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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-04-08 Open Space Commission Minutes COUNTY OF KAUAI PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, & NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION FUND COMMISSION Lihue Civic Center, Moikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/213 MINUTES A regular meeting of the County of Kaua'i Public Access, Open Space & Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission of the County of Kauai was held on April 8, 2010, in the Lihue Civic Center, Moikeha Building Meeting Room 2A/2B. The following Commissioners were present: Jean Souza, Chairperson, Tessie Kinnaman, Vice Chairperson, Beryl Blaich, Linda Dela Cruz, and Eugene Punzal. The following Commissioners were absent: Johanna Ventura and three (3) vacancies. The following staff members were present: Nani Sadora, Duke Nakamatsu, and Deputy County Attorney Michael Dahilig. CALL TO ORDER Chair Souza called the meeting to order at 1:21 p.m. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The Commission agreed to take the review of 3/11/10 North shore field trip first on the agenda to accommodate public testimony. MOTION: It was moved by Beryl Blaich and seconded by Tessie Kinnaman to approve the agenda as amended. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Review, discussion, and public input on 3/11/10 North shore field trip. The Commission received testimony from James Gair regarding the Kilauea pavilion next to Banana Joe's. Mr. Gair stated that he is the President of the Kalihiwai Ridge Community Association and was representing the association members as well as him. He stated that the proposed Kilauea pavilion development will be before the 1 Planning Commission on April 27, 2010 for a 14,000 square foot, 250-guest indoor auditorium for movies, plays, and indoor concerts. Additionally, there is a 300 seat outdoor amphitheater that he said would disrupt the peace and quiet in the neighborhood. He said it is on open zone land and asked if it would need to be approved under open space policies. He noted that from everything he has read, the project does not comply with the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance. Chair Souza stated that they did not stop at the proposed development while on their field trip and were only given highlights in passing. She stated that she did not feel the Open Space Commission played a role in the decision making related to that project. Commissioner Blaich expressed appreciation for Mr. Gair's reminder that it would be coming up before the Planning Commission, but stated that the Open Space Commission's purview is to recommend use of the Open Space fund and that they don't review permits. She stated that if the property had cultural sites or special resource values then it would be within their purview. Chair Souza expressed appreciation to Mr. Gair for trying to accomplish his association's goals, but felt that the Open Space Commission didn't have a role. Mr. Gair expressed appreciation for the Commission's time. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES — regular meeting minutes of 3/11/10 and executive session minutes of 2/11/10. Regular meeting minutes of 3/11/10 —Approved. MOTION: It was moved by Tessie Kinnaman and seconded by Eugene Punzal to approve the 3/11/10 meeting minutes. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Executive session minutes of 2/14/10 —Approved. MOTION: It was moved by Tessie Kinnaman and seconded by Eugene Punzal to approve of the 2/14/10 executive session minutes. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. 2 ANNOUNCEMENTS Staff announced that commissioners were invited to attend the annual meeting of the Nutrition & Physical Activity Coalition of Kaua'i County on urban design for a healthy lifestyle. Flyers were distributed for information. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Status of filling of vacant Commission positions. Ms. Sadora stated that Council has been actively trying to fill their appointed positions but they haven't made a recommendation yet. Chair Souza asked Deputy County Attorney Dahilig what it would take to override the current understanding that all 8 seats need to be filled before the Commission can appoint the 9th. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that the Commission could request enactment of an Ordinance for Legislative clarification or request another opinion from the County Attorney's office. Chair Souza noted that there has been a Council appointed vacancy for at least six months, the Mayor's office has been experiencing delays, and there will be another anticipated vacancy. She said that quorum was an issue last year and she anticipates similar problems this year. Commissioner Blaich questioned if there is an emergency provision that may be considered. Commissioner Kinnaman questioned whether a Resolution would be an option. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that the Mayor's emergency powers are set forth by the Charter and by proclamation. He said that some type of emergency would have to be declared. Chair Souza suggested a request for an opinion from the County Attorney's office on the Commission's ability to appoint a ninth member without having eight seated members. She suggested citing the amount of vacancies and length of vacancies along with the impact of the lack of quorum. She suggested citing the amount of meetings that were missed last year due to lack of quorum. Commissioner Blaich felt they should propose a change to the language in the Ordinance and state that the seated commissioners will appoint the ninth, since it is very rare that there will be a fully seated eight commissioners. 3 Chair Souza noted that there have been many meetings with no action by the Council to appoint their commissioner, and thwarted attempts by the Mayor to appoint his commissioner. Commissioner Blaich stated that she felt that the Council and the Mayor have been trying. She stated that the Council has identified some potential appointees, but they have been turned down. She felt that the Commission should consider revising the language in the Ordinance. MOTION: It was moved by Eugene Punzal and seconded by Tessie Kinnaman to request the County Attorney's office to review the Open Space Commission's options to appoint the ninth member. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Chair Souza asked Ms. Sadora to forward a letter from the Commission indicating that the Commission has approved the request with a cc to the Planning Director, Deputy Planning Director, and Deputy County Attorney Dahilig. Update and discussion of the Commission's work plan/timeline of events and activities through 2010, to include future Commission education topics and scope and timing of facilitated review of the Commission's vision, goals, direction, priorities, processes, and proposals. Staff distributed copies of sample templates of findings and purposes for proposed changes to Ordinances that the Chair had requested at the last meeting. Chair Souza stated that she will put together a draft for the Commission to review in coming weeks. She requested that staff arrange the scheduling of meetings with the Mayor and the Chairs of the Council and Planning Committee, including the Planning Department heads and Ms. Nakamura. The Commission agreed that the Chair and vice chair should attend the meetings with the Mayor and the Council. Chair Souza stated that the 2009 report to the County Council and the Mayor has been transmitted to Council by the staff. Ms. Sadora stated that she was told Council Services would initiate contact with her when the report is placed on the Council's agenda. Chair Souza stated that it usually takes about a month from the time the report is transmitted until it is placed on the agenda. She questioned the status of the Koloa Development Plan. 4 Ms. Sadora stated that the Koloa Development Plan is in the beginning stages and the planners are still working with the consultant. She said that the long range planner wants to meet with the Commission when the plans are ready to move forward. Chair Souza stated that as the Commission becomes more involved in community plans, and more knowledgeable, they can start to form priorities and note areas of concern. She said that the Commission wanted the County to initiate an Open Space plan, but she suggested that the Commission may want to develop a document for their own use that describes what they think the priorities might be for the island. She said that the Commission prioritized the preservation of Mahaulepu each year. The Commission also discussed making reestablishing old accesses that have been blocked such as the former Hoban property. She said they have also discussed the need for another Koke'e-type experience such as the mountain area in Kalaheo in the vicinity of Alexander Dam. She said a general guidance document for the Commission could serve as a guide for year to year recommendations. She said she could start working on it and it could be a work in progress. Commissioner Blaich felt that it was a good idea to have a workbook since it is easy to lose big opportunities if you don't note them down as they occur. Commissioner Kinnaman also felt that it is a good idea especially for Mahaulepu and the Alexander Dam area. Commissioner Blaich stated that Mr. Gair's testimony reminded her of how opportunities on the North shore have been lost. She said along the Kalihiwai ridge there were plantation roads that the community were accustomed to using, however they were privatized when the lands were subdivided. She said it is a more contained lifestyle now in Kilauea. She felt it may still be possible to preserve areas that have not yet been developed. Ms. Sadora stated that she felt it was good idea. She suggested that the Chair offer ideas on ways for the Commission to track it, and she will see what tools are available from staff. Chair Souza stated that she wouldn't want the document to hamper the required annual report, but she felt it would be helpful. She suggested formulating a task group. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that task groups need to be appointed at a noticed meeting and that group can meet unannounced to discuss a specific item that is noticed as part of their original creation. He said that periodic reports need to be brought to the Commission at another noticed meeting. He said if a report recommends an action for the Commission to adopt, then that action would need to be taken at another meeting. He said a task group is a tool that the Commission could utilize if time is of the essence, but pointed out that there is a two step process when action is required. 5 Commissioner Kinnaman questioned if investigative committees could be assigned. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig stated that investigative committee would be for a situation where there is some kind of right, privilege, or investigation that the Commission needs to make a decision on. He stated that it would be more related to personnel matters. Chair Souza asked which Commissioners might be interested in being on the task group. All of the Commissioners present expressed that they would be interested. Commissioner Blaich stated that since she will be rotating off of the Commission soon, it would be great if other Commissioners wanted to be on the task group. Deputy County Attorney Dahilig suggested formally posting the appointment of the task group at the next meeting and they can resolve amongst themselves who will chair the group. He suggested "creation and appointment of task group to explore and develop an open space plan for the Commission" be listed on the next agenda. Chair Souza suggested that the task group identify what the document is and is not, and what the scope of the task group will be and not be, in order to help clarify. Commissioner Blaich suggested proposing an amendment section 6-14.2 of Ordinance 812 to state "One island-wide, at-large appointee shall be selected by the appointed seated commissioners. If there is no agreement of the selection of the one additional member within 45 days of a vacancy in that