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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-02-01 Hearing Transcript - BennettMcKeagueSPP12-141WINDWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAII HEARING TRANSCRIPT FEBRUARY 1, 2017 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of SUZANNE BENNETT AND JEAN MCKEAGUE (SPP 12-141) was called to order at 9:04 a.m. in the County of Hawaii Aupuni Center Conference Room, 101 Pauahi Street, Hilo, Hawaii with Vice -Chairman Joseph Clarkson presiding. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Joseph Clarkson, Donald Ikeda, Myles Miyasato, and Raylene Moses. ABSENT & EXCUSED: Donn Dela Cruz. RECUSED: Gregory Henkel. ALSO PRESENT: Michael Yee (Planning Director), Daryn Arai (Deputy Planning Director), Mafia Ho (Deputy Corporation Counsel for the Windward Planning Commission), Jeff Darrow (Planning Program Manager), Maija Jackson (Staff Planner), Christian Kay (Staff Planner), and Sarah Hata-Finley (Commission Secretary). And 17 members from the public in attendance. APPLICANTS: SUZANNE BENNETT AND JEAN MCKEAGUE (SPP 12-141) Request for a 5 -year extension of time to comply with Condition No. 4 (secure and finalize building permits) of Special Permit No. 12-141, which allowed the establishment and operation of a school for K -6th grade instruction on one acre of land situated within the State Land Use Agricultural District. The property is located on 5th Avenue, approximately 1,000 feet northwest of the intersection of 5th Avenue and Kaloli Drive, Hawaiian Paradise Park Subdivision, Puna, Hawaii, TMK: 1-5-053:142. HENKEL: The first agenda item will be presented by Maija Jackson. Before we get to that, I've got a disclosure that I'd like to make. I am going to have to recuse myself from this agenda item. I teach two classes at the Shady Grove School, and I'm biased, frankly. And, so, I'm going to recuse myself, you know, but before I go, I'd like to kind of, you know, explain it. You know, Puna is an underserved district, and charter schools in the State are pretty much underserved. We've, in our district, had a kind of a double whammy of a, recently of Hurricane Iselle and the lava coming to town, and both of those have hurt the school. And, the DOE doesn't help charter schools as much as other schools. We don't get funds for buildings, and so forth. The State spent millions, when the lava was coming, to bring temporary buildings to the DOE schools, and the charter schools didn't get much help at all, and we lost enrollment which, which made it hard. EXHIBIT A But, you know, so having said that, I'll let the testifiers and the, the, and Maija state the case, and—and hopefully, you all will, I know you'll reach a just and fair decision. So, I'm going to be sitting in the audience, and I'll turn the meeting over to the Vice -Chairman, Commissioner Jackson [sic], to Joe Clarkson. CLARKSON: Thank you. Thank you. This is my first agenda item, and hopefully my last for a long time. And, the first item on the agenda is an application from Suzanne Bennett and Jean McKeague. Request a five-year extension of time to comply with Condition No. 4, which was to secure and finalize building permits of Special Permit No. 12-141, which allowed the establishment and operation of a school for kindergarten through 6th grade on one acre of land situated within the State Land Use Agricultural District. At this time, would you make the staff presentation? JACKSON: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. If I can direct your attention to the screen, the Applicant, as stated, was Suzanne Bennett and Jean McKeague, and they're requesting an amendment to Special Permit 12-141. The subject property is in the Puna District in the Hawaiian Paradise Park Subdivision. You can see the property shown as a red dot towards the ocean end of the subdivision off of Kaloli Drive which runs east -west. And, then you have Fifth Street running somewhat north -south. This is a closer view of the property outlined in red, and it's just makai of Fifth Avenue. The zoning for the property as well as the surrounding properties is Agricultural – 1 acre. This is the General Plan designation map for the property and the surrounding area. All of the properties—all of the individual lots in Hawaiian Paradise Park are in the Rural land use designation, and that allows for residential farm dwellings as well as some commercial uses and community uses. This is a map of the Puna Community Development Plan. The CDP denotes three areas in Hawaiian Paradise Park that are meant for village centered development so that's where they're—that's where community and commercial uses are supposed to be located. You can see the large village center is up towards the highway off of Kaloli. There's also one off of Makuu in the middle of the subdivision, and then there's one located further down near the subject property. So, the property is located about a thousand feet away from that lower village center. In 2012, the Applicant received a Special Permit to allow the establishment of a school for "K" through 6th grade instruction for up to 38 children on one acre of land in the Agricultural District. Condition 4 