Communication No. 2018-16- Planning Director's Response to AC permit review request

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Harry Kim Mayor West Hawaii Office 74-5044 Ane Keohokulole Hwy Kailua-Kona, Hawaii 96740 Phone(808)323-4770 Fax(808)327-3563 MEMORANDUM County of Hawaii PLANNING DEPARTMENT DATE: March 13, 2018 TO: STEVE HOFFMAN & ACTION COMMITTEE MEMBERS North Kohala CDP Action Committee FROM: MICHAEL YEE Director, Planning" D'epa Iment Comm. No. 2018-16 Michael Yee Director Daryn Arai Deputy Director East Hawaii Office 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Phone(808)961-8288 Fax(808)961-8742 SUBJECT• Request for Applications Review& CIP Information Dated May 9, 2017 I want to express my appreciation for the role the North Kohala CDP Action Committee and the various community groups/subcommittees have played in implementing the North Kohala CDP. In response to requests for the North Kohala Action Committee to take an active role in reviewing various types of land use applications submitted to the Planning Department, I want to clarify the parameters in which the department functions and the roles of the Action Committee in implementing their respective Community Development Plan (CDP) and serving in their advisory role to the department. Due to the large number and various types of pen -nit applications received, it is not feasible for the department to forward all applications submitted to the four (soon to be six) different CDP Action Committees. It would involve significant additional staff time across various departmental divisions to track, scan, and disseminate this volume of information. Upon request, planning staff can, and has, forwarded to the Action Committees information on specific project applications; however, it is not currently feasible to expect that this can be done for every application submitted to the Planning Department. In addition, our public notices are available on our website and members of the public are welcome to review the applications and files in our offices. In the meantime, we are also working on a process to provide some pending applications in our public system files so that this information can be accessed online. However, that process will take time to implement. Currently, North Kohala applications submitted to the Planning Commission are reviewed by the CDP Planner and forwarded to the Chair of the Action Committee to decide if the full committee needs to review a particular application (and depending on schedule). This arrangement fits into the parameters of the County Code Chapter 16, Article 3 relating to CDP Action Committees. Beyond reviewing these types of land use pen -nits, I encourage the North Kohala Action www.hiplanningdo–t.com Hawai'i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer planningAhawaiicounty.fi—,q