommittee report and indicated that a letter had been sent by the Waimea Design Review Committee to Tyson Caitano concerning compliance with a recently approved Special Permit application but that his response had not been on point. A follow-up letter will be sent. Mr. Brilhante left the meeting and Ms. Horwatt joined the meeting at 5:20 p.m. during Ms. Inaba’s presentation. Ms. Tanimoto then reported for the Kawaihae subcommittee. She suggested that a proposed change in a speed limit in the Kawaihae area be considered but agreed to postpone consideration of the matter until the November meeting. She also discussed the manner in which the Burial Council can assist regarding the efforts relating to the historic corridor but has been advised that such help will not be available until later in the year. Finally, Ms. Tanimoto expressed concerns about the extent of support for local advocacy groups in the Kawaihae area and stated that she felt the Kawaihae subcommittee and the Action Committee might look into assisting these groups or taking on consideration of some of the issues faced by these groups. Mr. Brilhante rejoined the meeting at 5;30 p.m., at which time Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd, Director of the Planning Department, also joined the meeting. Mr. Hoover then reported for the District Wide Subcommittee. He discussed a meeting held by the Puako Community Association at which Committee member Schulze had appeared and at which the Hapuna Beach State Park improvements were considered. Mr. Hoover stressed that the Puako community supported the proposal regarding the installation of gated access points and noted that the effort dated back to 1993, at which time the premise of the community was that unrestricted access is a danger to the archaeological sites and the area environment. He recommended having representatives of the State appear at a future meeting to explain the reasoning behind the decision to proceed with installing gated access points and Ms. Tanimoto offered a motion to extend such an invitation, with Ms. Horwatt seconding the motion. Mr. Hoover suggested that the Committee members should be better informed before having the State representatives appear at a meeting so as to ensure that the members could effectively ask questions and understand any presentation by the State representatives. The motion was adopted by the Committee with Mr. Hoover and Mr. Roehrig opposed. Mr. Dunlap agreed to communicate the invitation to the appropriate State representatives. In furtherance of the Waimea subcommittee report, Ms. Horwatt then presented a summary of the monthly South Kohala Traffic Safety Committee meeting. She stated that the Waiaka bridge report had indicated that alternative 5 had been selected but the community had strongly expressed a preference for alternative 4. The Traffic Safety Committee is sending a letter to the County about this matter and asked for the support of the Action Committee. It will be placed on the agenda for the Action Committee meeting in November. She also indicated that the Traffic Safety Committee is sending a letter to Mayor Kenoi requesting immediate extension of Paniolo Avenue northward through Waikoloa Village utilizing County funds to connect to the new park facility in the work force housing project area. There were no other subcommittee reports. Under old business, Mr. Dunlap reported that the County would soon begin advertising to solicit applicants to fill vacancies on the Committee. The Committee then turned to new business. Mr. Brilhante stated that he wanted the members to consider privilege issues before he reported regarding the status of the legal opinion that had been requested by the Committee. After some discussion, the Committee asked that Ms. Leithead-Todd report regarding the agreement reached concerning the manner in which the Committee will be given the opportunity to comment on pending applications that come before the Planning Department which involve properties in the South Kohala District. The legal opinion matter would be taken up after the report by Ms. Leithead-Todd. Ms. Leithead-Todd stated the Planning Department had accepted a suggestion from the Committee’s representatives offered at a meeting held in September whereby the Planning Department would advise the Chair (or another member of the Committee designated by the Committee) concerning all discretionary applications and certain other types of applications coming before the Planning Department which relate to property within the South Kohala District. The notice would be accompanied by a description of the application setting forth sufficient information to enable a Committee representative to determine whether the Committee wished to give further consideration to the application, and would be sent to the Committee representative at the same time the Planning Department solicited comments on the application from other entities such as County departments. If the Committee wished to further consider the application, representatives of the Committee could examine the contents of the application file at the Planning Department. If the Committee chose to do so, it could then include the matter on the agenda for the next Committee meeting and agree as to what comments and/or suggestions, if any, it wished to offer to the Planning Department, and the Planning Department would consider any communication from the Committee submitted following the meeting. The Committee would be given a relatively brief period to submit any such communication following the meeting. Ms. Leithead-Todd then answered questions from the Committee members regarding the contemplated arrangements and distributed a list of the kinds of applications that the Planning Department receives with an indication of which would be brought to the attention of the Committee. The Committee members thanked Ms. Leithead-Todd for her explanation and for agreeing to have the Planning Department work with the Committee in this fashion. The Committee then returned to the question of the request for a legal opinion and, following further discussion, Mr. Brilhante agreed to present a written legal opinion to the Committee responding to the questions raised in the request, which is to be delivered to the Committee members prior to the November meeting and which will be discussed at the November meeting. The next item on the Agenda was statements from the public. George Robertson discussed the significance to the Puako community of having gates to the Wailea Bay and Hapuna Beach areas. He noted that existing gates to both areas are sometimes left open, leaving the area unsecure. He added that the South Kohala CDP calls for the transfer of Old Puako Road from the County to the state to allow the contemplated gating to limit access to proceed. Mr. Robertson focused on the problems caused by dumping of waste in the area because the public waste facility has limited hours of operation. Margaret Wille spoke about the need for construction of the transpiration hub that is included in the CIP budget. 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; 2. request from SK Traffic Safety Committee regarding the Waiaka bridge project; 3. letter to the Mayor regarding the extension of Paniolo Avenue utilizing County funds with provision for reimbursement of the County by the developer legally responsible for such work; 4. Waimea Pu’u protection report; 5. designation of a subcommittee to receive notices of pending Planning Department applications or alternative methodology for commenting thereon; 6. meeting of Action Committee Chair persons and/or other AC representatives to discuss Committee progress; 7. motion to propose amendment to the SK CDP regarding speed limits in certain areas of Kawaihae; and 8. consideration of inclusion in CIP budget of Kawaihae community center. The Chairman then noted that the next meeting of the Committee is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 26, 2012, in the Waikoloa Village Association Community Meeting Room, 68-1792 Melia Street, Waikoloa Village,Waikoloa, Hawai’i. There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting was adjourned at 7:20 p.m. ______________________________ Michael B. Fischer Chairman