of the permit require that building permits be secured and finalized to convert the existing dwelling and accessory structures into a school. In 2014, the Planning Director granted a two-year administrative time extension for Condition 4, and that has since lapsed which is why the Applicant is here today requesting another time extension. EXHIBIT A 2 So, the Applicants are requesting a five-year time extension to comply with Condition No. 4. They have been continually fundraising for the past four years in an attempt to comply with the permit conditions. Their non-performance for securing and finalizing building permits is due to Hurricane Iselle which affected some of the structures on the property, as well as just recently they submitted building permit plans, but when they turned them into the Building Department, they discovered that they were drawn incorrectly, so they have to go back to their draftsperson and have him redraw the plans correctly. This is an aerial view of the property. Again, outlined in red. You can see Fifth Avenue running in a north -south direction. It is a gravel road, and this image is from about four years ago. There have been a few changes on the property. The Applicant put in a loop driveway which I'll show you in a little bit. And, then some of the vegetation on the property is, is gone due to Hurricane Iselle. This is a photo of the dwelling. The top portion of the dwelling is still being used as a residence, and the bottom portion is being used for school instruction. There's an area inside that's being used for the school, and then they also do outdoor instruction under the, under the roof. This is a photo of the indoor of the classroom, and then there's also another detached classroom building in the back of the property. You can see they have their garden area here, and, a handwashing station. There's also an ADA ramp to the detached classroom in the back. And, then these are just some before and after photos. This was a structure that was used as a stage for their performances. There was a little storage area in the back in 2012, and then the open covered stage. You can see the ironwood trees behind it. And, then, due to Iselle, the ironwood trees pretty much got knocked out, knocked down, and it actually collapsed the roof of the structure. So, here's—here's today. You can see no more ironwoods, and they have put up a temporary canopy to cover the stage platform. And, then this a photo of the driveway and parking area. You can see the classroom dwelling structure in the back, and then this is the gravel parking area and the loop driveway. So, this is Fifth Avenue looking towards Kaloli, and people can enter here and park and then leave through, through this driveway here. So, the Planning Director is recommending approval of a two-year time extension with the option of another administrative two-year time extension, if needed, to be granted by the Planning Director rather than the five-year time extension requested by the Applicants. The reason for that is two reasons. One is we received a letter from the Hawaiian Paradise Park Homeowners' Association, and they—they raised concern that the school has been operating there for several years without the appropriate building permits for the school. So, they were concerned about that. They, they felt like two years would be a sufficient amount of time for the Applicant to come in with, with new building permit plans and get those, those permits completed. And, the Department also, you know, recognizes that the school has been operating for several years, and we want to make sure that the structure is safe. That it meets building and fire codes. EXHIBIT A 3 So, however, knowing that it does take some time to get plans through the Building Department, we, we feel that the two years is appropriate and then another two-year administrative time extension, if needed. We did also receive several letters of support this morning that were passed around to you and, as well as a petition of support. So, you should have about, looks like about 15 to 20 letters of support there. And that concludes my presentation. Are there any questions? CLARKSON: Commissioners, any questions for staff? I have one question. I noticed in the background information that the buildings originally received, were permitted structures but not finalized, and I'm wondering if anybody knows whether they received plumbing and electrical inspection as part of the permit process. JACKSON: I'm not sure whether or not the plumbing and electrical permits were finalized. I know that they were pulled in association with the original structures being built, and I think that's probably why the Applicant is having difficulty converting an unpermitted structure to a school because the original building permits were never closed out and finalized. So, they're having to kind of start from scratch. CLARKSON: Okay, thank you. Any other questions? Thank you, Maija. Will the Applicant or their representative please come forward? MCKEAGUE: Hi. CLARKSON: I'm going to ask you to raise your right hand, please. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter before the Planning Commission? MCKEAGUE: Yes, I do. Thanks. CLARKSON: Thank you. Would you please state your name and address? MCKEAGUE: I'm Jean McKeague. My address is 337 Lyman Avenue, Hilo. CLARKSON: Please speak directly into the microphone. And, did you receive the Planning Director's Background Report and Recommendations? Do you agree with those— MCKEAGUE: —Yeah. CLARKSON: or do you have— MCKEAGUE: Yeah.— CLARKSON: You do. EXHIBIT A 4 MCKEAGUE: Yes, I think, I think that was CLARKSON: Do you have any comments to make? MCKEAGUE: I think it was very well worded. He, he acknowledged the fact that, first of all, Hurricane Iselle, of course, but also the fact that charter schools, there's no facilities funding for charter schools, so our over—umbrella charter school, HAAS, is not in a position to assist us with the financial burden of trying to convert so we are a mom and daughter team, you know, one Lillipop at a time. I started a little business that's called Lillipops, you know, working to raise the money so that's, we're pretty grassroots. CLARKSON: Commissioners, any questions for the Applicants or for this testifier? MOSES: Are you okay with the Planning Director's Recommendation of the two-year time extension versus the five? MCKEAGUE: Yes. MOSES: You are? MCKEAGUE: Yes. And, again, that, the situation, the unfortunate situation with the plans has left us with a difficult decision. On the one because they were drawn incorrectly, it, I don't feel like using the same draftsperson because why would I pay the guy some more money to not do the thing right? At the same point, if you're any other draftsperson, you're not going to take that person's plans and go with them. So, it's kind of like, you know, that was like about a $2,500-$3,000 back to the drawing board. BENNETT: Four thousand. MCKEAGUE: Four thousand, okay. So, that's where, because it doesn't seem wise to use the same person again. So, that's kind of been a setback. CLARKSON: If there are no further questions, are you wishing to testify also, ma'am? BENNETT: I'm Suzanne Bennett. I do swear to tell the truth, and I have basically nothing to add except if you want to pass me a dollar, I'll take it. CLARKSON: Okay, if you have nothing further, please be seated. MCKEAGUE: Okay, thank you. CLARKSON: We have six people who have signed up to testify. We'll take them three at a time. If Isabella Drewer, Gabrielle Shapiro, Dwyann Wynn would please come up and be seated? Would you all raise your right hand, please? Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Planning Commission? EXHIBIT A 5 WYNN: I do. DREWER/SHAPIRO: Yes. CLARKSON: Whoever's going to start, please state your name and the area you reside in and speak clearly into the microphone. DREWER: The area I what? HO: Reside. Where do you live? CLARKSON: Where do you live? DREWER: Puna. HO: Okay [inaudible]. DREWER: Hello, my name is Isabella Nina Kelana Drewer, and I live in Puna. Over the past six years at Shady Grove School from lst to 6th grade, I've learned so many things. I've had such an amazing experience. To me, I don't think there is any other curriculum that would be so great. The teachers, the education, and the environment. I don't know what my life would be like without this school, but I know I'm having a great life right now. Even if I went to every other school in the world, Shady Grove would still be my favorite. I love this school for so many reasons. I think that Shady Grove should stay a school forever; a school meant for everyone. The playground is like a forest, but a safe forest. The curriculum is amazing. The teachers are so nice. I love the school. Future students will say the same thing. Mahalo. CLARKSON: Thank you. Would you please state your name and where you live? SHAPIRO: My name is Gabrille Shapiro. I live in Puna. Hello, everyone. My name is Gabrille Shapiro of Shady Grove, and I have been going to Shady Grove School since I was in first grade. The past six years have been amazing, and here are some reasons why. Instead of having humongous classrooms, we have two small ones which personally helps me work better. Also, instead of changing teachers every year, we have one teacher who follows us from grade to grade. My teacher is Jean McKeague or as some may know, Aunty Jean, and she's the best teacher I've ever had. She is loving, caring, kind, and she is very good at explaining difficult concepts. And, altogether, she is a wonderful teacher. Also, instead of having more than 20 students, we have 18, and we all fit together like a perfect family. The small, nurturing environment of Shady Grove really helps the teachers get to focus on their students so we can get a perfect education. Altogether, I really hope that you will grant us this permit extension because I don't know what I would do if Shady Grove closed. I hope when I'm in high school, I can volunteer to help my teacher's new students and also someday when I have a job and children of my own, I will be proud to say that I was a Shady Grove student. Have a great day. Mahalo. CLARKSON: Thank you. Would the next testifier— EXHIBIT A 6 WYNN: Okay. My name is Dwyann Wynn, and I live in Hawaiian Paradise Park on Fourth Street. Shady Grove is very near my home as well