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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-01-18 Leeward Exh A (AMEND SMA 03-000007) LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I HEARING TRANSCRIPT JANUARY 18, 2018 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of HALE PACIFICA LLC (AMEND SMA 03-000007) was called to order at 9:32 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, Collin Kaholo, Perry Kealoha and Sonny Shimaoka RECUSED: Scott Church ABSENT AND EXCUSED: Barbara Nobriga ALSO PRESENT: Malia Ho Hall (Counsel for the Commission), Michael Yee (Planning Director), Jeff Darrow (Planning Program Manager), Maija Jackson (Planner), Shancy Watanabe (Planner) and Noriko Sauer (Commission Secretary) And approximately 50 people from the public in attendance. APPLICANT: HALE PACIFICA LLC (AMEND SMA 03-000007) Request to amend Condition No. 3 (Minimum Access Easement Width) of Special Management Area (SMA) Use Permit No. 03-000007, which was approved to allow the construction of a 3½-story, 45-foot high, 12-unit multiple-family residential development and related improvements. The property is located on the west (makai) side of Ali‘i Drive, adjacent to and stnd north of the Sea Village Condominium Complex, Kahului 1 & 2, North Kona, Hawai‘i, TMK: (3) 7-5-019:030. UNGER: The first agenda, the first item on the agenda, Applicant Hale Pacifica LLC, Amend SMA 03-000007, request to amend Condition 3, minimum access easement width, of Special Management Area Use Permit Number 03-000007, which was approved to allow the construction of a three-and-a-half story, 45-foot high, twelve-unit multiple-family residential development and related improvements. The property is located on the west, makai, side of Ali‘i stnd Drive, adjacent to and north of the Sea Village Condominium complex, Kahului 1 and 2, North Kona, Hawai‘i. TMK (3) 7-5-019: Parcel 30. We’ll start with a County presentation. Question? CHURCH: Mr. Chairman, I’m going to have to recuse myself for the Agenda Item Number 1 here. I have a conflict of interest, and Hale Pacifica will be represented by Mr. Randy Vitousek. UNGER: Great. Thank you. You can begin. 1 EXHIBIT A WATANABE: Thank you. Aloha mai kākou. Good morning, everyone. The application is for an amendment to Special Management Area \[Use\] Permit 03-7. The applicant is Hale Pacifica LLC. This is the location on the SMA map; the subject property is located in the North Kona District, just off of Ali‘i Drive. The property is outline in black – I’m sorry, it’s a little hard to see, it’s here. The applicant is requesting the following specific amendment to Condition Number 3 of SMA Use Permit Number 3-7. New material is underlined. The condition at this time reads, “A minimum of 20-foot wide access easement shall be provided for vehicular access and utilities,” the new material would be, “except that if the development shall include four units or less, then the existing 16-foot wide access shall be acceptable.” According to the applicant, they do not intend to pursue a twelve-unit condominium project, but rather have the flexibility to downsize the project to four units. Should the applicant decide to build more than four units in total up to a maximum of twelve units, then the applicant will adhere to the minimum 20-foot wide access easement for vehicular access and utilities as required by the Department of Public Works and the Fire Department. The applicant feels that downsizing will help to reduce traffic congestion on the subject property, driveway ingress and egress, noise impacts and visual profile. The applicant further states that reducing the number of units may be more compatible with the surrounding environment. The Conditions that are being proposed are to remove the conditions from the last original permit, and we are including new conditions and refreshing some of the other conditions. This is the applicant’s original site plan. As you can see, this is a shoreline property. This original project included twelve condominium units. This is the applicant’s original proposed elevation plan. This is the amended site plan. This is the applicant’s amended elevation rendering showing the scale of the project. The subject property is zoned Resort-Hotel District, or V-1.25. This is the State Land Use Boundary Map. The subject property is located in the State Land Use Urban District. This is the General Plan Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide Map, or LUPAG Map. The subject property is designated as Open. This is an aerial photograph of the subject property. As you can see from this picture, the existing conditions there’s sort of like a hardened shoreline there with all the boulders. The subject property would have access through this area here to the Ali‘i Drive. 