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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-11-07 Hearing Transcript - Hilo One Inc. REZ 18-228WINDWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAII HEARING TRANSCRIPT NOVEMBER 7, 2018 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of HILO ONE INCORPORATED (REZ 18-000228) was called to order at 2:01 p.m. in the County of Hawaii Aupuni Center Conference Room, 101 Pauahi Street, Hilo, Hawaii with Chairman Joseph Clarkson presiding. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Gilbert Aguinaldo, Joseph Clarkson, Donald Ikeda, John Replogle. ABSENT & EXCUSED: Donn Dela Cruz, Thomas Raffipiy. ALSO PRESENT: Michael Yee (Planning Director), Malia Hall (Deputy Corporation Counsel for the Windward Planning Commission), Jeff Darrow (Planning Program Manager), Maija Jackson (Planner), Christian Kay (Planner), Sarah Hata-Finley (Commission Secretary), Kim Tanaka (Secretary). And 7 members from the public in attendance. APPLICANT: HILO ONE INCORPORATED (REZ 18-000228) Application for a Change of Zone from an Agricultural 3 -acre (A -3a) to a Single -Family Residential -15,000 square feet (RS -15) zoning district for approximately 12.728 acres of land. The property is located along the south side of Haihai Street, approximately 930 feet east from the Haihai Street — Ainaola Drive intersection and across from Lei Lehua Street, Waiakea Homesteads 2nd Series, South Hilo, Hawaii, TMK: 2-4-039:026. CLARKSON: Windward Planning Commission is back in session. Thank you all for your patience. The next item on the agenda is from the Applicant Hilo One Inc., Change of Zone application. DARROW: Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Planning Commission. If I can direct your attention to our presentation. Our next application, the Applicant is Hilo One Inc. They're requesting a Change of Zone. The Applicant is requesting a Change of Zone from Agricultural - 3 acres to Single -Family Residential - 15,000 square feet for approximately 12.278 acres. Once rezoned, the Applicant proposes to subdivide the property into 30 lots which will be sold on the open market to the general public. This is the location and County zoning map just for reference. Running through the middle of the map in an east -west direction is Haihai Street, and crossroad running perpendicular with Haihai, running in a north -south direction is Ainaola Drive. The subject property is identified with a black outline and as the light blue indicates, the current County zoning of the property is Agricultural - 3 acres. Just for reference, the different colors on the map represent the different colors of the County zoning. The yellow and mustard colored zonings are Single -Family 10,14 11 IH Ina Residential. Just adjoining the property to the west is Residential. The lighter green and darker green represent Agricultural or Open type zonings. The, this is the State Land Use designation map. This identifies a majority of the area in this State Land Use Urban District, with a small portion in the lower portion of the map in the State Land Use Agricultural District. This is the General Plan Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide map for the entire area. It is identified as Low Density Urban. And, this is an aerial photo. Again for reference, we have Haihai Street and Ainaola Drive with the subject property identified with a black outline. Majority of the area to the west and north, as well as to the south has been constructed in single- family dwellings. This is the Applicant's proposed subdivision layout referencing Haihai Street on the upper portion of the map. Access would come from Haihai Street and also adjoin with the adjoining existing subdivision through an extension of the existing roadway. There are proposed two cul-de-sacs; one—the interior roadways will be built to dedicable standards except for one private cul-de-sac. These are some site photos of the area. This is on Haihai Street looking east with the subject property on theoh, I'm sorry, this thing is going off on me—on the right side. And this is looking west and this would be the subject property on the left side. You'll notice the guardrail in place. There's an actual open culvert or open ditch, that runs along that area that takes all the water from the flooding of the area out of the area. Continuing on, this is directly looking at the property, again with the open ditch. This is on the street that's parallel to the subdivision and this is the proposed subject property with the adjoining subdivision on the west side. And again, looking towards the east with the subject property right on the right side there. And this is within the existing subdivision. The, right now there's a stub -out of the existing roadway. The Applicant is proposing to continue this through the subdivision and then connect to the access to Haihai Street. The Planning Director is recommending that the Planning Commission send a favorable recommendation with conditions to the Hawaii County Council. I do have a few changes that I'd like to bring to your attention. One is these yellow sheets that reference minor changes to the comments regarding Public Works, as well as a revision to Condition 6. Everyone have that? Yeah? Okay. And then also this morning submitted by the Applicant is a proposed condition change to Condition—oh I'm sorry, did I say Condition 6? I meant