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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-10-18 Leeward Exh A (AMEND SPP 378) LEEWARD PLANNING COMMISSION COUNTY OF HAWAI‘I HEARING TRANSCRIPT OCTOBER 18, 2018 A regularly advertised hearing on the application of LALAMILO FARM PARTNERS, LP (AMEND SPP 378) was called to order at 9:32 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), Michael Yee (Planning Director), Jeff Darrow (Planning Program Manager), Maija Jackson (Planner), Christian Kay (Planner) and Noriko Sauer (Commission Secretary) And approximately 14 people from the public in attendance. APPLICANT: LALAMILO FARM PARTNERS, LP (AMEND SPP 378) Application for a 1-year time extension to comply with Condition No. 5 (Plan Approval) of Special Permit No. 378, which allowed the retention and continued operation of a bakery; butter processing, storage and distribution facility; limited retail sales area and related improvements on approximately 0.5 acre of land situated within the State Land Use Agricultural District. The subject property is located on the north side of Lalamilo Farm Road approximately 900 feet west of its intersection with the Māmalahoa Highway and within the Lalamilo Farm Lots Subdivision at Lalamilo, South Kohala, Hawai‘i, TMK: (3) 6-6-005:032 (por.). UNGER: First order of agenda under New Business, No. 1, Applicant Lalamilo Farm Partners, LP, amendment Special Permit 378. Application for a one-year time extension to comply with Condition No. 5, Plan Approval, of Special Permit No. 378, which allowed the retention and continued operation of a bakery, butter processing, storage and distribution facility, limited resale sales, retail sales area, and related improvements on approximately 0.5 acres of land situated within the State Land Use Agricultural District. The subject property is located on the north side of Lalamilo Farm Road approximately 900 feet west of its intersection with Māmalahoa Highway and within the Lalamilo Farm Lots Subdivision at Lalamilo, South Kohala, Hawai‘i, TMK (3) \[6\]-6-005:portion of parcel 32. Commissioner Vitousek? VITOUSEK: Thank you. I just wanted to disclose that my father, Roy Vitousek, has worked with the applicant in the past, but I’ve talked to Corporation Counsel and determined that I do not have a conflict of interest, so I will stay on. Thank you. 1 EXHIBIT A UNGER: Thank you. Commissioners, any other comment? Thank you. Staff, presentation, please? KAY: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair, and good morning, Members of the Leeward Planning Commission. If I can direct your attention to the screen. Just wanted to give you an idea of where the subject parcel is located. It’s in the South Kohala District of Hawai‘i Island. For reference, we’ve got Māmalahoa Highway running generally north-south through the slide. The subject five-acre parcel is located in the Lalamilo Farm Lots Subdivision outlined in red here. To the east across the highway is the Parker Ranch Arena and Waimea Town to the northeast. The Applicant is requesting a one-year extension of time to Condition No. 5, Plan Approval, of Special Permit No. 378, which allowed the temporary operation of a fitness center, retention and continued operation of a bakery, butter processing, storage and distribution facility, limited retail sales area and related improvements on approximately 0.5 acres of land situated within the State Land Use Agricultural District. The Applicant is requesting a time extension to complete the studies and secure permits needed to comply with conditions of approval. The County zoning for the subject parcel and much of the surrounding area is Agricultural-5 acres, as indicated in the light green. Across the highway to the east is Agricultural-40 acres, some Agricultural-1 acres to the north, and some Residential zoning as indicated in yellow to the northeast. The State Land Use Designation for the subject property and much of the surrounding area is Agricultural and some Urban to the east. And, the General Plan Land Use Pattern Allocation Guide Map designation for the subject property is Important Agricultural Lands. Here’s an aerial photograph of the subject parcel and surrounding area. Again for reference, we’ve got Māmalahoa Highway running generally north-south through the slide. Lalamilo Farm Lots Road generally east-west, and the subject parcel is outlined in red. And here’s some aerial photographs of the subject parcel and permit area. On the left hand side the entire five-acre subject parcel outlined in red and the approximately half-acre permit area outlined in yellow. On the right hand side it’s blown up to show the existing ice cream processing and vegetable processing structure as well as some parking areas. The, pardon me, the area is with the green roofs here, and on the back of the structure there are approximately 2,500 square feet of unpermitted additions to the original structure that we’re trying to also deal with in the permit. Here is the applicant’s site plan that came through in the last amendment in 2016. On the left hand side again, you see the entire parcel and the smaller permit area outlined in red. On the right now you see the site plan. Just to give you an idea, the Meadow Gold parking, truck parking area, is no longer being utilized, as the truck parking has ceased on the property. The fitness center has since relocated on the property as required by the permit, so the areas indicated as fitness center are no longer there. And the bakery has also relocated from the property, so there’s just a limited amount of permitted uses that are taking place within the permit area. Here are some photos of site access along Lalamilo Farm Road looking west on the left-hand side and then looking east on the right-hand side. 2 EXHIBIT A Just wanted to talk about a proposed condition change to Condition No. 6 that we sent out to you the other day. The reason that we made this change is, as the condition was written, it was unworkable; it initially said prior to the issuance of Final Plan Approval, the applicant would have to either secure applicable building permits or remove all unpermitted structures. In our process, in order to secure the building permits, you need to get Plan Approval first, so we changed that to clarify it and make it workable. The intention of the condition was always to take care of the unpermitted structure issue within a year of the permit, so the way we have it written now would keep to that intent and fix the functional problem. With that said, the Director is recommending approval of this amendment request with conditions. That’s the conclusion of my presentation. I’d be happy to answer any questions the Commission may have. UNGER: Thank you. Commissioners, any questions? \[None.