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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-07-19 KCDP Minutes FinalHarry Kim Mayor County of Hawaii PLANNING DEPARTMENT KONA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE Aupuni Center • 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 • Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Phone (808) 961-8288 • Fax (808) 961-8742 Wednesday, July 19, 2017 Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER Michael Yee Director Daryn Arai Deputy Director Action Committee Chair Barbara DeFranco called the Kona Community Development Plan (Kona CDP) Action Committee (AC) to order at 2:02 p.m. in the West Hawaii Civic Center Planning Department Conference Room. KONA CDP AC MEMBER AND STAFF INTRODUCTION Action Committee Members Present: Barbara DeFranco (Chair), Charles Young (Vice -Chair), Arnold Rabin, Douglas Payne, Hiram Rivera, Janice Palma-Glennie, Kari Kimura, and Shirley David. Action Committee Members Absent -Excused: Shane Palacat-Nelsen. Planning Department Staff: Keola Childs, Kona CDP Planner, and Heather Bartlett, Planner. Members of the public: Twelve. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: None STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC REGARDING ITEMS ON AGENDA: Two members of the public provided comment at the beginning of the meeting. 1. Steven Birchfield, representing himself, commented on Agenda Item 2. He suggested that the Action Committee should consider the creation of a "sensitivity subcommittee" which would use accurate data about the condition of the local economy to aid the Action Committee in making informed planning decisions. He suggested using current year data and comparing it to past year data to try to better understand what factors are causing changes and therefore better determine what planning decisions might be most appropriate. Mr. Birchfield also made reference to the Missler lawsuit to draw a correlation between the potential roadblocks the legal issues create for government agencies and a decrease in development for the Hawaii County. He stated that in 2005, 2800 new housing units were developed, while in 2015 there were only 851, and that in 2005 there were 18,000 SNAP Welfare recipients on the island while in 2014 that number jumped to 45,000 (or about 25% of the population). Mr. Birchfield expressed concern about these perceived roadblocks in development on the island and wanted to know if the Action Committee had an overarching stance against Hawai `i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer Page I development which influences its decision making. He suggested that it could be productive for the Action Committee to consider the statistics, in separation from politics, while making decisions. Chair DeFranco assured him and others present that the Action committee does not strive to stop development but rather to encourage conscious development in areas deemed to best serve the community. 2. Nancy Pisicchio, representing the Mayor's Office, first addressed Mr. Birchfield's comments about the Missler case. She explained that the County is trying to decipher the ramifications of the lawsuit and will be informing the Action Committee as appropriate when information becomes better understood. She stated that there should be no need for the Action Committee to form a special subcommittee to address the issues because, as a matter of proper discourse, the Action Committee should be one of the first parties to be informed. She then asked which Action Committee members will be taking the lead on two Action Committee priorities: the Alii Parkway, and the Kailua Village Redevelopment Plan. Ms. Pisicchio was informed that Committee Member Young and Committee Member Palacat- Nelsen are the subcommittee members for the Alii Parkway project. Committee Member Palacat-Nelsen is also the chair of the Kailua Village Redevelopment plan subcommittee. Ms. Pisicchio explained that she is currently working with the State -formed Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Interagency Council. This Council is tasked with development of a multi -modal transportation plan that could tie-in to the Kailua Village Redevelopment Plan. She would like to increase collaboration between the TOD Council and the Action Committee. The benefit of collaboration could be the potential for obtaining funding through the State Legislature for multimodal transit planning. She presented the CDP's call for preparation of a Kailua Village Redevelopment Plan at the last Transit Oriented Development Interagency Council meeting to gauge interest in considering multimodal transportation for Kailua-Kona as one of the projects the TOD Council would recommend funding. RECOGNITION OF OUTGOING ACTION COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Chair DeFranco, on behalf of the Action Committee recognized three outgoing Action Committee members: Gregory G. Ogin (who was not present), J. Curtis Tyler, and George "Keoki" Schattauer for their great contributions to the community over the years they served on the Action Committee and provided them each with Certificates of Appreciation signed by Mayor Harry Kim. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS 1. Minutes of the June 21, 2017 AC meeting. Charles Young moved to approve the minutes of June 21, 2017 meeting os submitted. Second by Committee Member Kimura. Committee Member Rabin said that he did not feel that the June 21, 2017 minutes as submitted accurately described the conversation that took place and were not explicit enough to portray the Action Committee conversation. A discussion took place following his www.cohylannin,-deyzcom kona(ahawahcountuQov Page 2 statement in which the Action Committee agreed that the minutes need to include summaries of the public testimonies that took place as well as further deliberation of points and opinions of Action Committee members. Committee member Young withdrew his motion. Committee Member Kimura moved to defer approval of the June 21, 2017 minutes to a future date and after revision. Second by Committee Member Rabin. The motion passed unanimously. Draft minutes of the June 21, 2017 Action Committee meeting can be viewed and downloaded here: http://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/webIink/l/doc/89079/Pagel.aspx BUSINESS: 1. Open Space, Open Space Network Objectives, Formation of Investigatory Subcommittee. Mr. Childs distributed handouts to the Action Committee listing quotes where Open Space objectives are described in the Kona CDP as a reference. Mr. Childs emphasized the importance of Open Space in regards to developing compact walkable communities. Chair DeFranco asked Committee Members how they would like to proceed with the formation of an Open Space Subcommittee. Mr. Childs offered the suggestion that perhaps as an investigatory subcommittee the best course of action would be to first discuss what the specific purpose of this subcommittee would be and what information they would hope to bring back to the Action Committee. A Committee member brought up that there was previously a subcommittee devoted to the concept of Open Space and requested a recap on what that subcommittee accomplished. Committee Member Kimura, who was a member of the previous Open Space Subcommittee, responded by describing their work on reviewing data layers in GIS software. These layers included mapping where State vs. County land is located, as well as mapping locations of archeological sites. The Subcommittee was interested in mapping natural waterways but was not able to get access to GIS flood data. The Subcommittee never got to the stage of taking action on their findings but instead had opened communication with various public and private stakeholders and had begun building a network of interest. The Action Committee was reminded that the goal of the past subcommittee was not to actively map out areas of open space but to gather data on the factors involved in preparation for potentially mapping these areas in the future. A Committee Member stated that they felt the Action Committee needs more information and guidance from the County regarding open space. They stated the Action Committee is not fully aware of what they have the power to do as far as open space is concerned and why that is important to understand in order to come up with an objective. A discussion took place regarding who should be responsible for mapping out open space. Mr. Childs suggested that the Planning Department could provide the GIS data support they need. Action Committee members expressed two concerns: releasing sensitive information like archeological sites, and the County taking over Action Committee responsibilities, siting past issues with the Planning Department pulling technical support for other purposes. A www.cohylannin,-deyzcom kona(ahawaiicountuQov Page 3 Committee Member suggested the potential to add a layer that shows land that is proposed to be purchased by the County. A Committee Member suggested waiting to find out more information about the Open Space GIS mapping before deciding upon an objective for this potential subcommittee. A Committee Member requested advanced notice of what layers will be presented so that Action Committee members can better prepare for the presentation or suggest additional layers prior. Committee Member Kimura brought up nongovernmental community organizations such as PATH which may also have valuable data not available to the county when considering these maps. Mr. Childs suggested direct collaboration between Committee Member Kimura and the assigned Planning Department GIS Planner to incorporate these findings. Mr. Childs noted his understanding that the Planning Department currently interprets the CDP as stating the minimum size of a TOD rezoning (into a "Project District" zoning district) is 80 acres. However, he noted that the CDP states the minimum size of a TOD is 80 acres plus a "density transfer area" surrounding the TOD "core areas". He urged the Action Committee to standardize the method of sizing of the required greenbelt area (density transfer area) to ensure that these areas can be properly designated in a TOD rezoning action by the County. A discussion took place about the general shape of a TOD and how that