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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-08-16 Leeward Exh A (AMEND SPP 08-064) LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I HEARING TRANSCRIPT AUGUST 16, 2018 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of GOODFELLOW BROTHERS, INC. (AMEND SPP 08-000064) was called to order at 9:33 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, Perry Kealoha, Michael Vitousek and Faye Yates ABSENT AND EXCUSED: Scott Church and Sonny Shimaoka ALSO PRESENT: Malia Hall, Esq. (Counsel for the Commission), Jeff Darrow (Planning Program Manager), Christian Kay (Planner), Shancy Watanabe (Planner) and Noriko Sauer (Commission Secretary) And seven people from the public in attendance. APPLICANT: GOODFELLOW BROTHERS, INC. (AMEND SPP 08-000064) Application to amend Condition No. 3 (Life of the Permit) of Special Permit No. 08-64 and add the use and operation of a concrete/asphalt batching plant on a 5-acre portion within the previously approved 14.77-acre special permit area on the 243.794-acre property within the State Land Use Agricultural District. In 2008, Special Permit No. 08-64 granted the establishment of a baseyard to provide equipment and motor vehicle maintenance, repair services and related uses within the 14.77-acre portion of the property. The subject property is located adjacent to the existing Waikoloa Quarry and south of Waikoloa Road, halfway between Waikoloa Village and Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway, Waikoloa, South Kohala, Hawai‘i, TMK: (3) 6-8-001: por. 066. UNGER: Agenda Item No. 1, Applicant Goodfellow Brothers, Inc., Amend Special Permit 08-000064, application to amend Condition 3, Life of the Permit, of Special Permit No. 08-64 and add the use and operation of a concrete/asphalt batching plant on a five-acre portion within the previously approved 14.77-acre special permit area on the 243.794-acre property within the State Land Use Agricultural District. In 2008 Special Permit No. 08-64 granted the establishment of a baseyard to provide equipment and motor vehicle maintenance, repair services and related uses within the 14.77-acre portion of the property. The subject property is located adjacent to the existing Waikoloa Quarry and south of Waikoloa Road, halfway between Waikoloa Village and Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway, Waikoloa, South Kohala, Hawai‘i, TMK (3) 6-8-1: portion of Parcel 66. WATANABE: Good morning, everyone. The applicant is Goodfellow Brothers, Inc. and this is an amendment to Special Permit No. 08-64. 1 EXHIBIT A This is the location map. The subject property is outlined in red, and it’s off of the Waikoloa Road about halfway between Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway and the Waikoloa Village. The applicant is requesting to amend Condition No. 3, Life of the Permit, to be coterminous with the life of the State Special Permit Docket No. SP 92-381 for the quarry and the County Special Permit No. 833 for the quarry, which is until December 31, 2043, but no sooner than December 31, 2028. The owners for the quarry, baseyard and the proposed concrete/asphalt batching plant operations are all different. Thus, this provides flexibility for the applicant to operate for a minimum of ten years independently of the others or along with the quarry permit life. The location of their proposed concrete/asphalt batching plant is between the staging area/field office to the north and the equipment storage/lay-down area to the south. The proposed hours of operations for the batching plant is similar to the quarry hours, limited to 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., seven days a week. Expected traffic is about 15-trips per day. There will be three employees. And upon securing the necessary permits, construction hopes to start within six months of this amendment request. The applicant plans to use the quarried materials from the adjoining site to create asphalt or concrete or both as a mix for roads or other infrastructure. The applicant highlights a benefit of this location of the quarried materials and the proposed concrete/asphalt batching plant is that it could easily service the construction of the new Saddle Road Extension when the time comes, without negatively affecting the existing Waikoloa Road or other roadways. The applicant provided this map of the special permit area. The special permit area is 14.77 acres, and to the right is the existing quarry, which is about 219.990 acres. This is the applicant’s proposed site plan. The view for this has been changed; the north side of the property is here. This is the proposed, I’m sorry, this is the existing field office and staging area, this is the equipment storage and lay-down area to the south, and the proposed area is this here, this 5.0 acres in between. This is the applicant’s proposed batching