\] Thank you. KAY: Thank you. UNGER: Would the Applicant please come forward? Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth before the Planning Commission? MOOERS: I do. EDNEY: I do. UNGER: Please state your name and area of residence. MOOERS: My name is Greg Mooers. I’m a planning consultant. My residence is in Waimea. EDNEY: John Edney. I’m the owner of the property, and I live in Hawi. UNGER: Thank you. You can, this is your opportunity to talk about your application, so. MOOERS: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have reviewed the background report and recommendation prepared by the Planning Department. I think it accurately reflects the situation, and we support the recommendation. I might point out that the applicant was previously represented by another planner who has since retired or at least cut back on his work. I’ve kind of come in late in the process, but it was the opinion of that planner that the Special Permit was in effect void because the bakery and the fitness center were no longer in operation, and that’s why the applicant did not proceed with getting Plan Approval because he didn’t think it was required. The previous planner submitted a letter to the Planning Department, and the Planning Department indicated that that was not their interpretation, that they wanted us to go ahead, through with the Plan Approval process, and so that’s what we are doing. And so the request is to allow us time to do that. I will point out that we have hired a civil engineer. The civil engineer has prepared the studies requested for Plan Approval as far as solid waste and 3 EXHIBIT A water consumption, so it’s in a very near term resolution to this. But, we’re prepared to answer any questions that you may have. UNGER: Commissioners, any questions? Carr Smith? CARR SMITH: Yes, I was just wondering, I know it’s not part of this specifically, but what are the plans? Are you tearing down the unpermitted structures or—? EDNEY: You know, that’s probably what we’ll do, you know, I was going to have them looked at to see if we could get them permitted, one of them. Both these buildings were there when I bought the property, so they’ve been there for a long time, and they’re used just for storage purposes basically. But, if it’s, if it appears that they cannot be permitted, then we’ll just tear them down, you know. CARR SMITH: And then you’ll be expanding the facility that’s existing or—? EDNEY: No, no. Those are, the two buildings that we’re, or there’s actually one structure in the back, they were just sheds that were added on to the building. We use them to store parts and, you know, that stuff, and then \[inaudible name\] does the wood-working stuff. He’s using one for storage as well. So, we’ll just, in all probability we’ll just tear them down. CARR SMITH: Thank you. UNGER: It seems like one year is kind of an aggressive time frame for checking out your permits and rectifying the situation, if you don’t tear down the buildings. Can you comment on that? EDNEY: You mean one year is not enough time or— UNGER: Yeah, one year seems awful short to— EDNEY: No, I think that’s adequate time for us to, you know, I mean, it will be a decision that I can make quickly when I can find somebody to look at the building and say can they be permitted or not, and if not, then we’ll just tear them down, so. UNGER: Okay, thank you. Thank you. No other questions. Thank you, you can take your seat. Oh yeah, and to clarify, you did review the conditions of approval and you do approve them— MOOERS: Yes, we did do a review— UNGER: —you do agree with them. MOOERS: —and we agree with the background report, recommendation and, including the amendment proposed— UNGER: Right. 4 EXHIBIT A MOOERS: —that Christian read today. UNGER: Okay, thank you. I don’t see any public testimony, but if anybody is here from the public to testify, this is your opportunity. Seeing no members of the public to testify, I need a motion to close public testimony. CARR SMITH: So moved. KEALOHA: Second. UNGER: Motion by Carr Smith, second by Commissioner Kealoha. All in favor? COMMISSIONERS: Aye. UNGER: Opposed? \[None.\] Motion passes. Public hearing is closed. Commissioners, I need a motion on the agenda item. KEALOHA: I move that the application to amend Special Permit No. 378 be approved based on the Planning Director’s recommendation and proposed amended conditions, which shall be adopted. CARR SMITH: I’ll second that. UNGER: Motion by Commissioner Kealoha, second by Commissioner Carr Smith. The floor is open for discussion. No discussion. Roll call? KAY: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Commissioner Kealoha? KEALOHA: Aye. KAY: Commissioner Carr Smith? CARR SMITH: Aye. KAY: Commissioner Vitousek? VITOUSEK: Aye. KAY: Commissioner Yates? YATES: Aye. KAY: And Chair Unger? UNGER: Aye. 5 EXHIBIT A KAY: Thank you, Mr. Chair. Motion carries, five-nothing. UNGER: You’ll be notified in writing by the Planning Commission of our decision. MOOERS: Thank you. The discussion ended at 9:45 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Noriko Sauer, Secretary Leeward Planning Commission 6 EXHIBIT A