shape can be constrained depending on how strict the rule is for a green -belt. A Committee Member stated that the topography of the island may demand variance in the shape of a green -belt, perhaps making them unfeasible. Chair DeFranco stated that it is possible to develop the language to properly reflect variance of TOD node shape in the CDP. A Committee Member asked if the Action Committee would consider the idea of establishing urban areas as a percentage of the total development. Mr. Childs responded that a mandate such as that would have to come first through research made by an Open Space Subcommittee. A follow-up question asked if it would be possible to use the method of utilizing Planned Unit Developments (PUD) in the urban district to establish high density areas. A discussion followed regarding the infeasibility of trying to establish what would need to be a county wide rezoning project in order to accomplish that. A community member brought up their desire to see more conversation about ecologically important areas having priority status for being preserved as greenbelt areas. A member of the public shared his opinion that the CDP does not actually mandate the use of TOD project district rezonings but rather suggests it as a potential method of planning the urban district. He said that CDP recommends this to be done through incentivizing developers. A conversation followed regarding utilizing the process of Transfer of Development Rights to achieve the goal of establishing greenbelt in specific areas. Committee Member Palma-Glennie moved to ask the County Planning Department to provide the Action Committee with o presentation on the GIS data layers that may be relevant to planning on open space network for Kona. Second by Committee Member Kimura. The motion passed unanimously. www.cohylannin,-deyzcom kona(ahawahcountuQov Page 4 2. Consideration of establishing additional investigatory subcommittees. Chair DeFranco asked Committee members if there was a desire to form additional investigatory subcommittees. Discussion on a potential Community Outreach Subcommittee ensued. Mr. Childs informed Action Committee members about the limitation of Sunshine Law on the viability of hosting a Facebook page. The concern was raised about the difficulty involved with keeping up with community comments while doing outreach. It was the general consensus that the Action Committee lacks the manpower to appropriately respond to too many public participants in an online forum. The Action Committee explored the idea of seeking outside help to take on such a project. A discussion followed about the possibility to having outside, unaffiliated groups do videography of Action Committee members for use as an outreach tool. The Action Committee was reminded about the idea of individual members liaising with other community groups rather than forming a subcommittee for the sake of convenience and efficiency, as liaising is not subject to the strictures of the Sunshine Law if no more than two Committee Members are interacting with any one community group and each other in such respect. It was suggested to ask the Planning Department to present to the Action Committee about the ways to liaise without conflicting with the Sunshine Law. A discussion took place regarding the formation of a subcommittee or liaison group in order to do more community outreach and in particular manage a Facebook page. Planning staff reminded those present that Sunshine Laws prohibit any Action Committee member from representing the rest of the Action Committee, especially on Social Media platforms. The Action Committee was informed that other CDPs have had their own Facebook pages which have previously been administered by the Planning Department. It was further discussed that although the Facebook pages existed in the past, the feasibility of continuing a presence on social media is something that must be looked into by the Planning Department. Committee Member Rabin moved for the County to create a Facebook page for the Kona Action Committee that would solicit input from the general public. Second by Committee Member Palma-Glennie. The Action Committee was reminded that public input is already considered through the process of vetting the Kona CDP. The Action Committee discussed the possibility of using Facebook as a means to just broadcast meeting reminders instead of a forum for discussion. A Committee Member expressed his concern that in responding to social media discussion, the Action Committee may be setting itself up to spend too much time vetting public input and will not have the time to focus on important issues concerning the district. He was also concerned about potential conflicts of interest when gaining input from large pools of individuals. A Committee Member expressed her opinion that a website, if it is formatted properly, provides an adequate way for community members to be informed. She went on to say that connecting with other community groups through liaison group reporting would be a much more effective way of pooling together and understanding public opinion. www. cohplannin,-dept- com kona(dhawadcounty.zov