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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-04-05 Hearing Transcript - Robert Earl Leetch SPP 07-042WINDWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAII HEARING TRANSCRIPT APRIL 5, 2018 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of ROBERT EARL LEETCH (AMEND SPP 07-000042) was called to order at 9:04 a.m. in the County of Hawaii Aupuni Center Conference Room, 101 Pauahi Street, Hilo, Hawaii with Chairman Joseph Clarkson presiding. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Gilbert Aguinaldo, Joe Clarkson, Donn Dela Cruz, Donald Ikeda, Myles Miyasato, Thomas Raffipiy, and John Replogle. ALSO PRESENT: Michael Yee (Planning Director), Malia Ho Hall (Deputy Corporation Counsel for the Windward Planning Commission), Ronald Kim (Deputy Corporation Counsel for the Planning Director), Jeff Darrow (Planning Program Manager), Maija Jackson (Planner), Christian Kay (Planner), Shancy Watanabe (Planner), Melissa Dacayanan (Planning Commission Support Technician), and Sarah Hata-Finley (Commission Secretary). And 54 members from the public in attendance. APPLICANT: ROBERT EARL LEETCH (AMEND SPP 07-000042) Request for a 10 -year time extension to comply with Condition No. 3 (time to complete construction) of Special Permit No. 07-042, which allowed the establishment of a self -storage facility consisting of eleven (11) buildings and 320 storage units on 3.34 acres of land situated within the State Land Use Agricultural District. Additionally, the applicant requests to amend the permit to allow UHAUL truck and van rentals and packing materials sales at the self -storage facility. The property is located at 15-2737 Pahoa Village Road, adjacent to and south of the Assembly of God Church, approximately 670 feet north of the Pahoa Village Road and Apaa Street intersection, Keonepoko Homesteads, Puna, Hawaii TMK (3) 1-5-007:071. CLARKSON: And with that, we'll begin with Item No. 1, Applicant Robert Earl Leetch. This is to amend Special Permit 07-42. KAY: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning, members of the Windward Planning Commission. It's great to see you on a nice, sunny morning. As the Chair said, this is an amendment to Special Permit No. 17-192 [sic]. This is the location map for the Special Permit area. This is located in the Puna District of Hawaii island; more specifically, in the Pahoa Village area. The subject parcel is located here outlined in red. Just for your reference, Pahoa Village Road is running generally north -south through the slide. Kahakai Boulevard generally east -west. This is the aerial of the Malama Market Plaza, and this is the roundabout here. This is the old Bryson's Cinders property; now the Puna Makai Development going on. Just to give you some reference on where we're at. EXHIBIT A The Applicant is requesting a 10 -year time extension to comply with Condition No. 3, the time to complete construction of Special Permit No. 07-042, which allowed the establishment of a self - storage facility consisting of 11 buildings and 320 storage units on 3.34 acres of land situated within the State Land Use Agricultural District. Additionally, the Applicant is requesting to amend the permit to allow UHAUL truck and van rentals, parking space rentals, and packing material sales at the self -storage facility. The Applicant has been renting UHAUL trucks and vans, renting parking spaces for vehicle storage, and selling boxes and packing supplies out of the main office of the facility since August 30, 2011. Currently, the Applicant has a fleet of four moving vans, three cargo vans, one pick-up truck, and one utility trailer. According to the Applicant, the business averages 45 UHAUL truck rentals per month. The UHAUL vehicles are currently parked toward the rear fence line of the property and adjacent to the south of the existing office and dwelling structure when they're not being rented. When the project is fully built out, the Applicant anticipates the parking area will be split between the back fence and the area adjacent to the south of the existing office and dwelling structure. Additionally, the Applicant is currently offering eight for -rent parking spaces toward the rear fence line of the property and anticipates he has sufficient space to offer up to four additional for -rent spaces in the future. The Applicant is requesting this amendment based on the, due to the 2008 economic downturn, he has not been able to generate the income needed to complete the buildout of the entire project within the required timeline. He has over the time been putting his resources into the