plant elevation plan. This is the zoning map. Outlined in black, the subject property is agriculturally zoned, and neighboring zonings include Open to the north, which is shown in the dark green, Industrial in the gray and Residential-Agriculture in the tan. This map also shows the proposed General Plan arterial road for the South Kohala Saddle Road realignment. The actual location will depend on topography and resources when the time comes. This is the State Land Use Boundary Map. The property is located in this State Land Use Agricultural district. The Urban district is shown in the pink. 2 EXHIBIT A This is the General Plan Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide Map. The subject property is in the Urban Expansion. The General Plan designates other areas as Open shown in the green, Industrial shown in the gray and Extensive Agriculture shown in the white. This is the Formerly Used Defense Sites, or FUDS, Map. Shown in the blue hatching, the Formerly Used Defense Sites boundary of the former Waikoloa Maneuver Area includes the subject property. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will manage any investigations, clean-up and long-term monitoring on lands formerly used as an artillery firing range. This is an aerial photograph of the subject property. This is a closer view of the special permit area. The proposed batching plant operation is shown in the yellow. This is a view of the property entrance. I believe there is a gate that’s not shown on this map, as the picture was taken a while ago. The Planning Director recommends approval with conditions. This morning you received a copy of a testimony from Cory Harden, and in your packet you also received our amendment to Condition No. 14. And I believe the applicant will present an amendment to the language of Condition No. 3. Otherwise, this concludes my presentation. I’m happy to answer any questions that you may have. UNGER: Thank you. Commissioners, are there any questions of staff? YATES: I have a question. UNGER: Yes, please speak into your mic. YATES: Okay. I’m just wanting to know, you know, the runoff from asphalt, you know, with all that oil, where is that going to go, and also the water from the batching plant. They use a lot of water for cleaning up those concrete trucks. I’m just wondering where all of that is going to do. WATANABE: Those are questions we can ask the applicant when they come up. UNGER: Okay, we’ll go ahead and save that question for when the applicants come up. YATES: Okay. UNGER: Thank you. If there are no other questions for staff, can we have the applicants come forward, please? Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth before the Commission? APPLICANT’S REPRESENTATIVES: I do. 3 EXHIBIT A UNGER: Please state your name and area of residence. Please speak into the mic for the minutes. Thank you. FUKE: Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Members of the Commission. My name is Sidney Fuke. I’m a planning consult and my residence is in Hilo, Hawai‘i. With me this morning, you know, are two individuals: One is the Hawai‘i Island manager for the Goodfellow Brothers Incorporated and the other one is Ms. Leilani Pulmano whose company kind of helps oversees much of the Goodfellow Brothers operation among other things. We’ve had a chance to review the staff’s report and proposed conditions, and again, because the report is so comprehensive, it kind like makes my job relatively easier. I understand there are some questions, but before responding to the specific question, I’d like to kind of re-summarize, you know, the general background, as well as what the applicant is actually requesting. Back in 1993 there was a Special Permit issued, you know, for a quarry on 220 acres of land, and at that time the entire parcel consisted of about 3,000-plus acres of land. Because that permit exceeded 15 acres, then the permit was actually recommended for approval by the local commission and then subsequently ratified by the State Land Use Commission. At that time for that Special Permit for the quarry, the life of that permit was good until the Year 2018. And a number of years ago the applicant for the quarry, they sought and received a time extension, you know, from the Land Use Commission, and the time extension was extended the life of the quarry operation to the Year 2043, because that was generally the life of the lease that the quarry operator had with the landowner, with the fee owner. Then in 2008 Goodfellow Brothers came in requesting an area of about 14 acres to establish a baseyard adjacent to where the quarry is. That was granted by the local Planning Commission; it didn’t have to go before the Land Use Commission because the area was less than 15 acres. The permit on the other hand had a condition that tied the life of that permit to the life of the quarry permit, which was until the Year 2018. So 2018 December