Condition E. I was referencing the number on the top. And they're requesting a minor amendment to Condition F, and this is regarding the restrictive covenants to maintain the private cul-de-sac. So they're requesting that it be more specific to those lots that adjoin that particular cul-de-sac. In speaking with the Planning Director, he has no problem with the proposed changes. With that, that concludes our presentation. I am able to answer any questions if there are any. REPLOGLE: What was this land used for before? DARROW: I think it's just been vacant land. EXHIBIT F 2 REPLOGLE: Nothing was grown there? Nothing was DARROW: Not that I'm aware of We can ask the Applicant when he comes on, but looking REPLOGLE: Oh, okay— DARROW: It looks completely overgrown so I would think that it was, if there was a use on it, it must have been some time ago. CLARKSON: I noticed that the proposal's septic systems for every home. Is there no sewer in the entire area up there? DARROW: Not in this area. Not able to hook up. CLARKSON: Any further questions? DARROW: Thank you. CLARKSON: If not, will the Applicant or their representative please come forward? KERN: Good afternoon. CLARKSON: You've been sworn in, Mr. Kern. KERN: I have. [Mr. Kern was sworn in for a previous application.] CLARKSON: Please raise your right hand. HIGASHI: I'm the developer, Roland Higashi. CLARKSON: Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter before the Commission today? HIGASHI: Yes. KERN: Very good. Good afternoon. Relatively straightforward rezoning request. It meets all the criteria. It's essentially an urban infill. As you can tell, the entire area around it has been developed as urban with majority being RS zoning. I think some of the areas that are still in ag on one part of it, there's some, some water issues there. The parcel that we have does not have any of those issues. County dedicable roads, access, connectivity, the subdivision that adjoins it that we're going to be connecting the road to, those are County roads as well. So again, it all meets the criteria. We reviewed the recommendation and the conditions and with the amendments, we don't have any objections. And personally I haven't gotten any phone calls. EXHIBIT F 3 We did all the proper notices and what not. I haven't gotten any phone calls from anybody. I'm not saying there isn't some folks here to talk about it, but haven't gotten any personal phone calls. Like I say, relatively straightforward. I think this is needed. There's not many lots available in Hilo. It's challenged. And with not much availability, it doesn't help our housing situation out. So this is a prime project in a good area that has all the infrastructure that we would need that would be very good for our community. And with that I'll leave it to Mr. Higashi to make any further comments. HIGASHI: Yes, we've reviewed the comments and conditions by the Planning Commission, Planning Director, and we accept all those conditions as provided to us as amended. Just like to say that I was the developer for Waiakea Fairways, as far as the pent up demand in Hilo, we did 49 lots, we did it in an affordable manner, and those lots sold out in 3 weeks. I mean there were people who, while we were developing, were inquiring. But we sold that, in three weeks we were sold out, so, there's some interest in displays because people's seen the sign, seen the surveyors, they've been calling us and saying "hey, we're interested," but we haven't taken any names yet, but I think in Hilo proper there are not too many new developments of Residential - 15,000 square feet. I think there's Hillside Development that's going on; that's a one -acre subdivision. So in Hilo, there's a pent up demand, in our opinion. So I'm an experienced developer. Just to let you know, I've done ten subdivisions already. Mostly Hilo area. We try to keep it as affordable as possible. The one thing that drives up the cost is government expenses. We have fair share, we have housing commitments, we have time lag, so in this case this project is moving pretty rapidly and we appreciate that. By the way, you asked about what that land was used for? That young man that was sitting in the back here, he's the dependent of the owner. He's the son of the previous owner. And Mr. Higa was a farmer. He moved from Okinawa. When he moved here a lot of that Waiakea area was done by Okinawan's and were doing farming in that area, but they haven't done that for like 30 years. So, he was the last son and he inherited the last piece. CLARKSON: Are there any questions for the Applicant from anybody on the Commission? REPLOGLE: I have one. It wouldn't have worked to make a 3 -acre subdivision and encouraged farming? Small farming or? I understand Hilo's housing crisis, and I guess at some point there'll be houses all over the island. HIGASHI: Yeah. REPLOGLE: Where do we protect our ag lands? That's what I ask. HIGASHI: John, my opinion is that to farm in an area where it's urban, we have all the houses around. If I raise pigs, horses, I mean, I use fertilizer, contaminants. It's not conducive to the area. Yeah? So, I think the highest and best use is still a residential. KERN: Thank you. And from a planning perspective, you can look at the State Land Use as Urban. That's where they want to see the urban growth go. And then when you look at the EXHIBIT F 4 General Plan LUPAG map with the Low Density Urban, that's also