2 EXHIBIT A This is a site photograph taken standing on Ali‘i Drive, looking at the subject property. This was courtesy of the 2017 amendment request for Condition Number 2. The proposed entrance is highlighted there. This is another site photograph. This photo was taken on Ali‘i Drive, looking north. This photo was also courtesy of their original amendment in 2017. This photograph was taken standing on Ali‘i Drive, looking south. The Planning Director recommends approval with conditions. This concludes my presentation and I’m happy to answer any questions that the Planning Commission may have. UNGER: Thank you. Commissioners, any questions? \[None.\] Thank you. If the applicant is here, please step forward. Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth before the Planning Commission? VITOUSEK: Yes. UNGER: Please state your name and area of residence. VITOUSEK: My name is Randy Vitousek. I’m a resident of Kamuela, Hawai‘i. And I’m here to represent Hale Pacifica LLC, the applicant for this amendment to the SMA permit. UNGER: Thank you. Please proceed. VITOUSEK: Yeah, I really don’t have much to add. The property has changed hands; Hale Pacifica bought it after the 2017 amendment to the SMA Permit, which extended the construction period. So this project is essentially fully permitted for a twelve-unit, under the SMA, yeah, fully permitted for a twelve-unit condominium project. Upon taking over the project Hale Pacifica felt that reducing the size and number of units would better fit the site, it’s a small site, and better fit the market, and it would allow them to proceed with the project with a reduced scope and they would allow them to, you know, go forward in a manner that would be better for the coastal area, be better for the site, because it’s a small site, not try to jam too much into the site, and still be a viable, be a viable project. And so they’ve asked the Commission to amend the condition, which required a 20-foot wide access easement, and reduce that to a 16-foot access easement, if they are going to go to the four units. In other words, if it’s four units or less, then 16 feet; if it’s more than four units, then the original 20-foot easement would be required. This has been approved by the Department of Public Works and they, you know, submitted a letter saying that they agree with this proposed change. And so the applicant has read the proposed conditions of approval provided by the Planning Department, and is in agreement with the proposed conditions of approval. 3 EXHIBIT A UNGER: Great. Thank you. Any questions? \[None.\] Thank you. You may be seated. For any members of the public that are here to testify, the floor is open for testimony. Nobody did sign up on the sheet, so if nobody is here to testi— Yes, ma’am? UNIDENTIFIED PUBLIC MEMBER: I’ve lived on Ali‘i Drive for — UNGER: Would you, please, please be seated and let me — Raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth before the Planning Commission? NELSON: Yes, I do. UNGER: Please state your name and area of residence. NELSON: Neicy Nelson, Ali‘i Park Place. UNGER: Wonderful. Thank you. Good morning. NELSON: Good morning. UNGER: Please speak into the mike. And you are welcome to comment. NELSON: There is too much traffic as it is. The buildings are quite ugly. And why can’t the State or the County just buy it and keep it, you know? There’s just too much, there’s too many gas smells and too many cars. Make it a park. UNGER: Thank you. Ma’am? UNIDENTIFIED PUBLIC MEMBER: That’s a bulldozer — UNGER: Excuse me — UNIDENTIFIED PUBLIC MEMBER: — \[inaudible\] digging the other side, oh sorry — UNGER: — excuse me, please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth before the Planning Commission? WILLEFORD: Yes, I do. UNGER: Please state your name and area of residence. WILLEFORD: Do I need this \[microphone\]? UNGER: Yes, please. WILLEFORD: My name is Sharon Willeford. I’m a longtime resident of Kailua-Kona. 4 EXHIBIT A UNGER: Wonderful. Proceed with your testimony. WILLEFORD: Thank you. I’m a retired teacher. We’ve been proceeding to curtail development, particularly