is kind of like right around the corner, so now they are asking for an extension of their quarry operation. Back in 2008 – you remember I was talking about like the 3,000-acre parcel that the quarry site and then this, the baseyard facility was originally part of – well, in 2008 the landowner then created a three-lot subdivision: One consisting of several-thousand acres; and then another one, you know, 934 acres; and they created a 240-acre parcel that’s currently houses the quarry operation of 220 acres and the baseyard facility. So the baseyard and essentially the quarry now are on a separate individual parcel. So that parcel, you know, you have a landowner and then you have one tenant, which is the quarry, and you have another tenant, which is the baseyard operators, I mean a, yeah, the baseyard operators. So what the applicant now is requesting for two things: One is to be able to establish a concrete/asphalt batching plant, and as staff had indicated, there is a need for that, you know, to not only service, because, you know, like, Goodfellow Brothers did the Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway extension, they do a lot of road improvements that also generate the need for asphalt/concrete; and in addition to that, they are also seeking a time extension. As far as the time extension, the staff’s proposal was to have it kind of tied in with the life of the Special Permit for the quarry. That’s kind of like understandable and it was really good. The only thing is that if you get tied in with the life of another permit, if for some reason that other permit misbehaves, the permittee misbehaves, and the Land Use Commission, so-called like, it nixes it 4 EXHIBIT A or if you have the, maybe on the other hand the holder of that Special Permit elects to give up, then unfortunately, if they are tied in with them, then they have to give up, too. So what we are asking for is that at least to consider giving Goodfellow Brothers, the asphalt/concrete batching plant operation, to at least have a minimum of ten years, and then the maximum would be no more than the life of the Special Permit, so at least they would have some operating room. And that’s pretty much that language is, the specific language is found on Page 3 of the application that we had filed, and specifically, that read, “The life of this permit shall be for a period coterminous with the life of Special Permit 92-381,” which is the larger, you know, quarry operation, “as may be amended from time to time, but in any case no sooner than December 31, 2028.” So, again, essentially what happens is that they’ll be, if approved, they will be able to at least get it until 2028 and the maximum would be the life of the quarry permit whenever that gets terminated but no more than 2043. The other request is to, again, as mentioned earlier, for the asphalt/concrete batching plant, and this is where I guess I’ll respond to your question, Commissioner Yates. Before they begin operation, they need to submit their plans to the State Department of Health and the Department of Public Works, both agencies that have kind of oversight responsibilities in terms of how do you handle the runoff, how do you handle the waste, how do you handle air emission and all that stuff. So they’ll have to be in compliance, you know; they have to submit a program and that program then has to be approved by the State. And it’s kind of like a recurring obligation, so it’s not like once you get the plan, and then tomorrow you can run away and do your own thing; you know, you have to at all point in time comply with whatever the State or the County would have required for the air control, as well as like washing of the vehicles and so on and so forth. If there is any violation, then obviously it would be grounds for someone to raise complaint, and conceivably that complaint could be raised to the commission and result in further, you know, further conditions or possibly at the worst case termination of the permit. Other than that, Mr. Chairman, I don’t have any other questions, unless the Commissioners may have more. UNGER: Great, mahalo. Commissioners, are there any other questions for the applicant? Commissioner Carr Smith. CARR SMITH: I have a couple. Good morning. Can you tell us more about the water? It’s private water? Coming from — FUKE: Yeah, the water system in this area is serviced by, I think it’s called Hawai‘i Water Resources, but it’s the same water company that provides, it’s a private water company that provides water service to Waikoloa Village and Waikoloa Resort and all of the land in between. So there is this major trunk line that stretches from the Village, well, actually where the source is, all the way down to the Resort area. So this is where when the three-lot subdivision was created, they have access, you know, three separate meters to all of the three lots. One of the meters