as near to my heart, and I've always felt that it's an asset to our community. I have never once heard any of my neighbors express any negative things about Shady Grove. In fact, I've only heard positive statements. My neighbors have expressed how much they enjoy hearing the recording music drifting through the trees; how much they enjoy the performances that they've been invited to the, of the children of Shady Grove. But, it's for the children that are now attending Shady Grove as well as those that will attend in the future that I'm really here for today. When Jean asked me if I would speak, it brought back memories of the last meeting that I attended which was way back in early December of 2012. The, where a standing room only crowd of people raised their voices in support of Shady Grove. There was much praise for this small school that day, but there was one voice that I remember the most. That was the voice of a young girl who stood tall and expressed her appreciation of Shady Grove. She stated how she had never felt like she belonged at her previous school, and that she was bored with learning until she entered Shady Grove. This made me think of my own daughter, Sarah, who was part of Shady Grove's first class with Jean. When Sarah was six years old, she decided she hated school. I literally pried her hands off the blankets in the morning and then listened to her sob all the way to school. I just kind of looked at what was happening and decided that there was something wrong with this picture, and so I decided to take her out of school and home school her until she was a little older. The next day, a friend of mine told me about Shady Grove, and the following day, Sarah and I went to check it out. At that point, Sarah began loving Shady Grove, and she never stopped loving Shady Grove for eight years. She be, Jean not only became Sarah's teacher that day. She became a good friend who has remained so throughout the years. Later, my grandson and then my granddaughter also went on to Shady Grove. I have helped with handwork at Shady Grove. I helped for probably about 20 years and had the opportunity to see some children enter this school with learning problems as well as social problems and leave the school with their own self-worth restored because of, they had the opportunity to overcome these problems. The reason why I'm telling you these stories is to show you how important this school is to the children that now attend and the children in the future. I'm truly grateful to Jean for allowing our family to have the opportunity to send our children and feel that her help with these children at Shady Grove has played a big part in preparing them academically as well as socially to lead productive lives in our community and beyond. I feel like there should always be alternatives made available for children because not all children fit into what many of us consider the norm nowadays, and that we not only need Shady Grove, we need more schools like Shady Grove. And, I want to thank you for allowing me the opportunity to express my feelings about such a fine educational establishment which is led by a great teacher, Jean McKeague. CLARKSON: You're welcome, and thank you. Commissioners, are there any questions for the testifiers? In that case, please WYNN: —Thank you. EXHIBIT A 7 CLARKSON: return to your seats. Will Steve Hirakami, Anthony Bartholomew, and Keanu Marumoto please come forward? Please raise your right hands. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter now before the Planning Commission? HIRAKAMI/BARTHOLOMEW: I do. MARUMOTO: Yes. CLARKSON: Okay, would you please state your name and area HIRAKAML —Good morning. My name is Steve Hirakami. I'm a resident of Kalapana. I am also the founding director and principal of Hawaii Academy of Arts & Science. The chairman kind of perforates [sic] what I was going to start out with so I don't have to go into the natural disasters that kind of affected this timing of the permit. But, I can speak more to the unnatural disaster of how charter schools have been treated by the State. We've, over 17 years, we've received this much for facility support. [Secretary's Note: Mr. Hirakami made a "zero " gesture.] So, it prompted us to find alternatives to building big buildings and big institutions and finding these little mom and pop places that kids feel comfortable coming to. If you think of it, institutionalized building creates institutionalized thinking. And, so, for these young children, coming to a little neighborhood place that they feel like they're going to aunty's house or if you think way back to the one -room school room, this is real comfortable for a young child for the first introduction to schooling so, I think that this is a different model. Now, the thing of State funding with no facilities, that's only the rent part. That only covers the rent. We're a lessee of the property. But, you know, the State has the engineers, the planners, the people that draw up concept designs for new schools. They have the architects. They have the engineers. They have the people that are project administrators that actually build schools. Now, I tell you, I, I am personally on our