HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-05-08 KCDP Minutes DraftCounty of Hawai‘i
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
KONA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN ACTION COMMITTEE
Aupuni Center 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 Hilo, Hawai‘i 96720
Phone (808) 961-8288 Fax (808) 961-8742
Hawai‘i County is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer Page 1
Michael Yee
Director
Daryn Arai
Deputy Director
Harry Kim
Mayor
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
DRAFT Meeting Minutes
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Young called the Kona Community Development Plan (KCDP) Action Committee (AC) to order at
6:00 p.m. in the Puka‘ana United Church of Christ in Keālia. The following persons were present:
ROLL CALL
Action Committee Members Present: Charles Young (Chair), Shirley David (Vice-Chair), Barbara
DeFranco, Doug Payne, Kari Kimura, Shane Palacat-Nelsen, and Hiram Rivera.
Action Committee Members Absent-Excused: Janice Palma-Glennie.
Staff Planners: Keola Childs and Heather Bartlett.
Members of the public: 17
ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA: NONE
ANNOUNCEMENTS: At the start of the meeting Committee Member Palacat-Nelsen offered an ‘ōlelo
no‘eau to the Action Committee.
He ali'i ka ‘āina; he kauwā ke kanaka
“The land is chief; man is its servant.”
Staff Planner Childs handed out select pages of Bill 111 Draft 2 [the draft 2018-2019 Capital
Improvement Project [CIP] budget ordinance] to the Action Committee. He gave a brief update
regarding the requested allotment of the Kona Open Space Network Plan that the AC had asked for in
their September 2017 letter to the Planning Director. He explained that the project has been
earmarked in the Fair Share contribution section and expressed hope that this would lead to the
project being allotted. Staff would continue to keep the Action Committee updated.
Bill 111 Draft 2 - 2018-2019 Capital Improvement Program Budget may be viewed and downloaded from the following
website: http://records.hawaiicounty.gov/weblink/DocView.aspx?dbid=0&id=960271 The pages handed out to the Action
Committee were 1-9, and 137
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS:
Three people signed up to provide comment. They all chose to speak during agenda item number 3:
South Kona Community Listening Session. These public comments, along with a summary of the
conversation between Action Committee members and the public are located under that agenda item.
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APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Committee Member Palacat-Nelsen moved to approve the minutes of the March 13, 2018 meeting as submitted. Second by Vice-Chair David. The motion to approve the minutes passed unanimously.
REPORTS and OTHER PRESENTATIONS:
1. County of Hawai‘i Mass Transit Master Plan Meeting on April 12, 2018.
Vice-Chair David gave a brief recap of a presentation on April 12, 2018 given by SSFM, a consulting firm contracted to draft the Hawai‘i County Mass Transit Master Plan. She explained that the main priorities of the plan include: making the Old Airport Park in Kona a main transportation hub, creating a more reliable bus schedule, purchasing more buses, designating more bus routes, creating a transportation smartphone app, and encouraging complete streets, among other items.
She stated that SSFM staff had told her that they used the Community Development Plans as the basis for much of their work and it was the Puna CDP that called for a Mass Transit Master Plan originally.
Vice-Chair David explained that although the official comment period for this plan ended on April 30, 2018, it still may be good for AC members and the public to read through it. Chair Young suggested this may be a good discussion item in the future.
The Hawai‘i County Draft Mass Transit Master Plan may be viewed and downloaded from the following website: http://heleonmasterplan.com/draft-transit-master-plan/
BUSINESS:
2. Kailua Village Redevelopment Subcommittee Report Discussion and Action.
Kailua Village Redevelopment Subcommittee Chair DeFranco explained the subcommittee’s purpose to work toward getting input and funding for a master plan for Kailua Village. She expressed their desire to write a letter to the Planning Director to ask for funds in order to hire a consultant to do the drafting. They explained there is a current appropriation of $150,000 for the project.
The Action Committee generally agreed that the project would likely require more money than what the current appropriation would provide.
Committee member Payne moved to write a letter to the Planning Director to utilize the $150,000 dollar appropriation for a re-visioning plan of the village, coordinated with the Kailua Village Business Improvement District. Second by Committee member DeFranco.
Staff Childs asked for clarification that the letter would serve as a call for action to utilize the funds already appropriated and additionally ask for the additional funds needed. The Action Committee generally agreed to this interpretation.
The motion to draft the letter as described passed unanimously.
Committee member DeFranco moved to dissolve the Kailua Village Redevelopment subcommittee. Second by Committee member Payne. The motion passed unanimously.
3. South Kona Community Listening Session.
Staff Childs gave an introduction to the Kona Community Development Plan and its origin in the General Plan. He explained that the Kona CDP is intended to represent the community’s vision of appropriate land use in the Kona area. He also explained that the urban area of Kona is the general area from Keauhou to the Airport and that South Kona is generally set aside for minimal development.
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Chair Young described the hard work the Action Committee has done in past years. He explained that they are interested to hear from the community in South Kona because they tend to focus more on the urban North Kona area.
Three people from the community chose to testify at this time in the meeting.
1. James Sogi, representing himself, testified on agenda item 3: South Kona Community Listening Session. Mr. Sogi urged the Action Committee to retain the word “shall” in their recommendation for the amendment of Policy TRAN-3.4 Retrofit Existing Streets. He explained that there was a strong feeling by the community to have sidewalks and bikeways along roadways during the charrette process for drafting of the CDP. He stated that Māmalahoa Highway is a good example of an area in desperate need of pedestrian and bike-way improvements.