on Ali‘i Drive. As you all must know, we just, we were able to stop a development at Kahalu‘u, because of many reasons but the improper marking of iwi and artifacts. There is another development up off of Queen Kalama that is questionable; it has been bulldozed but, grubbed and graded right now as we speak, and we don’t even, and there’s only two places marked for artifacts. I don’t know what has been done at this property. But many of us would like to see a moratorium on building on Ali‘i Drive. We don’t have evacuation, and infrastructure is not proper. We have sewage problems. We have water problems on our whole island. There is another area, I forget, it was Turkey or somewhere, that they ran out of water. We cannot neglect, we cannot bring in masses of people to the island. Look at the other islands; Maui, O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, they are all struggling with overpopulation, overdevelopment, they can’t even get anywhere on any of the roads. Let us not let that happen to our last stronghold. This is the last island. Let us become a sustainable island. Fix what we have to fix. Protect what we have left. And stop this insanity. There is a new proposal, many of you may have seen, that if you put, any from, anyone from another country in the world puts up 500,000 dollars, I believe, they can get a free Green Card as long as they make an investment on our property. So are we going to let that happen here? Are we going to let this overdevelopment happen? What do we have left for our children? Let’s just stop it and look at it realistically. Stop passing out permits like they are candy, and really take a look at our community and what we need to do here for the people and for the future. Thank you very much. UNGER: Thank you. Ma’am? KNISS: Good morning. UNGER: Good morning. Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth before the Planning Commission? KNISS: I do. UNGER: Please – please speak into your mike – please state your name and area or residence. KNISS: I do. Sue Kniss. I live right next door to this property. UNGER: Thank you. KNISS: Mm-hmm. I’ll tell you my concerns. Fire Department, has that been checked out? Have they come down and saw that they could get in there and out of there easily? Access in and out with cars. The driveway has a 16-foot easement, as you know, but there is only twelve feet wide to drive in and out. Just yesterday my husband and I were up there making sure it was just twelve feet wide, and there was a car as always, almost daily, more than once a day, going into Internationale, all the time, you guys, I mean all the time. So there is somebody just park there thinking that’s their parking lot, which we haven’t complained about. That’s, that’s life, you know. But now you’ve got four condos, which could easily be eight parking lots, parking 5 EXHIBIT A spaces. Our house has two cars. The house next to us that we built also has two parking spaces. So that adds up to many cars, not just four. So I’d really want you to think that like that. I mean, the mailman parks in that parking space, you know, it’s always blocked. So to bring it from 20 down to 16 is very, very bothersome to us. I guess that’s what I have to say. UNGER: Thank you. KNISS: Mm-hmm. Anyway, we took that picture yesterday. UNGER: Are there any other members of the public that wish to testify on this matter? Seeing no other people here to testify, Commissioners, I need a motion to close public testimony portion of the hearing. KAHOLO: So move. HO HALL: Oh, wait, one second — UNGER: Wait, we have one more. For the record, everybody who has testified, can you please fill out the form and submit it to staff for our records? Thank you. Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth before the Planning Commission? MANGAUIL: ‘Ae. UNGER: Please state your name and your area of residence. MANGAUIL: My name is Joshua Lanakila Mangauil and I actually come from Honoka‘a, Hawai‘i. UNGER: Thank you. MANGAUIL: Actually, I came here to discuss ‘Anaeho‘omalu, but seeing that this was on the table, I want to speak to this as well. I myself, I’m a lineal descendant of the area of Kahalu‘u, in particular the area of Pāhoehoe. I’m a descendant of the Kipapa line and that is my kupuna iwi lāʻī. And, but in that whole area this has been a place of my kupuna. And echoing, I really want to echo to the things that have been mentioned already, especially in respect to the lack of care