project and has constructed additional buildings and units as community demand and his customer base grows. The Applicant intends to complete construction of the project within ten years. The Applicant considers UHAUL truck rental, parking rentals, and packing material sales accessory to the self -storage use and considers them a benefit to the community. The Applicant has been offering these services since 2011 with no complaints; therefore, he believes that there has not been any negative impact to surrounding property owners from the new uses. This is the County's zoning map. Again, just for reference, we've got Pahoa Village Road running generally north -south through the slide. The subject property outlined in red. Zoning for the subject property and much of the surrounding parcels is Agricultural — 1 acre. You've got some Agricultural — 5 acre to the east and some of the other Village Commercial, Neighborhood Commercial, and Mixed Use Commercial uses indicated by the new developments going on. The State Land Use designation for the subject parcel and much of the surrounding area is Agricultural as indicated in green. There is some State Land Use Urban land, designated land as indicated in the pink color. EXHIBIT A 2 The Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide Map designates the subject parcel and much of the surrounding area as Medium Density Urban. There is some Low Density Urban to the east and some Urban expansion to the west. The Puna Community Development Plan has issued or has designated the area as the Pahoa Village or Pahoa Regional Village Center as indicated by the dashed lines. There are kind of two designations here. The subject parcel is the starred parcel here right in the middle. Just for your information, the Special Permit was granted about a year before the Puna Community Development Plan was adopted, so it came in before that, and since then, in 2012, there was a LUPAG change to change that area from Low Density Urban over to Medium Density Urban to allow more commercial -type uses so that would be kind of consistent at this point. I have two aerial photographs here. On the left-hand side, we've got the subject parcel outlined in yellow. Kind of an older photograph, so here you'll see there are four structures built. Since this photograph was taken, there was an additional storage structure built. This is the entire 3.3 - acre parcel. It has been cleared and graded and graveled about half -way through the parcel at this point. As the Applicant continues to build, he will clear and grade and gravel the remainder of the property. Again, we've got the Bryson's Cinders Puna Makai Project here. Pahoa Village Road running north -south. And, here's an aerial photo of kind of where we're at today. We've got the main office structure here and then the four storage units that have been built, and we see some of the UHAUL parking here adjacent to the main office area and then toward the back fence line of the cleared portion of the property where we've got UHAUL parking as well as the for -rent parking spaces. Here's the Applicant's submitted site plan. Again, we've got Pahoa Village Road running north - south here at the left side of the slide. The main dwelling office structure and the four existing structures that have been built and in red here showing that the designated parking is for UHAUL. So, at this point, the remaining six structures are being proposed to be built within the next ten years. And, here's some photographs of the subject parcel. Top left is a view of the driveway from Pahoa Village Road, a view of the parking area, and the main office is on the top right. Here a view of some of the storage structures, and just to show some of the required landscaping on the boundaries of the property to help with visual impacts. Here's a shot of some of the—cops, pardon mea shot of some of the packing materials that are being sold within the office on the left-hand side. UHAUL parking area adjacent to the office and the parking space rental and UHAUL parking toward the back of the property. And, here are just some views of Pahoa Village Road looking south toward Pahoa Town, and then Pahoa Village Road looking north toward Hilo. The Planning Director is recommending approval of the Special Permit amendment with conditions. A few days ago, we sent out an amended condition that you should have received via email, and it should be in your packet as well. At the time the Applicant submitted their EXHIBIT A 3 application, they were under the impression that they had to basically do it retroactive to the end date of their permit. In conversations