James Sogi’s written testimony [Communication No. 2018-17] may be viewed and downloaded from the following website: http://records.co.hawaii.hi.us/weblink/1/doc/93141/Page1.aspx
Committee Member Rivera explained the difficulty of having to retrofit current Hawai‘i County roadway standards onto a street that is only 40’ wide. He explained that concurrency issues in the CDP further compound the issue by forcing developers to improve the entire roadway instead of just a portion at a time, a situation which is not economically feasible for most developers.
Committee Member Palacat-Nelsen mirrored Mr. Sogi’s concern with areas in Keālia. He expressed feeling that faster vehicle speed is a major contributor to the issue of pedestrian safety.
Committee Member Payne cited budget issues as a major limiting factor in solving this problem. He agreed with Committee Member Rivera’s view that asking one developer to improve an entire roadway may not be feasible and that better funding sources/mechanisms are required. He explained that while the CDP mentions a Financing Plan, there is no existing mechanism within the County’s financial structure to actually make that happen.
Committee Member DeFranco agreed with Mr. Sogi’s sentiment and agreed that more could be done to resolve the issue. She also shared experiencing this issue on Painted Church Road.
Committee Member David explained that when the CDP Amendment Subcommittee looked into the language of this policy, it created legal confusion about the policy dictating improvements to State roadways.
Community member Lele Kimball expressed that the solution to creating new bike/pedestrian ways does not always require them to be along roadways. Committee Member DeFranco mentioned the nonprofit organization Peoples Advocacy for Trails Hawai‘i [PATH] which aims to achieve this.
Chair Young explained that the Kona CDP Amendment subcommittee struggled to understand the implications of each “shall” in the CDP and that sometimes a “shall” in a policy actually resulted in the opposite outcome than was intended.
Subcommittee Chair Palacat-Nelsen explained that the CDP amendments have been passed to the Planning Department for review and comment and that it is out of the subcommittee’s hands unless the Planning Department wishes to go back to them for further comment. He expressed feeling that
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maintaining the word “shall” in many of the CDP policies might be necessary to get what the community wants.
2. Nalani Merrill, representing herself, testified on agenda item 3. Ms. Merrill shared her general skepticism for the effectiveness of the CDP unless it contains legally binding language. She expressed wanting to see bike and pedestrian ways along the Keauhou bypass road, and sidewalks in front of Ho‘okena Elementary School. She expressed her support for maintaining the “shall” in the policy Mr. Sogi spoke about and wanted to see Māmalahoa Highway widened from Keālia down to Ocean View.
The Action Committee engaged with Ms. Merrill and asked her clarifying questions. Chair Young suggested that the Action Committee could look up widening or bike/pedestrian trail solutions for specific roads in a case by case basis but didn’t feel that there is a universal policy or solution that could solve every roadway problem.
3. Gunnar Hillart, representing himself, testified on agenda item 3. Mr. Hillart introduced himself as a Holualoa resident and expressed wanting to see more mauka-makai roadways from Holualoa down into Kona. He explained the 6 mile stretch of road lacks connectivity which could cause major issues in the event of a road closure. In particular, he explained that he would like to see Keolani Dr. opened for the public as a connector from Holualoa to Hienaloli Road, and Hiona Street connected to the proposed extension of Hienaloli Road.
Community member Lele Kimball stated that connectivity does not always need to be in the form of a roadway but could be a walking or biking route. She explained these roads could double as emergency vehicle access when needed.
Nalani Merrill asked about Old Gout Road which runs from Ho‘okena Beach Road up to the transfer station and has been blocked by a gate. Ms. Merrill asked why the road was closed and if it would be possible to reopen it at least as a bike/pedestrian trail. Another closed road discussed was Waiea Road which runs mauka from Māmalahoa highway in the same area. They discussed some tools to empower members of the community to work toward opening bike paths such as the 1892 Highways Act. Staff and the Action Committee agreed to look further into these questions as well.
Community member Malia Kipapa asked clarifying questions about the General Plan and the Kona CDP. She inquired about a parcel of land owned by her family close to Magic Sands beach and adjacent to a proposed public park in Kailua-Kona, which they hope to turn into an extension of the park for use by the community. They discussed different strategies to accomplish this goal including teaming up with a nonprofit organization, seeking grant money, and working with the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Commission [PONC] for the acquisition of land to be used as a community park.
Chair Young asked Malia to send more information to the Action Committee so they can help her consider an effective course of action. Staff Planner Childs suggested notifying the Action Committee if they submit a nomination to PONC so they could consider supporting them in that process.
Staff Planner Childs shared with community members present how they can be more involved with the General Plan and CDP comprehensive review in the future.
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4. Discussion of 2018 Goal Setting.
Staff Planner Childs suggested a process for the Action Committee to facilitate narrowing down a list of goals during the next Kona CDP Action Committee meeting. He asked each Action Committee member to come up with a list of 3-5 issues/priorities identified in the CDP for the discussion. These priorities would be narrowed down to a short list of feasible goals for the Action Committee to work on in 2018-2019. He asked that the Action Committee members email their suggestions to Staff Planner Heather Bartlett by June 15th.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Staff Planner Childs announced to the Action Committee his upcoming retirement date, expected to be May 31, 2018. He explained that April Surprenant, the Long Range Planning Program Manager, will be taking on his responsibilities with the Kona CDP until a new planner is hired. Childs expressed absolute confidence in Ms. Surprenant, as a senior planner, to support the Action Committee.
AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING: (July 10, 2018)
1. 2018 Goal Setting [continued]
2. Capital Improvement Project [CIP] Budget Discussion
3. Other items as requested by the Action Committee
ADJOURNMENT: The Chair, without objection, adjourned the meeting at 8:08 p.m.
All Action Committee information can be viewed and downloaded from our website: http://www.hawaiicountycdp.info/north-and-south-kona-cdp