to the historical sites, as well as to the iwi kupuna. Our ‘ohana has been fortunate to be recipients of some of the open land funds in which the Kipapa Park has now been established. But that is, we are blessed in that one area that has been protected at this time, but to see and again to echo, the overdevelopment and the lack of infrastructure in place to be able to allow any permits going forward. And it’s, it’s always very thing for myself to always acknowledge, you know, there already is a lot of water issues in Kona; you have one mountain that gathers the water for this area, and very few of the springs on Mauna Loa is able to make it down to this region. And so without the, with the lack of infrastructure, and then also we see what infrastructure has been laid down, the roadway and stuff, it has not been set to just relieve the existing traffic, because we can already see the developmental plans to expand development that would only further more clog the roadways. A lot of my ‘ohana still live down in this area, too, and I’ve heard them 6 EXHIBIT A many times speak of the traffic jams, and again echoing, it is a very dangerous situation at now tsunami, there’s very few evacuation routes since such. But really to speak to the over- encroachment and overdevelopment and the lack of infrastructure to be able to support even things down to the sewage. You are talking about how many more units. How many more sewage plants, sewage infrastructure is being put in place? And how many leaks and things are we seeing along the coast already? So as a lineal descendant of that area, I must definitely stand against further development at this time, especially, with seeing that you already maxed out the area, and to see any plans going forward, ‘a‘ole pono. Mahalo. UNGER: Thank you. Commissioners, I need a motion to close public testimony. KAHOLO: So move. SHIMAOKA: Second. UNGER: We have a motion by Commissioner Kaholo, second by Commissioner Shimaoka. All in favor? COMMISSIONERS: Aye. UNGER: Oppose? \[None.\] Public testimony is closed. Commissioners, I need a motion on the agenda item. KEALOHA: For the sake of the public in the room I just wanted to once again clarify that we are discussing a reduction in the size of this development and not an increase in the size of this development, and that a twelve-unit development had already been approved previously. So we are strictly discussing reducing the size of the easement. So in light of that, I will move that the application to amend Special Management Area Use Permit, SMA 412, be approved based on the recommendations of the Planning Director. UNGER: Jeff? DARROW: Zero three-zero seven. UNGER: Go ahead and read it again. KEALOHA: I move that the application to amend Special Management Area Use Permit, SMA 412 – oh, sorry, I’m, the wrong one, sorry – 03-000007, be approved based on the Planning Director’s recommendation and findings, which shall be adopted. KAHOLO: Second. UNGER: I second it. Commissioners, we have a motion on the table. The floor is open for discussion. Commissioner Kealoha, I agree, essentially a twelve-unit project has already been approved for this site. Essentially, the developer is asking for a reduction in density, which we 7 EXHIBIT A don’t usually hear. That being said, and based on the background report, I will be voting yes for this motion. Any other — Commissioner Carr Smith. CARR SMITH: I just wanted to mention that I’ll be supporting it as well due to the fact that it does state that it “shall include four units or less.” I think that’s a good thing. Thank you. UNGER: Hearing no other discussion, roll call. WATANABE: Sorry, I just want to clarify who seconded it. Who seconded? UNGER: Excuse me? WATANABE: Oh, you seconded. UNGER: I seconded, Commissioner Kaholo seconded. WATANABE: Okay, thank you. I’ll take a roll call now. Thank you. Commissioner Kealoha? KEALOHA: Aye. WATANABE: Commissioner Kaholo? KAHOLO: Aye. WATANABE: Commissioner Carr Smith? CARR SMITH: Aye. WATANABE: Commissioner Nobriga? UNGER: She’s not here. WATANABE: And Commissioner Shimaoka? SHIMAOKA: ‘A‘ole. WATANABE: Chair Unger? UNGER: Aye. WATANABE: The motion carries, four to one. UNGER: Thank you. The applicant will be notified in writing by the Planning Commission shortly hereafter. VITOUSEK: Thank you. 8 EXHIBIT A The discussion ended at 9:58 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Noriko Sauer, Secretary Leeward Planning Commission 9 EXHIBIT A