position, the additional member shall be appointed by the Mayor." Commissioner Kinnaman suggested the selection be made by a quorum of seated commissioners. Commissioner Punzal questioned the 45 days. Commissioner Blaich stated that they could suggest extending the 45 days. Chair Souza pointed out that if the Commission experiences quorum problems, they may not be able to appoint a Commissioner within 45 days. 6 MOTION: It was moved by Beryl Blaich and seconded by Eugene Punzal to amend Ordinance 812, section 6-14.2, section (3), to read "One island-wide, at- large, appointee shall be selected by a quorum of the seated commissioners. If there is no agreement on the selection of the Commission appointee within 60 days, the appointment shall be made by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Ms. Sadora stated that she will update the proposed amendments and forward them to Ms. Nakamura and the Commissioners. Review and discussion on 3111/10 North shore field trip. Commissioner Blaich stated that Commissioners could identify the issues and situations they saw on the field trip and recommend any possible actions. She said she will try to format it similar to the previous filed trip report. Chair Souza noted that the Mayor would have liked seeing who would be responsible for each action. She stated that the Commission could include it for now and remove it later if they decide to. She felt that the lack of iconic signage was confusing. Commissioner Blaich pointed out that the County needs to have liability protection. She questioned the legal status of the 'Aliomanu access. Chair Souza stated that there is a need for more parking at Moloa'a Bay. She asked if Moloa'a was the location of the controversy between the traditional access and the newly agreed to Na Ala Hele access. Commissioner Blaich stated that the Sierra Club felt that the trail did not follow the traditional alignment. She said that there is a fence prohibiting passage from Moloa'a to Ka'aka'aniu. Chair Souza stated that the Commission should identify which photos illustrate the various issues in the area. She said there is vacant land that is informally being used for parking, but there is no formal parking area at Moloa'a. She suggested including in it in the report. She asked Ms. Sadora to check if there are negotiations ongoing to dedicate the property. She expressed concern over the density of some of the surrounding developments. Regarding Ka'aka'aniu, Chair Souza expressed that she was glad to see the fence was removed from the County access area. Commissioner Blaich stated that the fence used to block the legal County access. She said that according to the land owner's perspective, the fence was 7 in the wrong place all these years. She felt that the County access is unacceptable and that an effort should be made to secure use of the easy access and the middle access. She said the County access is perilous, and it is difficult to know where you are going. Commissioner Punzal stated that there are three accesses to the beach. He said the trail that was being used by the public is a very smooth access. He agreed that the County easement is almost impossible to go down. Commissioner Blaich stated that it is an issue of having to pay for the right to utilize the middle access. She felt that it would be a good use of funds to create, in any way possible, lateral access to the shoreline. She said that that the middle access is okay, but if it would better to retain the gradual trail that people have been using for the last 20 years. She wondered if there are prescriptive rights establishing the use of the trail. She said that the proposed fence would cut off the gradual access. She said it would be preferable to place the fence mauka of the lateral trail and would only be a difference of 10 or 15 feet. She said is on private property so some kind of remuneration would have to be provided unless the landowner was in agreement. Commissioner Dela Cruz questioned if the County is responsible for clearing the easement or the land owner. Commissioner Blaich stated that the County is responsible to some extent, but she did not think they did regular maintenance. She stated that liability is an argument for the easier trail since it is a dangerous beach and rescues need to occur there. Chair Souza stated that it is a desirable beach and has enough privacy, yet it is very scenic. She felt that because of the scenic and recreation value the Commission should also consider acquisition of the landscape including the coastal flat area, the slope with the trails, and some of the plateau area so there can be parallel trails along the coast. She said it may help to avoid coastal erosion as seen in Hanalei area. She felt it could be a strategy around the island to protect some of the coastal areas in the public interest. She said the late Mayor Fasi's vision for Oahu was a series of parks and open spaces all around Oahu. She suggested that a similar policy for Kaua'i might be helpful for lateral access and coastal parallel access. She said that buying lands in the agricultural stages would be more doable. She also suggested looking into changing shorelines and rising sea levels. Regarding Kahili Bay, Commissioner Blaich pointed out that there is erosion from the parking lot to the beach. She stated that it would be a Public Works issue of directing water. Chair Souza stated that the depth of the plateau should probably be determined by standing at the shoreline and looking mauka. She suggested acquiring 8 enough depth that if development is allowed, you don't see a lot of houses coming up on the rise, like at rock quarry. Commissioner Blaich stated that in the SMA the coastal area itself would be developed. She pointed out that an effort was made to establish building envelopes at Kealia Kai so you wouldn't see homes from the coastal trail. Regarding the view shed from mile marker 22, Commissioner Blaich stated that it is a very special view shed, and among the ways of protecting it would be to utilize the Planning Directors authority to establish view quarters in the CZO. Chair Souza stated