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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-06-15 Leeward Exh B (AMEND SPP 11-000120) LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I HEARING TRANSCRIPT JUNE 15, 2017 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of HAWAI‘I ISLAND HUMANE SOCIETY (SPP 11-000120) was called to order at 9:46 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 F. Unger presiding. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Keith F. Unger, Nancy Carr Smith, Scott Church, Collin Kaholo, Perry Kealoha and Sonny Shimaoka ABSENT AND EXCUSED: Barbara Nobriga ALSO PRESENT: Malia Ho Hall (Counsel for the Commission), Michael Yee (Planning Director), Maija Jackson (Planner), Christian Kay (Planner) and Noriko Sauer (Commission Secretary) And three people from the public in attendance. APPLICANT: HAWAI‘I ISLAND HUMANE SOCIETY (SPP 11-000120) Request to amend Special Permit No. 11-000120 by enlarging the size of the proposed veterinary clinic building from 1,500± square feet to approximately 16,670 square feet and to include additional stray dog and cat housing. Special Permit No. 11-000120 was originally approved to allow the establishment of an animal sheltering facility and related uses on approximately 12 acres of land within the State Land Use Agricultural District. The property is the former Fuku-Bonsai site and is located on the mauka side of Māmalahoa Highway, northwest of the Ha‘awina Street-Māmalahoa Highway intersection, mauka portion of Keauhou 1st, North Kona, Hawai‘i, TMK: 7-8-006:065. UNGER: Second item on the agenda. Applicant Hawai‘i Island Humane Society, SPP 11-000120, request to amend Special Permit No. 11-000120 by enlarging the size of the proposed veterinary clinic building from 1,500 square feet to approximately 16,670 square feet and to include additional stray dog and cat housing. Special Permit No. 11-000120 was originally approved to allow the establishment of an animal sheltering facility and related uses on approximately twelve acres of land within the State Land Use Agricultural District. The property is the former Fuku Bonsai site and is located on the mauka side of Māmalahoa Highway, southwest \[northwest\] of the Ha‘awina Street- Māmalahoa Highway intersection, mauka portion of Keauhou 1st, North Kona, Hawai‘i, TMK 7-8-6 Parcel 65. JACKSON: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning everyone. UNGER: Good morning. JACKSON: Okay, so your next application is a request for a Special Permit amendment. The applicant is Hawai‘i Island Humane Society. 1 EXHIBIT B The subject property is located in Kona. And you can see running in a north-south direction is Kuakini Highway and then the subject property is outlined in red just mauka of not only Kuakini Highway but Māmalahoa Highway comes just off of Kuakini in this location and heads north. The property is currently zoned Agricultural-5 acres, which is shown in the light green color, and properties to the north are Agricultural-1 acre, which is the dark green color, and further north are residences on half-acre lots that are zoned Residential and Agricultural-0.5 acre. Special Permit No. 11-120 was issued in 2011 to allow the establishment of an animal sheltering facility and related uses on twelve acres of land in the State Land Use Agricultural District. The project included: Renovating and reusing existing structures associated with the former bonsai visitor center – oh, that doesn’t read very well – they are actually going to be renovating and reusing the administrative building, the welcome center and the cattery building; and then they are also proposing to construct an education center, a veterinary clinic, a dog kennel building, retail area and caretaker’s cottage. Some of the outdoor features will be a two-acre dog park, a large equine park and stable, as well as a small animal park and walking trails. And then they will also be providing additional parking and landscaping. This was the applicant’s original site plan, and I’ll just point out a few of the main features. Again, you have Māmalahoa Highway running through the bottom of the slide here. Access is in this location, and then the existing buildings are shown in the orange color; you have the welcome center, there is an administrative building here, restroom building and a cattery building. And then all of the red structures on the property were proposed to be new. And then you can see the large equine park and the dog park located near the highway. So, the applicant has submitted a new site plan and they are proposing to readjust some of the locations of these activities, and I can show you that in just a moment. Their request at this time is to amend the permit to enlarge the size of the proposed veterinary clinic building from 1,500 square feet to about 16,000 square feet and to include additional stray dog and cat housing. The