is specifically assigned to the subject parcel. CARR SMITH: I’m also wondering about any work that’s been done regarding the Formerly Used Defense Site. 5 EXHIBIT A FUKE: I can’t really say offhand whether, you know, like what the Formerly, FUDS, right, F-U- D-S, whether the FUDS clearance was done on this property. I can’t really speak to that. But I know that the U.S. Corps of Engineers has been systematically going through the whole area to have it all cleaned up. CARR SMITH: I’m not sure if this is a question for you or not, Mr. Fuke, but I was wondering how it was determined that regarding the Hawaiian hoary bats and the limitations of when trees can be trimmed. Is that a standard County — FUKE: Maybe I can kind of like — CARR SMITH: — time frame? FUKE: We didn’t represent that, but I think that what the staff in their diligence, you know, they looked at the EIS that was prepared for the Daniel K. Inouye Highway Extension, you know, which would take it from the existing, you know, where Saddle Road ends right now all the way down to the Queen Ka‘ahumanu Highway, and the portion of it kind of like would affect the subject property, so within that area you would have areas where you have like trees or vegetation. Relative to this site, however, it’s pretty much denuded. So I think that this is where, you know, that condition was kind of, the genesis of that condition. However, as a practical matter, because the site is relatively barren of any activity, I don’t think that, you know, that would be very, would be problematic for the applicant. I noticed, however, that like in many of the, on other applications, the State almost routinely has made that kind of comment that, you know, there is this potential for a hoary bat, there might be potential for the Hawaiian owl, you know, or the hawk, and so they have like a standard mitigation that they always offer, and it wouldn’t surprise me that over time this becomes like a standard kind of condition that’s recommended by the staff. CARR SMITH: One last question, on the maps I see that the extension of the highway is supposed to come right, it looks as though, through the property? FUKE: Yeah, so, I think it looks like it would affect almost like a one-third, if not a one-half, of the property. But what the State did in its corridor study was like, I don’t know how many feet, but it’s really, really wide, so they needed, as part of the Environmental Impact process, they have to look at all the different options, and so the evaluation area is wider than the actual right-of-way. I think the right-of-way ultimately would be no more than 120 feet. CARR SMITH: Thank you very much. FUKE: Sure. YATES: I have a question. Also, in regards to clean-up, should, I mean we all hope that they don’t, once they do get into it, but, should they decide to leave, is there any accommodations or allowances as to clean-up and, you know, and those kind of -. See, my, my concern is, you 6 EXHIBIT A know, leaving waste there and it not being properly taken care of and cleaned up. And also how close is, is it anywhere near the aquifer, the huge aquifer in that area there? FUKE: The aquifer would be located more mauka. YATES: Okay. FUKE: Yeah. This area is actually, the aquifer is generally like, you know, where the Village is, and so this area is generally between the Village and the heliport facility. Now, relative to your question about the clean-up, I think it’s a good one, and normally they do that, they have this kind of clean-up responsibility or obligation imposed on quarries. And I’m just looking at the Special Permit conditions for the quarry and whether there was any condition to that effect. Okay, so on the quarry permit, you know, for the 220-acre quarry site, they did have this as a condition: “The applicant shall submit an Erosion Control and Site Restoration Plan for review and approval by the Planning Director, in consultation with the Department of Public Works, one year prior to the expiration date of the permit or prior to the termination of the operations, whichever occurs first.” So, now, if, in response to – I think your question is a very good one – so, this is Ms. Leilani Pulmano. UNGER: Aloha. PULMANO: Aloha. UNGER: Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth before the Planning Commission? PULMANO: Yes. UNGER: Please state your name and your area of residence. PULMANO: My name is Leilani Pulmano. I work for Pacific Rim Land and I actually live in Lahaina, Maui. UNGER: Okay. PULMANO: Maybe I can shed some light toward Commissioner Yates. As part — YATES: Thank you. PULMANO: As part of the Department of Health permit requirements for an asphalt and concrete batching plant, they do have a requirement for a closure plan to clean up that particular site, but as part of the GBI baseyard site our lease requires them to clean up the site as well. YATES: Okay. 7 EXHIBIT A UNGER: Great, thank you. Any other questions? Commissioner Vitousek. VITOUSEK: I was just wondering if the 15 trips that is proposed per day, is it in addition to any already occurring trips in and out of the baseyard? FUKE: That would be in addition to whatever the quarry operations. So this, you know, this is specifically as it relates to the proposed batching activities. So we had represented, you know, according to the applicant; they believe like no more than 15 during the course of the day and that will average out about like two, you know, per hour. VITOUSEK: Do they have any idea of what the current volume is in and out there for the quarry? FUKE: \[Inaudible dialogue with Mr. Makoff.