where they want to see the growth go. So, as you move out to Hamakua, it starts to change to more ag land. More up Waiakea Uka it begins to change as well, but this is still considered within that urban core so it's the area where we want to see more density. So, thus, the RS zoning,. It's the most logical highest and best use of the land, and it will help meet the housing needs. HIGASHI: And then it is possible infrastructure's there, the roads are there, signal lights are there, water's available. So, I mean, you know, all the public services are there. They put a new fire station on Haihai Street, which is perfect. AGUINALDO: Commissioner, I have a question. Zendo, so as far as the point of entry shown on the pic, you know, the picture, is it coming off of Kikala Street extension? KERN: Well, the point of entry will be off of Haihai Street, yeah, on Kikala Street extension, so off of Haihai Street there, and then it'll also have availability as an entry through Ho`olala Street, which would be, again, off of Haihai Street just a little bit more mauka. But, that wouldn't be the primary; that's more of a connectivity. So, the point of entry would be AGUINALDO: Kikala Street extension? KERN: Yes. AGUINALDO: So as far as that there we're not coming off of the guardrail side then, yeah? Where had the guardrail, the drainage HIGASHI: We are. We'll come off Haihai Street. AGUINALDO: Haihai. KERN: That would, yeah, that would be the guardrail area, and actually a good portion of the drainage along Haihai Street is actually an existing 48 -inch culvert, and there's a little bit of an open area, so Mr. Higashi will actually do a culvert improvement along Haihai Street to have that go over. And that's one of the conditions, and then a little bit of work on the widening of that drainage area. So, it'll keep the drainage flow going down here. AGUINALDO: Right. KERN: There was a flood study that was done recently for this area, and it all works perfectly fine. AGUINALDO: You know and that's, that's one thing. Development is good, but we always gotta understand as well is when we do the development, it's not just the development, so any mitigation as far as flood control, erosion, all that so it doesn't affect downstream. You know, that's kind of like only my suggestion, you know, on that. EXHIBIT F 5 HIGASHI: Commissioner Aguinaldo, we are in the process of doing a, a FEMA study. We're doing a CLOMR. On the other half of the property, there's extensive flooding so we left that out of this development so we don't have to deal with that. But, we are doing a study and taking the water, mitigating the water, trying to get `em off our property. The young Higa boy that was here? He's—we met with him during the recess so you know, to see what his concern. He's concerned that he has flooding on his property now. He was concerned that we don't put any more water on his property. AGUINALDO: On his property. HIGASHI: One of the conditions we'll maintain all the water that we generate on our property, which is a standard condition. We are partnering with him to address further flooding on the other side property. AGUINALDO: Good. HIGASHI: So, he was satisfied and we're going to partner with him and try to mitigate any further water coming on. AGUINALDO: Thank you. KERN: Yeah, so just to add, along the Haihai Street area, that's going to be completely taken care of and then everything on site will be engineer designed, drywells. We have engineers on board. It has to maintain whatever water's generated from that. Maintained and stays on that property, hundred percent. AGUINALDO: Thank you. CLARKSON: Okay, and even though there's all these different drainages, you can't add to it? You have to do an injection facility? HIGASHI: Yes. KERN: Yeah. HIGASHI: It's a pretty standard condition that the Planning Department uses so, whatever we generate we maintain on our property. CLARKSON: Any further questions? If not, thank you, gentlemen. KERN: Thank you very much. HIGASHI: Thank you very much. CLARKSON: We have three people signed up to testify. If Dannie Higa, Constance Aldaya, and Elverita Toci could come up? EXHIBIT F 6 HIGASHI (from audience): We talked to Mr. Higa, and he was satisfied. CLARKSON: Oh AGUINALDO: He left. CLARKSON: He left. So, of the three, we have one left. Okay. Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth on this matter before the Planning Commission today? ALDAYA: Yes. CLARKSON: Please introduce yourself and then proceed. ALDAYA: My name is Constance Aldaya. I've lived on Ho`olala AGUINALDO: You can put your hand down now. ALDAYA: Ho`olala Street. I'm the second house from No'u. So I'm at the dead end where your development is going to start. My only concern is that because the development is going to start where my house is, right in front of my house, is all the construction going to be done going into Ho`olala Street? Or is the road, Kikala Road gonna be installed first and then they'll use that to start building in that subdivision? CLARKSON: Let's ask the Applicant. Which way will the construction vehicles enter the property? KERN: The construction vehicles and equipment will come in off of Haihai Street and will be staging up on that side, and it'll be, the road will be developed over to you, but it won't be there so that won't be the epicenter of where everything starts. It'll be kind of a, we'll do what we, you know, do what he needs to do