original permit allowed a 1,500-square foot vet clinic building for spaying, neutering and small animal surgery. It also allowed a 2,300-square foot cat housing building and dog kennels to accommodate up to 60 dogs. So, the applicant’s current request, as I mentioned, is to expand that vet clinic building to 3,550 square feet, and then it will be attached to a larger building that will be approximately 13,000 square feet in size, and that will provide the additional housing for the stray dogs and cats. So, the new building will total a little over 16,000 square feet. The cattery building that was original proposed to be 2,300 square feet will also increase in size a little bit, to about 2,880 square feet. And the dog kennels that will be housed in the new 16,000-square foot building will accommodate up to 125 dogs. And this is the applicant’s new proposed site plan. So, again, you have the main access in this location here. There’s going to be two large parking areas towards the bottom of the property, and then two large parking areas up towards the top of the property. I’ll just go over a few of the uses. So, this is the existing administration building, existing restroom structures, this is the existing welcome center. There is going to be two dog parks: One will be a large dog park located in this area here with some shade pavilions, and then a smaller dog park on the lower side of the property, again 2 EXHIBIT B also with a few shade pavilions. And then up towards the top of the property there will be a cat pavilion, or cattery building, dog kennels here, here and here, and then an adoption area. And then the largest structure on the property is going to be the building that they are requesting the amendment for; that’s, the vet clinic will be located here, and then attached to that is the stray dog and cat housing in these areas. And I’ll give you a closer view of the new building. So, again, we have the veterinary clinic in this area here, and then attached to that will be a dog runs, fenced exercised areas, and then some cat housing, and then again more dog runs up here. This next slide shows an elevation of the proposed veterinary clinic and cat and dog housing. And then we’ll go to the current land use plans for the area. Again, you can see the subject property outlined in red. The current State Land Use District classification is Agricultural, which is shown in the green color. And then the General Plan designation for the area is Important Agricultural Land. This property was used previously as a quarry, and then it became reused for the Fuku Bonsai Visitor Center. It’s also been used for a self-storage and – so, this is the Kona CDP Land Use Map. You can see where the subject property is located in that big green dot; it’s located just outside of the Kona Urban Area, which is shown with the red outline. And then these are some photos of the property that were taken last week. There is some activity going on currently. The applicant has received Plan Approval for Phase One and Phase Two, so the only phase they haven’t received Plan Approval for yet is this new vet clinic and cat and dog housing structure. And then they’ve also received Building Permits for Phase One and Phase Two. So they started construction. This view here is taken just south of the main entrance, standing in the highway right-of-way looking towards, I believe that’s either the admin building or the welcome center in the background here. So, this is generally where the small dog park would be located, and parking. And then this is looking on the north side of the property towards the back; so, in the foreground would be the large dog park, and then up more on the hill here would be where the veterinary clinic would be located. And then this is a view of Māmalahoa Highway looking north; so you can see the main driveway here. And this is a view of Māmalahoa Highway looking south; again, the main driveway is on the left side. And one of your conditions in the permit that we are recommending is a sight distance analysis. Department of Public Works had recommended that because the sight distance in this area here is a little bit poor; you can see a vehicles come off of Kuakini Highway and then they curve around here and there is a hump in the road, so it’s difficult to see vehicles that are coming north on Māmalahoa Highway as you are pulling out of the driveway. So Public Works is asking for a sight distance easement generally in this location over here in order for the vegetation to be cut low so that it’s easier for vehicles to see each other coming and going at the driveway. The Planning Director is recommending approval of the amendment. And I would be happy to answer any questions you have. UNGER: Great. Thank you. Commissioners, any questions? SHIMAOKA: Yeah, I got one. Because it was J. M. Tanaka, right, many years ago, was there any heavy equipment that was buried in under there? 