\] That, I’ll just kind of like repeat what he said – this is John Makoff with Goodfellow Brothers – he said like that really would be something that West Hawai‘i Concrete, you know, who operates the quarry would have, but -. VITOUSEK: And then as far as scenic resources, it says that there is no impact. Is it going to be visible from Waikoloa Road? FUKE: The site is not, you know, not visible — VITOUSEK: And the 30-foot batching plant would also not be visible? FUKE: Oh, as far as the silo itself would probably be, but then it’s, if you saw the map, the site itself is kind of way inside, you know, it’s like about, if I were to guess, probably closer to about half a mile, you know, from Waikoloa Road. UNGER: Any other questions? CARR SMITH: I had one more just for clarification and for my own information. Special Permits require an annual report, correct? No? And I’m asking this question in regard to Condition No. 12 where it says that – yes – it says that the applicant needs to submit a status report upon completion of any construction. DARROW: Good morning, Members of the Planning Commission. Jeff Darrow with the Planning Department. There’s no requirement to place an annual progress report on a Special Permit or any other permit. We normally look at each permit and if it’s something that is, usually a larger development, that there is going to be a lot of activity going on and we need to monitor a number of conditions, then we’ll place that particular request on the permit. Each one of those permits that have those, we have to keep in mind that every year we’ve, we get hundreds of annual progress reports that come in to the Department. So we’ve been trying to keep in mind what is, what do we want to see on a yearly basis or what do we want to see once all conditions are done and they come in with a status report. So in this particular case being a 14.7-acre operation, we didn’t feel it was one of those larger projects that we would want to look at on a yearly basis. But, again, what we normally do, if we don’t have an annual progress report 8 EXHIBIT A requirement, we’ll ask that when they have complied with conditions of approval, that they submit a status report, a final status report. CARR SMITH: Thanks for clarifying that. DARROW: Thank you. UNGER: Great, thank you. FUKE: Mr. Chairman, can I just make one additional comment in relation to Commissioner Vitousek’s question — UNGER: Yes. FUKE: — I guess you are asking about like trying to get a feel as far as like what level of vehicular movements on the part of the quarry. I’m just looking at the Special Permit for the quarry right now, the operation, and Condition E kind of reads as follows: “At the written request of the Department of Public Works, after the fifth anniversary of the issuance of the extended permit,” – in other words five years from, it would be three years from now because it was issued two years ago – “ the applicant shall prepare a Traffic Impact Analysis Report, at no cost to the County of Hawai‘i, for submission to the Department of Public Works. The applicant shall coordinate with the DPW on implementing the applicant’s pro-rate share of appropriate traffic mitigation measures, if any, should it be determined through the TIAR that improvements to the Waikoloa/Quarry road intersection are needed due to the applicant’s activity at the quarry. Access to Waikoloa Road shall comply with Chapter 22 of Hawai‘i County Code.” So, I can only surmise, but, I can’t say that it’s a fact, but the volume of traffic on the quarrying operation would probably be more significant than what’s being proposed by this batching plant operation. So, that, we can, you know, based on what the applicant is saying that, yeah, you know, probably no more than two in an hour during the course of the day. The quarrying, we don’t know. UNGER: Thank you. Carr Smith. CARR SMITH: A comment in regards to Mr. Vitousek’s comment about, or question, about the impact from the road, typically the County in their presentation they have photos showing what the road view is, and that wasn’t included. So normally we would see that. UNGER: In general, then, can you agree that you’ve read and reviewed the comments from the Planning