there and that will be kind of the last, the last part. So everything will come in off of Haihai Street. Just like when you bulldoze a lot, many places might be wooded right there, but you offload and go in and clear an area. ALDAYA: Okay, that's good. Also, because I notice in the map Ho`olala Street goes right before my house into that empty property. When they do put the road in, can they put in a speed bump on the inside of the property than on the outside where all their residents are right now? That's my only concern because I don't want to see all those cars going in and out and then we'll have a hard time getting out of our driveway. HIGASHI: Let me just say that the speed bumps are a responsibility of the County. Because it's going to be a County road, they need to apply with the County to mitigate any kind of traffic congestion. As far as when we're doing construction, we'll use best practice in doing our construction so we'll make sure that we don't inconvenience the neighbors. EXHIBIT F 7 ALDAYA: I just want to be sure that you know the speed bump won't be on the outside in the current neighborhood right now. And, also there will be no other stop signs there. Because I'm up at the corner of Ho`olala Place and Ho`olala Street. Right now I get all the exhaust in my house. Every time people stop at the stop sign, I get all this exhaust in my house so I have to put my fan on, and I don't want another stop sign on the corner right across from my house. So whatever exists there now, I hope that'll be, you know, because it's the two stop signs are on Ho`olala Place and so I don't want a stop sign on Ho`olala Street across from my house. AGUINALDO: Hey Jeff, do we have a photo or slide of that, on her street? The picture. That street, yeah? ALDAYA: Okay, that's my house right there. To the right. AGUINALDO: The right. ALDAYA: And that's the end of the road there. So they have stop signs on the right side and the left side, but there won't be any, you know, to make it a 4 -way stop, right? DARROW: Mr. Chairman? We are fortunate today to have in our presence a representative from the Department of Public Works and so she might be able to answer more specifically that question. MATSUMOTO: My name is Robyn Matsumoto. I'm a civil engineer with the Department of Public Works Engineering Division. Regarding her questions regarding speed humps, those are handled by the traffic division and typically an applicant would apply and then you would have to get a majority of the residents, you know, adjoining to that area to agree to the speed hump locations. So and then regarding the stop signs at this intersection, I believe the continuation of Ho`oloa [sic] ALDAYA: Ho`olala. MATSUMOTO: Ho`olala wouldn't include, you know, they would have to continue on. There wouldn't be like a 4 -way intersection anymore. Cause it's a continuation into your subdivision from Mr. Higashi's. ALDAYA: You mean from Kikala Street coming out? MATSUMOTO: Yeah, yeah. So there would only be stop signs coming off of the smaller roads, the Place. The cul-de-sacs. REPLOGLE: The existing ones MATSUMOTO: Cul-de-sacs. REPLOGLE: will stay. 10,14 11 IH Ina ALDAYA: Stay the same. HALL: They won't add any more. ALDAYA: So, nobody, we won't have the exhaust from the cars that stop on this side. MATSUMOTO: Coming in, no. REPLOGLE: That's a main road so it'll just go through. MATSUMOTO: Continuing. ALDAYA: Right through. Okay. That's allI have to say. Thank you. CLARKSON: Thank you. Are there any questions for this testifier? If not, apparently not. Thank you very much. Are there any other people in the audience wishing to testify on this matter? If not I'll ask for a motion to close public testimony. REPLOGLE: I make a motion we close public testimony. AGUINALDO: I second. CLARKSON: All those in favor? COMMISSIONERS: Aye. CLARKSON: Opposed? Motion carrieS. Public testimony is closed. At this time, I'll request a motion for action on this item. Don't be shy. REPLOGLE: I move the favorable recommendation be forwarded to the County Council and the application of the zone change Docket No. 18-000228 based on the Planning Director's recommendation and proposed conditions which shall be adopted. IKEDA: Second. CLARKSON: It's been moved and seconded that this application be approved. Can you pollthe Commission please? HALL: Sorry, just for clarification, does that include the amended condition from the Applicant and the Planning Department, E? DARROW: Amended conditions E and F. HALL: E and F. REPLOGLE: Yes. EXHIBIT F 9 HALL: Okay. DARROW: Thank you. With that, we'll take the roll. Commissioner Replogle? REPLOGLE: Nay. DARROW: I'm sorry? REPLOGLE: Did I say nay? Or did I say the wrong word? DARROW: Yes? REPLOGLE: No. DARROW: Oh, okay. Commissioner Aguinaldo? AGUINALDO: Aye. DARROW: Commissioner Ikeda? IKEDA: Aye. DARROW: And Mr. Chairman. CLARKSON: Aye. DARROW: The motion does not pass. REPLOGLE: Why does it not pass? DARROW: Need to have four votes. REPLOGLE: Am I allowed to change my vote? DARROW: I would think so. REPLOGLE: Okay, I'll go aye. DARROW: Okay. REPLOGLE: I wanted to make a statement against the taking of agricultural lands. We're going to need to feed ourselves someday. DARROW: With that, the motion carries. Thank you. EXHIBIT F 10 The discussion ended at 2:28 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sarah Y. Hata-Finley, Secretary Windward Planning Commission 11 10,14 11 IM Ina