3 EXHIBIT B JACKSON: I don’t know that. I think the applicant would know if there is any history of that. SHIMAOKA: Well, I was just wondering if there was an environmental impact statement on that. I’m just kind of remembering that some of the heavy equipment was buried under the property. JACKSON: Okay, yeah, I wasn’t aware of that — SHIMAOKA: I will ask — JACKSON: — and an environmental statement wasn’t needed for this project as far as I’m aware of, so, but we can ask the applicant that. CHURCH: Maybe only a piece of minutia so you will know I’m reading your report. In the opening paragraph you state “approximately 16,670 \[square\] feet,” yet everywhere else it’s “16,650 \[square\] feet.” So I guess we lost 20 \[square\] feet in there somewhere. JACKSON: Yeah, I’m thinking that was probably a typo. CHURCH: Okay. JACKSON: Thank you. UNGER: Any other questions? Thank you. Would the applicant come forward, please? Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth before the Planning Department \[Commission\]? REPRESENTATIVES: \[Nodded in affirmation.\] UNGER: Please state your name and your area of residence. ATWOOD: My name is Adam Atwood \[inaudible\]. UNGER: Could you speak into the mike, please? ATWOOD: Thank you. My name is Adam Atwood and I live in Kailua-Kona. ARMBRUSTER: My name is Shani Armbruster and I live in Waimea, Kamuela. WHITAKER: Donna Whitaker. I live in Kailua-Kona. UNGER: Great. Thank you. You can begin with your presentation. ATWOOD: Good morning. Thank you for considering our permit application. My name is Adam Atwood and I am the president of the board for the Hawai‘i Island Humane Society. 4 EXHIBIT B I’ll give you a little background on our organization. Hawai‘i Island Humane Society was formed by a passionate group of committed citizens over 50 years ago. While our organization has grown in capacity and services, our commitment to mission remains: Prevent cruelty to animals, eliminate pet overpopulation, and enhance the bond between humans and animals. Governance of our 501(c)(3) organization is provided by a dedicated all volunteer board of directors who represent our community well. Executive leadership is provided by Donna Whitaker who is with us today, and our professional and compassionate team members carry out day-to-day operations improving animal welfare and advocating for those without a voice. For many years our board of directors have been working towards building a new location for animal sheltering facilities to serve West Hawai‘i’s growing needs. The current one-acre location by the police station and the landfill in Kona is very hot, too small, it’s poorly located, and in the event of a fire all of the animals have to be evacuated for their safety, which is, as you can imagine, problematic to us. We are happy to report that construction is now underway at our new twelve-acre animal community center located at the former Fuku Bonsai and old quarry site near the Department of Water. Our new animal community center has been designed and engineered to decrease the number of animals euthanized by offering more space and a better living environment for the animals until they are adopted. This new facility is at approximately the one to twelve hundred-foot elevation; it’s going to be much cooler, cloudier, rainier, it’s going to be a lot more comfortable for the animals. We hope to decrease the animal intakes by increasing spay and neuter surgeries in our new veterinary clinic that will also provide for emergency care and treatment. The animal community center will also provide a place where people can enjoy the animals, congregate, enjoy the outdoor spaces, and provide a dog park and unique landscape, which is currently lacking in Kona – one of the main complaints that we hear is lack of recreational areas for people to enjoy with their dogs. We’ll have a separate large dog park and a smaller dog park to separate the size differential and any potential conflicts there. We are going to incorporate sustainability standards and green practices whenever possible in the design, construction and modification of the existing facility, and also in our everyday operations. We come before you today to seek an amendment to our existing Special Permit. Since we were first granted the permit in 2011, we’ve received Final Plan Approval and our Building Permit for Phase One that includes the two dog parks, administrative offices, a welcome center, restrooms and related improvements. We’ve also received Final Plan Approval for Phase Two that includes three dog dormitories, a cat adoption barn, and a barn for larger animals. Our request for amendment today is for our third phase that will include a larger state of the art veterinary clinic with additional stray dog and cat housing, designed to meet community needs today and then the future. With multiple surgery suites, our veterinary staff will