Department and you are in agreement with the stipulations that are attached to this application to the approval of your request? FUKE: We, you know, the applicant has had a chance to review the staff’s prepared background report and the recommendation, and the only, and we agree with them, you know, but the only suggestion we have is that to consider going back to what we had originally proposed that is to say giving them a minimum ten year life, and then after that, tie these two projects by their hips. 9 EXHIBIT A UNGER: Right, and I believe that was part of the Planning Department recommendation, is that correct, or is that in addition? Yeah, I think that is included. Yeah, and that would be part of the motion. Okay, thank you. FUKE: Thank you. WATANABE: Before we vote on this, if we can make one suggestion for Condition — UNGER: Can’t hear it, can you hold the microphone — WATANABE: Before we vote on this, for Condition No. 8 we just wanted to clarify. The condition right now would read, “The wastewater system, noise from construction activities and operation, method of fugitive dust control, and contributing factors to air pollution for the quarry operations shall meet the standards and requirements of the State Department of Health.” We would like to amend this slightly to read, “quarry and related uses shall meet the standards and requirements of the State Department of Health.” UNGER: Can you repeat that, please? WATANABE: Sure. So the amendment would now read, “The wastewater system, noise from construction activities and operation, method or fugitive dust control, and contributing factors to air pollution for the quarry and related uses shall meet the standards and requirements of the State Department of Health.” UNGER: Mr. Fuke. FUKE: We’d like to just kind of clarify that, you know, the applicant is not requesting the quarry operation, so maybe it should just be made more clear that the concrete batching plant, rather than the quarry. UNGER: So noted. Okay. We’d like to, I don’t see anybody on the sign-up list, but I do want to say if there is any members of the public that would like to testify in regard to this agenda item, this is your opportunity. Seeing nobody here form the public testifying, I need a motion from the Commissioners to close public testimony. KEALOHA: So move. CARR SMITH: Second. UNGER: I have a motion by Commissioner Kealoha, second by Commissioner Carr Smith. All in favor? COMMISSIONERS: Aye. UNGER: Opposed? \[None.\] Public testimony is closed. Commissioners, at this time I’d like to entertain a motion for this agenda item. 10 EXHIBIT A CARR SMITH: Chair Unger, do we need to clarify the condition as it relates to — UNGER: We can read it again. Yeah, let’s, let’s clarify. WATANABE: Okay, we’ll start with Sidney’s request for Condition No. 3. So the amendment for that condition is now to read, “The life of this permit shall be for a period coterminous with the life of Special Permit 92-381, as may be amended from time to time, but in any case no sooner than December 31, 2028.” UNGER: Okay. WATANABE: Then for Condition No. 8, for clarification, it would read, “The wastewater system, noise from construction activities and operation, method or fugitive dust control, and contributing factors to air pollution for the batching plant operations and related uses shall meet the standards and requirements of the State Department of Health.” UNGER: Okay. Great, thank you. So any motion would make reference to both Items 3 and 8 as discussed. KEALOHA: Mr. Chair, I move that the application to amend Special Permit No. 08-064 be approved based on the Planning Director’s recommendation and proposed amended conditions — UNGER: Amended conditions for Item 3 and — KEALOHA: For Items 3 and 8, which shall be adopted. CARR SMITH: I’ll second that. UNGER: We have a motion by Commissioner Kealoha, second by Commissioner Carr Smith. The floor is open to discussion. So I support the applicant. I understand Mr., I read Mr. Gordon’s objections, and I think we all have those objections and those concerns. I think the applicant made a reasonable and well attempt to address all those concerns. I think it’s an essential location there, so I’m going to vote aye on the motion. Any other comments? Roll call. WATANABE: Yes. Sorry, who made the motion? Okay, so, Commissioner Kealoha? KEALOHA: Aye. WATANABE: And then Commissioner Carr Smith? CARR SMITH: Aye. 11 EXHIBIT A WATANABE: Commissioner Vitousek? VITOUSEK: Aye. WATANABE: Commissioner Yates? YATES: \[Inaudible.\] UNGER: So this is your opportunity to vote yea or nay. YEATES: Oh, okay. No. WATANABE: Chair Unger? UNGER: Aye. WATANABE: The motion passes, four to one. UNGER: Thank you. You’ll be notified in writing by the Planning Commission. The discussion ended at 10:11 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Noriko Sauer, Secretary Leeward Planning Commission 12 EXHIBIT A