with the Applicant, we indicated that many times, we'll just go from ten years or whatever the amount of time they're asking from the effective date of the amended permit, and he requested that via email, and the Director has no problem with the amended condition. With that, that's my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions the Commission may have. CLARKSON: Are there any questions, Commissioners, for staff? If not, thank you. KAY: Thank you, Mr. Chair. CLARKSON: And, at this time, would the Applicant or their representative please come forward? Please take a seat in front of a microphone, and I'm going to ask everyone that does come up to this table to please use the microphone so that we have an accurate record of the meeting. If you would please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm that you will tell the truth on this matter before the Commission? LEETCH: I do. CLARKSON: Please introduce yourself and your status as either the Applicant or their representative and proceed with why you think this amendment should be granted. LEETCH: I—what was the first question? Robert Leetch. Do I just say that? HALL: Yes, state your name. LEETCH: My name is Robert Leetch, and I am the owner and operator of Pahoa Self Storage. I'm the manager. I'm the sole employee. I built this place. So, people seem to like it, you know? And, we didn't have a UHAUL in town after the hardware store stopped. It changed hands and stopped providing that service so they came to me. It seemed to be a good community service, and I think and the boxes are, you know, they're a lot of work for me. Not a lot, but, yeah, I'm glad to be there, and I'm glad to service the community, and everybody seems to be happy. I need more storage units to provide what is needed and asked for by the community. I have to send people away at this time. CLARKSON: Did you read the Planning Director's Background Report and Recommendations, and do you agree with all of the conditions that are in there? LEETCH: I do, and I did, yes. CLARKSON: Okay. Are there any questions for the Applicant from any other Commissioner? If not, thank you. RAFFIPIY: Mr. Chairman, can I makeI just want to make a comment. I just want to thank you for that. I know, I think the Puna District needs with the growing population in Puna, EXHIBIT A 4 probably the fastest growing district in the, on the island, I think that the storage facilities that you provide for the community is a good thing, and I will, I'll vote for it. LEETCH: Thank you so much. It is my pleasure to serve the people of Puna, and it's a great bunch of people, and I appreciate how they've welcomed me and made me feel like I was part of the community from the very beginning. It's a great spot to live, and I thank you for your time. CLARKSON: Thank you very much. LEETCH: Thank you. CLARKSON: You may be seated. Apparently there has been no one signed up to testify to make additional testimony on this matter at this time so, Commissioners, I'd ask for a motion to close public testimony. RAFFIPIY: I'll go ahead and make a motion. I move to close the public testimony, Mr. Chair. IKEDA: Second. CLARKSON: Okay, it's been moved and seconded for public testimony to be closed. Allthose in favor? COMMISSIONERS: Aye. CLARKSON: Opposed? Motion carried. Public testimony is closed. At this time, the Chair would gladly consider a motion for action on this matter. RAFFIPIY: I'll go ahead, Mr. Chairman, toI move that the request for a ten-year extension of time to comply with Condition No. 3 and to allow UHAUL truck and van rentals and parking space rental and packing material sales at the self -storage facility be approved based on the Planning Director's Recommendation, findings, and proposed conditions which shall be adopted. IKEDA: Second. CLARKSON: It has been moved by Commissioner Raffipiy and seconded by Commissioner Ikeda that the Applicant's request for an amendment be granted. Roll call? KAY: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Commissioner Raffipiy? RAFFIPIY: Aye. KAY: Commissioner Ikeda? IKEDA: Aye. KAY: Commissioner Aguinaldo? EXHIBIT A 5 AGUINALDO: Aye. KAY: Commissioner Dela Cruz? DELA CRUZ: Aye. KAY: Commissioner Replogle? REPLOGLE: Aye. KAY: And, Chair Clarkson. CLARKSON: Aye. KAY: Thank you, Mr. Chair. The motion carries six, nothing. CLARKSON: Mr. Leetch, you'll be informed in writing of the action of the Commission today. LEETCH (from front door area in room): Thank you. CLARKSON: You're welcome. The discussion ended at 9:18 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Sarah Y. Hata-Finley, Secretary Windward Planning Commission EXHIBIT A 6