sixth certificate of occupancy. I've gotten five, so I know the process. It's very laborious to go through this project without any administrative support from the State of Hawaii. To do it on our own is a pretty enormous task in addition to running the school and teaching school, so I know first-hand what a, what a pain it is to go through the planning process, the building process, and getting the certificate of occupancy, and I got five under my belt. So, I know the process. It takes a long time, and I think that, you know, I disagree with, you know, the HPPOA, the Paradise Park—what have they done to the roads? You know, they're gonna assess us $3 a student per month to use the roads, and the roads are in bad shape. It's still red cinder. So, what have they done? So, I wouldn't go by their recommendations. I think that I agree with the Planning Director on granting the extension, but I think it should be for full four years. I don't think we have to come back. Things go a little slowly. I want to say, in Puna, we're, we are at a great disadvantage of roads, transportation, support services, and potable water, and all the things that go with a real school. So, I think that it's really beyond this kind of difficulties that people like these have come forth in the community and without EXHIBIT A transportation to put the schools and these satellite campuses right in the community. Right in the subdivision. It decreases the amount of traffic on the highway. It kind of, you know, it becomes a community's school, and I think that that's the biggest [inaudible]. You saw the pictures. It's really humble. It's not a, it's a real humble place. I think that, you know, I really think that you should offer four years to get it going `cause why put these children, you know, a whole new class. If you don't know the Shady Grove method, they take kids from first grade all the way through sixth grade, so another class will be starting next year, and they'll be on the second year of this extension, so I think that to give it some more time would be really a fair judgment for you, so I ask for an extension, a four-year extension. Thank you very much. CLARKSON: You're welcome. The next testifier, please. MARUMOTO: Hi. My name is Keanu Marumoto. Yeah, the reason why I think you guys, that think you should not close down my school is because not only me and my fellow classmates have learned so much from our teachers, but I bet they have learned a lot from us, too. All of Shady Grove is like one big family. We all work together. We all play together. And, we all eat together. The one thing our teacher strives to teach us is it doesn't matter where you come from. It doesn't matter who you are related to. It doesn't matter how fast you are. It doesn't matter how strong you are. It doesn't matter on your wealth. It just matters what you do here and now in our lifetime. It matters on what you can do here and now. Most people are focused more on their past and their future. Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is our past is already changed. You won't be, and you won't be able to change it, so just stick to the future you have and, and deal with it pretty much. But, in this case, our school is not, is, might not be able to get new students that might be able to share our same experience that we have, that we have in our school. Well, our teachers are really good teachers, like Aunty Jean, Aunty Raquel, Aunty Denise, and Aunty Kristy. They all have been teaching us so much, and it's really, it's really good. I've really learned a lot from all of these teachers so, yeah, that's why I think you guys should not close down our school. BARTHOLOMEW: Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you. My name is Anthony Bartholomew. I am a resident of Puna. Some of you may know, I'm a retired family court judge and presently serving as a per diem judge on an occasional basis. That's, I want to make clear, I'm not here as a representative of the judiciary in any capacity. And, nothing I say should be understood as, you know representing a position of the judiciary. I'm, I'm here because at Shady Grove I'm known as Terra's Uncle Tony. And, it also might be useful for you to know, before I embarked upon my career in the law, it was my plan to be a teacher. And, I have a master's degree in education from the University of Utah with a specialty in elementary education. At one time was a certified elementary school teacher. During my years on the bench, I sat for four years as the juvenile court judge. I was for eight years as a public defender, the juvenile court public defender. And, I also served as a judge on EXHIBIT A 9 what we call the school non-attendance calendar, which if you're not familiar with it, is the calendar in the family court that deals with students who are not going to school and for whatever reason are not getting there and are, therefore, not getting the education which as a community, we are committed to seeing that they receive. Then, as I said, most importantly, for me, I'm a foster parent, and my foster daughter, who was also my niece, is a student at Shady Grove and has attended Shady Grove since she started school in the