that view shed protection could be a topic for the task group. She pointed out that in some instances like the Knudsen gap area, view is obstructed by agricultural development and in some areas like Kilauea, agricultural development protects the view shed. She stated that there are not enough mechanisms in place in both instances to protect scenic value. She pointed out that the view of the mountains from the area fronting KCC were obstructed by the one stop building. She felt that the building didn't necessarily have to go up that high. She stated that the task group may want to set some guidelines that might influence policies with the County and the State. Regarding the Seacliff overlook, Commissioner Blaich stated that they looked at the Kauapea access from the East side. She stated that there is an open lot that might be able to provide some parking and have people walk from the East, going toward the old access, down the cliff. She said it continues to be a top priority access to Kauapea Beach from the East side and hopes that the County is continuing to explore a way to provide that. Chair Souza stated that the overlook is in public domain and housing development has stopped. She felt that it was shame that the view isn't available to the general public. She stated that a small scale educational facility was one idea that was being proposed. Regarding the 'Anini accesses, Chair Souza stated that there were no iconic signs marking the accesses. She stated that the health of the reef is major and appeared dead. She wondered if it could be restored through partnerships. Commissioner Blaich stated that the Princeville Phase 2 development EIS declared that the reef was healthy, but she didn't think it was healthy then and it is probably in worse condition now. Regarding the Princeville area, Chair Souza stated that she was pleased to see the Princeville to 'Anini Beach access. She stated that some of the other trails were slick and uneven, but there were a lot of people using them. She noted that the Commission saw nobody utilizing the Pu'upoa access, but at least 25 people on the Queen's Bath access. She said the people seem to seek out the natural trails along rough terrain that end up at a shelf rather than a nice beach at the end of Pu'upoa. 9 Commissioner Blaich stated that the potency of guide books stimulate tourists. She said that tourists like to go to places listed in the Ultimate Kaua'i or Hidden Kaua'i books. She said they are extremely dangerous and conditions are hazardous. Chair Souza asked staff to check with the St. Regis on correcting the signage. She stated that the sign currently reads "public parking" and people are parking there for the hotel. She stated that the purpose was for public access. She felt that the hotel may be deliberately misleading the public. She noted that across the street there is another sign to the Pu'upoa trail that says "public beach access". Commissioner Blaich stated that the hotel intends to have a more controlled situation over their parking. Commissioner Kinnaman stated that a year ago, there was no guard shack or gate and people could freely go in and out. Chair Souza stated that many resort places in Po'ipu have parking areas set aside for people utilizing the beach access. She noted that in Princeville, the hotel employees or other people are utilizing the public access parking for other reasons. She stated that somebody from Planning Department needs to contact the hotel. Commissioner Kinnaman noted that a permit condition was that the employees be bussed in from the Makai Course. Commissioner Blaich stated that they are rebuilding the Makai clubhouse and more people are going to be using it. Chair Souza stated that another issue in Princeville is that there is nowhere for people to park and enjoy the view and the scenery. Commissioner Blaich stated that she will draft an overview of the issues and may also tag specific issues to specific pictures. Chair Souza stated that she had prepared a script to read at Ka'aka'aniu if there were a lot of people there. She said that staff had distributed it to other Commissions as a guideline for what the rules are. Commissioner Blaich questioned whether the Commission could hand out forms for the public to comment on specific sites with a note indicating the Commission is unable to accept testimony during the field trip, but will add the comments to the discussion at the meeting. 10 Chair Souza stated that staff was prepared to hand out the agenda for the field trip if there was public there who wanted to submit testimony so that all the contact information was available. NEW BUSINESS Review and discussion of Commission's presentation of the County of Kaua'i, Public Access, Open Space, & Natural Resources Preservation Fund Commission 2009 report to the Kaua'i County Council Chair Souza stated that she started work on the presentation. She said that the main portion of the report is on pages 5-12 and the advantage of a PowerPoint presentation would be to show pictures and inform the public what the key points are. She said she will try to include photos for each of the sites that they mention. NEXT MEETING DATE AND AGENDA TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION Chair Souza stated that she may not be available for the next meeting on April 22, 2010. She said that appointing the task group should be listed on the next agenda, an update on the filing of the vacant Commissioner positions, executive session, update of the Commission's work plan and schedule of events, and the field trip report. She said new business should be creation and appointment of task group to explore formulation of an open space document for the Commission. She asked staff to schedule meetings with the Mayor and the Council Chair related to the Commission's work plan/timeline. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: It was moved Beryl Blaich and seconded by Eugene Punzal to adjourn the meeting. All were in favor by unanimous voice vote — motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m. f�e§pectfully aubmitted by: Duke Nakamatsu, Support Clerk 11