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Home My WebLink About2017-05-09 Puna CDP FINAL Minutes Harry Kim Michael Yee Director Mayor Daryn Arai Deputy Director County of Hawai‘i PLANNING DEPARTMENT PUNA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE Aupuni Center  101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3  Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720 Phone (808) 961-8288  Fax (808) 961-8742 Tuesday, May 9, 2017 Meeting Minutes CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Larry Brown called the Puna Community Development Plan (PCDP) Action Committee (AC) to order at 3:02 p.m. in the Kea‘au Community Center. The following persons were present: Action Committee: Elmer Solis, Larry Brown, Leila Kealoha, Michael Bernard, Patti Pinto, Susan Osborne, Yumi Kawano. Staff: Hans Santiago, CoH Planner & Puna CDP Project Manager; April Surprenant, Long Range Division Manager; Ron Whitmore, Deputy Director CoH Research & Development; and CoH Planners: Bethany Morrison, Grace Armstrong, Keiko Mercado, and Keola Childs. Members of the public: 8 ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: 1. Yumi suggested the Action Committee consider inviting a representative from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to come and address the Action Committee at a future meeting. Leila moved that the Action Committee add Yumi’s request to discuss inviting a representative from the NRCS to a future AC meeting as an agenda item following Business Item 3. Second by Elmer. Motion passed with 7 votes aye and 0 votes nay. ANNOUNCEMENTS: 1. Hans introduced Grace Armstrong, a new Planner in the Long Range Division. 2. Dan Taylor announced that the Action Committee would soon be seeing a proposal on the Village Design Guidelines from Volcano. These guidelines are one of the highest priorities in the Volcano Long Range Plan. He presented illustrations showing the different areas of Volcano as they relate to the Village Design Guidelines. He stated that the historical buildings, built in the late 1800’s, are unique to the Volcano area and should be preserved. He also recommended that the guidelines include protection and Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer Page 1 preservation of the surrounding native forests. The proposed Village Design Guidelines will be presented to the AC at their next regular meeting. 3. Susan announced that Kua o Ka Lā Public Charter School is the first charter school in the State to receive a Blue Zone Program Certification and has received one of the highest points in education certification for a charter school. 4. Larry announced that the GIS ArcReader tool that would be demonstrated during agenda item #5 is available to the public for a fee of $5.00 and can be picked up at the Planning Department. 5. Leila announced that there would be an opportunity for the community to provide feedback on the Draft Comprehensive Management Plan for the Wao Kele O Puna Forest Reserve on July 6, 2017, 5:00pm at the Kamehameha School Hawaii Campus cafeteria. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) purchased Wao Kele O Puna Forest Reserve in 2006 and it has been managed by the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) for the past ten years. 6. Yumi reminded the Action Committee to submit any public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation (PONC) applications by June 30, 2017. PUBLIC TESTIMONY: One person submitted written testimony. 1. Hannah Hedrick submitted written testimony regarding connectivity in Puna, specifically between Fern Forest and Eden Roc. Her complete testimony is available via the Puna CDP website: http://www.hawaiicountycdp.info/puna-cdp/implementation/puna-cdp- action-committee/2017-action-committee-meetings/2017-action-committee- meetings/may-9-2017/written-testimony Three people signed up to testify. Two people choose to testify at the start of the meeting and one person chose to testify at the time of their agenda item. 1. John Olson, representing himself, testified on agenda items 2 and 3: He suggested the Action Committee ask the Dept. of Parks & Recreation for the number of acres of improved facilities in the Puna district as it compares to other districts. John testified that the General Plan needs to reflect the reality of Puna today – Puna is not rural, Puna is not agriculture. He stated that Puna is urban and it needs to be treated as such with infrastructure and level of service. 2. Stephanie Bath, representing herself and her family, testified on agenda item 4: She served previously on the PCDP Steering Committee and acknowledged the hard work Patti Pinto and Marlene Hapai have put into the Connectivity Plan. She expressed approval of the implementation plan so far, noting the connectivity points are staggered, which is consistent with what people were asking for. Stephanie acknowledged the continued concerns of the connectivity between Fern Forest and Eden Rock. She would like the County to be proactive and open the road because there is a need for connectivity between the two previously mentioned subdivisions. She expressed that the www.cohplanningdept.com puna@hawaiicounty.gov Page 2 county would need to acquire parcels as well as community buy in, in order to effectively implement connectivity in Puna. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Patti moved to approve the minutes of the March 14, 2017, meeting as submitted. Second by Elmer. The motion to approve the minutes as submitted passed with 7 votes aye and 0 votes nay. BUSINESS: 1. Building in Puna Brochure: A draft copy of the revised Building in Puna brochure was presented to the Action Committee. The brochure had been previously approved by the Action Committee and submitted to the Planning Department for review. Based on the feedback received from other divisions within the Planning Department, the brochure has been revised to incorporate appropriate comments. Action Committee members asked if the “Mahalo Nui Loa” section of the brochure was standard in a County brochure, where the brochure would be available to the public, whether an electronic version of the brochure would be available, and if Public Works would be able to attach the brochure to their building permits. Other points brought up by the Action Committee include:  Adding a short paragraph about Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death (ROD) in the brochure.  Attaching the brochure to all permits that are issued  Include various County codes and websites to make it a more useful resource  Include information on possible penalties  Adding the Dept. of Forestry & Wildlife (DOFAW) and Big Island Invasive Species Committee (BIISC) to the resource list  Adding Miconia to the list of invasive species Yumi conveyed that the Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) can help with forest restoration. She will email Hans additional information that can be shared with the Action Committee. 2. Communication No. 2017-10: Draft Letter to the Department of Parks & Recreation:: Larry briefly explained that the draft letter was requesting information from the Dept. of Parks & Recreation regarding the permitting of farmers’ market operations at County park facilities. Elmer moved to approve Communication No. 2017-10 as submitted. Second by Susan. After brief discussion the Action Committee voted and the motion to approve the letter as submitted passed with 7 votes aye and 0 votes nay. Communication No. 2017-10 can be viewed and downloaded from the following website: http://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/weblink/DocView.aspx?dbid=1&id=88407&page=1&cr=1 3. General Plan Comprehensive Review: www.cohplanningdept.com puna@hawaiicounty.gov Page 3 Members from the Planning Departments Long Range Division and the Dept. of Research & Developments Deputy Director provided the Action Committee an overview of the General Plan Comprehensive Review and its relationship to the Puna CDP. Action Committee members and members of the public asked questions of the team and engaged in extensive discussion. Topics discussed include: priorities and implementation procedures, collaboration among and between agencies and community partners, and the possible role of community associations. Additional information on the General Plan Comprehensive Review, including resource documents can be found on the County of Hawai ʻ i Planning Department website: http://www.cohplanningdept.com/general-plan/. The Action Committee calendared a special meeting on June 13, 2017 to explore scenario planning and how it’s being used to inform the General Plan Comprehensive Review. The presentation slides that were displayed during this agenda item can be viewed and downloaded from the following website: http://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/weblink/1/doc/88514/Page1.aspx COMMUNICATIONS NOT REQUIRING ACTION: 4. Update from the Connectivity and Emergency Response Subcommittee (CERS): One person testified on agenda item #4: 1. Hannah Hedrick, representing the Connectivity Action Committee \[CoH note for clarity: this is an independent committee not a CDP subcommittee\], asked for help from the County to assist with connectivity locations in assuring people receive the right information. There is some controversy between the Eden Roc and Fern Forest communities over connectivity locations and Hannah would like the County to intervene. Patti informed the Action Committee that the CERS meetings have been discussion based and that Councilmembers Jen Ruggles and Eileen O’Hara, or members of their staff have been in attendance. They also continue to have good representation from subdivisions throughout the Puna District. Communication No. 2017-9 can be viewed and downloaded from the following website: http://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/weblink/DocView.aspx?dbid=1&id=88349&page=1&cr=1 ACTION COMMITTEE CAPACITY BUILDING: 5. GIS ArcReader Training: Hans introduced the Action Committee to the GIS ArcReader program and the data that is available from the Planning Department that can be used with the program. He then proceeded to show Action Committee members and members of the public how to manipulate the program’s tools to view and analyze data in the GIS ArcReader program. As mentioned previously, the GIS ArcReader tool and GIS data is available to the public for a fee of $5.00 at the Planning Department; 101 Pauahi Street Ste. 3, Hilo, Hawai ʻ i, 96720. AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE NEXT REGULAR AC MEETING: (July 11, 2017) NONE ADJOURNMENT: The Chair, without objection, adjourned the meeting at 6:08 p.m. www.cohplanningdept.com puna@hawaiicounty.gov Page 4 All Action Committee information can be viewed and downloaded from our website: http://www.hawaiicountycdp.info/puna-cdp/implementation/puna-cdp-action-committee www.cohplanningdept.com puna@hawaiicounty.gov Page 5