first grade. And, I'm a proud parent at Shady Grove, and as I said, I'm known down there as Terra's Uncle Tony, not as these other things. I supposed I ought to also say that presently, I'm the vice president of the governing board of HAAS, which means I have some actual familiarity with some of the financing and, you know, money challenges that Shady Grove and other schools that HAAS serves. Here's what I would want you to know. The public schools for a variety of reasons, many of which are, are perfectly understandable and do not reflect some failing on their part but are simply built into the fabric of trying to deliver something as complicated as an education to a community as varied and as, as complicated as our community is with the rural areas and the different, you know, the different cultural backgrounds of the various families and the various kids. There's all kinds of reasons why the public schools are not able always to provide successfully an environment that kids feel they're able to function in and succeed in and so they don't go. And, they don't go. And, their parents can't make them go. And, it's a, for those families, it's a big mess, because I can't tell you how many kids I've seen who are 16-17 years old who have never been to school for all practical purposes. Their attendance is 70-80-90 absences in the course of a school year, and, of course, any of you could understand, nobody can get an education if you're not there. And, that's our future. That's the future of our community. Shady Grove doesn't have that problem. The kids who go to Shady Grove go to Shady Grove. And, my particular kid has learning challenges, and Shady Grove from day one has stepped up big time to help her deal with the issues that she has surrounding dyslexia and reading. And, the extra attention that she gets, the support she gets from the school and, frankly, from this guy and these two young ladies back here who are her classmates, means the world to her. Means the world to me. We need schools like this. If you could have ten Shady Groves, we'd be much better for it. Cost you about a tenth of what we're spending for the big public institutions. We need those, too. I'm a big fan of public schools. I went to public schools, and I'm a supporter of public schools, but they can't do the whole job. And, schools like Shady Grove provide a place where people can get to and where kids can go. And, I can tell you, the education these kids are getting—the arts, the music, the science—it's wonderful. I would invite any of you some time, just come on down to Shady Grove when they're putting on one of their productions, and you will see an amiable chaos like you can't imagine. And, you will see parents by the dozen who are there. You don't see that at some of the public schools. You can't get the parents to go there. In fact, when the parents do go there, they're angry. So, whatever you can do for this school, I'm not here to talk about the two-year permit or the four-year permit. That's not my department, but I'm telling you, we need Shady EXHIBIT A 10 Grove. We need more Shady Groves. Anything you can do to help them is a day well spent. Thank you. CLARKSON: You're welcome, and thank you. Are there any questions for any of these testifiers from the Commission? I need a motion to close public testimony. MIYASATO: I make a motion to close public testimony. IKEDA: Second. CLARKSON: Okay, it's been moved and seconded to close public testimony. Would you proceed with roll call? JACKSON: Chair Clarkson, I just want to add I was able to find the permits online, and it looks like the plumbing and the electrical permits have been completed. CLARKSON: Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were calling for the vote. All those in favor signify by saying aye to the motion on the floor. HO: Is there a motion? There has to be a motion. CLARKSON: No, there was, and it was seconded. HO: Oh, sorry, the other motion. My bad. COMMISSIONERS: Aye. CLARKSON: Okay, the motion carries. Commissioners, motion for action? MIYASATO: Chair, I'll make a motion. First of all, you know, I'd like to say to Isabella, Gabrielle, and Keanu great job to you folks on testifying. I'll make a motion to approve. I move that the application to amend Special Permit SPP 12-141 be approved based on the Planning Director's recommendations, findings, and modifications of Condition No. 4 which shall be adopted. IKEDA: Second. CLARKSON: Okay, it was moved by Commissioner Miyasato and seconded by Commissioner Ikeda. Discussions or comments from the Commissioners? Hearing none, would you call the roll, please? JACKSON: Yes. ChairI'm sorry, Commissioner Miyasato? MIYASATO: Aye. JACKSON: Commissioner Ikeda? EXHIBIT A 11 IKEDA: Aye. JACKSON: Commissioner Moses? MOSES: Aye. JACKSON: And, Chair Clarkson. CLARKSON: Aye. JACKSON: Okay, the motion passes four, zero. CLARKSON: Thank you all. The Applicants will be notified in writing of this action. MCKEAGUE (from audience): Thank you all very much for your time. We appreciate your service. The discussion ended at 9:43 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Sarah Y. Hata-Finley, Secretary Windward Planning Commission EXHIBIT A 12