be able to sustainably increase spay and neuter surgery, and provide the higher standard care for sick and injured animals. Eliminating pet overpopulation in West Hawai‘i can only be sustained through aggressive spay and neuter initiatives. We are in the schools everyday educating children, trying to break the pattern of non-education in regard to pet overpopulation and spay and neuter initiatives. One of our facts that we like to bring up is that a dog and her mate, if not sterilized, can produce 66,000 dogs over six years. This is why we are trying to increase our spay and neuter initiatives as much as we possibly can. As a final note, the parking for this facility has already been expanded to accommodate this use and all of the uses of the facility remain consistent as approved under the existing Special Use Permit 5 EXHIBIT B \[Special Permit\], and we fully intend to comply with the 17 special conditions that are attached to the Special Use Permit \[Special Permit\]. Thank you very much for your time. UNGER: Would anybody else like to speak at this time? ARMBRUSTER: I think we are just here to answer any questions that the Commission might have. UNGER: Great. Commissioners? SHIMAOKA: Yeah, I got one. The present facility by the police station, are you guys planning to close that out eventually? WHITAKER: That property is owned by the County and they want it back. There’s potential homeless, for people, facility going in down there. CHURCH: Just a question of general interest and maybe a little bit off the, off the mark. I assume that the course of the action is animals are brought in and then they are treated and brought into health, and then hopefully adoption takes place. I don’t know how long it would be that they would wait there. But what percentage of the animals that are brought in move through the course of adoption are adopted? And I presume the remainder are then euthanized. I’d just be interested in that. WHITAKER: That tasks my memory a little bit, but adoptions, if my memory serves, is about 60 percent of dogs and 40 percent of all cats. Don’t quote me on that because that’s right out of my memory banks. CHURCH: Well, thank you, that is higher than I would have thought. Thank you. WHITAKER: Thank you. UNGER: To clarify you are agreeing to the conditions attached to the application, is that correct? ATWOOD: Yes. UNGER: Okay, good. Thank you. CARR SMITH: I had a question. There was discussion in the presentation about the existing structures. You are not on property, functioning at all yet, are you? You just started construction? And is it safe to assume that construction is being done by Tinguely Development? Is that why you are here, Shani, no? ARMBRUSTER: No, we actually have Bolton on site working on the civil work for us, and Chambers Landscaping will be putting in a beautiful new landscape plan. Tinguely is acting as an advisor for the Humane Society, but we are advisory only; we are not actually physically doing anything. 6 EXHIBIT B CARR SMITH: Very good. Thank you. UNGER: Any other questions? Thank you. You may be seated. If there are any members of the public who wish to testify? Seeing no members of the public, I need a motion to close public testimony. CHURCH: So move KAHOLO: Second. UNGER: We have a motion by Commissioner Church, second by Kaholo. All in favor? COMMISSIONERS: Aye. UNGER: Oppose? \[None.\] Public hearing is closed. Commissioners, at this time I would like a motion on the application. SHIMAOKA: I move that the application for Special Permit, Docket Number 11-000120, be approved based on the Planning Director’s findings and recommendations, which shall be adopted. UNGER: Do I have a second? CHURCH: Second. UNGER: We have a motion by Commissioner Shimaoka, second by Church. The discussion is open, Commissioners, on the motion on the table. CARR SMITH: I just wanted to say that I wholeheartedly support this project. It sounds wonderful, sounds very ambitious. And I’m sure it’ll help a lot of animals. Thank you very much for doing it. UNGER: I also support the project. It’s well needed and, good luck. SHIMAOKA: Yeah, I also support it. I just had a question on, is this going to be one of, the largest facility on the island? It sounds like it’s going to be the largest one. \[The representatives responded by an affirmative nod.\] Yeah? Okay. UNGER: Roll call? JACKSON: Commissioner Shimaoka? SHIMAOKA: Aye. JACKSON: Commissioner Church? CHURCH: Aye. 7 EXHIBIT B JACKSON: Commissioner Carr Smith? CARR SMITH: Aye. JACKSON: Commissioner Kaholo? KAHOLO: Aye. JACKSON: Commissioner Kealoha? KEALOHA: Aye. JACKSON: And Chair Unger? UNGER: Aye. JACKSON: Okay, the motion passes, six-zero. UNGER: Thank you. You’ll be notified in writing by the Planning Department. Thank you. The discussion ended at 10:10 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Noriko Sauer, Secretary Leeward Planning Commission 8 EXHIBIT B