Page 5 A community member brought up the idea of using the local newspaper as an alternative way of distributing information to the public. A discussion took place about the ambiguities within the CDP and why its interpretation requires continual public input. A Member of the public, Carol Ignacio, introduced herself to the Action Committee as the Government and Community Affairs Manager for the Blue Zones Project; she made an offer to the Action Committee to host a community meeting to explain what the Kona CDP is to the public. Committee Member Rabin amended his previous motion to state: ask the Planning Department to comment to the Action Committee on the feasibility of using social media as a means to improve public participation for the CDP. Second by Committee Member Palma- Glennie. The motion passed 4 in favor and 3 opposed. Committee Member Rabin moved to create an investigatory subcommittee to investigate an alternative to the use of Roundup as a pesticide along our roadways. The motion failed for lack of a second. Committee Member Rabin then moved to create an investigatory subcommittee to expand public transportation to include small busses or vans so that there is more availability for the youth, especially in South Kona, to get to activities such as surf and sports. Second by Committee Member Palma-Glennie. A discussion followed to clarify the purpose of this potential subcommittee. Committee Member Rabin stated that this alternative transportation would be a means of increasing mass transit systems in South Kona and would not have to just include youth. The Action Committee considered the stated motions' relevance to the CDP. A reference was made to Chapter 4.1 "Goals, Objectives, Policies & Actions" (page 4- 21) where Action TRAN 5.1b states: "Commence shuttle service using mini -vans and small busses (i.e. Handi-Van)." It was also mentioned that this would be covered whenever multi -modal transportation is mentioned in the CDP. Council Member Karen Eoff informed those present that improving public transit system is an important issue for the county. She said County Council Members have just recently been updated on the status of the public transportation system for Hawaii County and that it will be a priority in the next CIP cycle. It was decided upon by the Action Committee to wait to hear more about the status of the Mass Transit Plan before deciding a plan of action on this issue. A vote was taken to table the motion. The motion passed unanimously. SUB -COMMITTEE REPORTS: None. ANNOUNCEMENTS: www. cohplannin,-deptcom kona(dhawadcounty.zov Page 6 1. The next Kona CDP meeting is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, August 16, 2017 at the West Hawaii Civic Center - Building B, Department of Liquor Control Conference Room. 2. Mr. Childs briefly spoke to the legal issues involving the Missler case that the County is currently addressing. He informed the Action Committee that the County is in the process now of finding the best course of action to address the issue and that he cannot state any opinions on behalf of the County at this present time. He noted it may be a topic the Planning Department could address at a Kona Action Committee meeting at a future point in time. AGENDA FOR THE NEXT MEETING: Committee Member Rabin suggested additional topics of discussion for discussion in the future. These included adding Ahupua'a signs along the highway, expansion of water resources to South Kona to support agriculture in that area, the facilitation of community gardens, getting rid of Roundup as an herbicide on roadways, and increasing solar infrastructure in the district. 2. Committee Member Rivera suggested an item for the agenda to look at the plan for the Action Committee for the next year, to gain a better sense of direction. A reference was made to the letter written in 2016 by then Action Committee Chair Rivera to the Director regarding how the Action Committee should move forward through three actions ["items"] Lines 160 - 165 of the April 271h 2016 minutes: "The three items include; 1) Providing guidance to the Department if there is a question with whether or not a proposed project, or specific component thereof, is consistent with the applicable section of the KCDP; 2) Providing guidance if there is a disagreement with respect to the applicability of the KCDP between the Department and a developer, and 3) Providing guidance with respect to interpretation of any applicable Goal, Objective and/or Policy." A Committee Member responded that the context of this referenced letter was that the Kona CDP may not have been understood as an ordinance to the Planning Director at the time and may therefore be an item to revisit under a different understanding of legal parameters. 3. Discussion about the potential Blue Zones presentation mentioned earlier. 4. Expansion of the conversation about social media outreach. ADJOURNMENT: Chair DeFranco adjourned the meeting at 4:48pm. All Action Committee information can be viewed and downloaded from our website: http://www.hawaiicountycdp.info/north-and-south-kona-cdp www.cohylannin,-deyzcom kona(ahawahcountuQov Page 7