HomeMy WebLinkAboutpcminutes4-12-11 KAUAI PLANNING COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
April 12, 2011
The regular meeting of the Planning Commission of the County of Kauai was called to order by
Chair, Herman Texeira at 8:50 a.m. at the Lihu`e Civic Center,Mo`ikeha Building, in meeting
room 2A-213. The following Commissioners were present:
Mr. Herman Texeira
Mr. Jan Kimura
Mr. Hartwell Blake
Mr. James Nishida
Mr. Caven Raco
Ms. Camilla Matsumoto
Mr. Wayne Katayama
Discussion of the meeting, in effect, ensued:
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Chair: Before I call for the approval of the agenda I would like to make two changes to
the agenda, the order of the agenda, one, we are going to be moving up item C which is the
Subdivision Report so that is that first order of business. And then the second order is going to
be D.I -Which is Anaina Hou. Is there a motion?
Ms. Matsumoto: So moved.
Mr. Raco: Second.
Chair: Any discussion, all those in favor,those opposed, motion carried.
On motion made by Camilla Matsumoto and seconded by Caven Raco, to approve
the agenda as amended, motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
Chair: The second order of business is for the receipt of items for the record, could I
have a motion please?
Ms. Matsumoto: So moved.
Mr. Nishida: Second.
Chair: All those in favor say aye,those opposed, motion carried.
On motion made by Camilla Matsumoto and seconded by James Nishida, to receive
items for the record, motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
Chair: Minutes of February 22,the Workshop of February 22, and the meeting of March
22, 2011, we will put it all together. Could I have a motion for that please?
Mr. Nishida: So moved.
Ms. Matsumoto: Second.
Chair: All those in favor say aye, those opposed, motion carried.
On motion made by James Nishida and seconded by Camilla Matsumoto, to
approve Planning Commission meeting minutes of 2/22/11, Workshop 2/22/11, and 3/22/11,
motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
JUL 12 2011
Chair: Just for your information this is in regards to the capacity of the room, it was
reported that 206 people are allowed to be in this room for the meeting so I think we are under
206 so we are fine with that unless you have more friends that are coming.
Unidentified Speaker: Chair, point of order please.
Mr. Blake: What is this point of order?
Chair: At this point I don't want to, if I can just go ahead and continue with the meeting.
SUBDIVSION
Ms. Matsumoto: Item D.,New Business 1, Tentative Subdivision Action for S-2011-18,
Kukui`ula Development Company, Hawaii, LLC, TMK: 2-6-015:010, 011, TMK: 2-6-006:002
has been approved. Item D.2, Tentative Subdivision Action Extension request, S-2008-21,
Princeville Prince Golf Course, LLC, TMK: 5-3-006:001, 014 was approved.
Chair: Is there a second?
Mr. Katayama: Second.
Chair: Any discussion on this Subdivision matter? Seeing none all those in favor say
aye,those opposed, motion carried.
On motion made by Camilla Matsumoto and seconded by Wayne Katayama, to
approve Subdivision Committee Report, motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Class IV Zoning Permit Z-IV-2010-15, Use Permit U-2010-14 and Special Permit SP-
2010-3 to consider and operate a pavilion consisting of an indoor auditorium, conference center,
certified kitchen, and an outdoor amphitheater on a property located along Kuhi`o Highway,
approx. 1,500 ft. northwest from the Highway's intersection with Kolo Road, Kilauea, farther
identified as Tax Map Key 5-2-017:028, and affecting a 6.55 acre portion of a 15.17 acre
property=Anaina Hous LLC. [Postponed 4/27/10, Director's Report received 6/8/10,
Intervener granted intervener status and contested case hearing scheduled for September 28,
2010 6/22/10, contested case held 1/11, 1/12,,1/13, 1/28 and 1/31/11.1
Supplemental No. 2 to Planning Director's Report pertaining to this matter.
Letters in Support of Application from:
1. Kalihi Ridge Community Association(3/22/11)
2. Don Leutz and Sylvia Leutz(4/2/11)
3. Jonathan McRoberts (3/31/11)
4. Ben Welbourn(4/4/11)
5. Andrew and Janice Pendleton (4/6/11)
6. Merri Murphy RDH (4/6/11)
7. Russ Josephson(Undated)
8. Vera Benedek(Undated)
9. Marorie Gifford(4/3/11)
10. Melinda Freidman(4/3/11)
11. Anthony B. Semedo (4/2/11)
12. Stacie Nelson(3/31/11)
Letters in Opposition to Application from:
1. Bill and Mary Ivison(Undated)
2. Nancy Diem (3/30/11)
3. Wendy Oates-Devore (3/29/11)
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April 12,2011
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4. Roy Gillette (3/30/11)
5. Chad Deal (3/29/11)
6. Tyler Riley (Undated)
7. David P. Baken(3/25/11)
8. Suzie Lee (Undated)
9. Craig Maas (G.I. article 10/14/11)
10. Janet Ashkenazy(3/28/11)
11. Mark Goodman(Undated)
12. Alex Aaron(3/29/11)
13. James Gair(4/2/11)
14. Jean-Michel J. Gabet and Katherine Gabet(Undated)
15. Michael Radeczki (Undated)
16. M. Medeiros (Undated)
17. M. Medeiros (Undated)
18. C. Pa(3/25/11)
19. C. Pa(3/25/11)
20. K. Johnson (Undated)
21. K. Johnson (Undated)
22. Craig Maas (Undated)
23. M. Medeiros (3/24/11)
24. E. Koohan Paik(3/21/11)
25. Matthew Burman (3/2/11)
26. Laura Burman (3/22/11)
27. Howard Wilson (3/23/11)
28. Michael Radeczki (3/24/11)
29. Gary Peirce (12/7/10)
30. James Gair (4/6/11)
Staff: I believe the conclusion and recommendation were already read into the record at
the previous meeting so if it is the Commission's...
Chair: Would you like to read it again?
Staff. It is your prerogative.
Chair: Why don't you just go ahead and do the whole thing.
Staff Planner Kaaina Hull read supplement to the Planning Director's report No. 2 (on
file).
Chair: The recommendation, all of the 19 conditions have already been read at the last
meeting so we are not going to be reading all of those conditions right now. We have a signup
sheet but before we take public testimony we are going to be asking the applicant to come up and
give us a power point presentation on the proposal.
Mr. Michael Kaplan: Mahalo Chairman Texeira, Commissioners, Mr. Dahilig. My name
is Michael Kaplan and I am the Project Manager for Anaina Hou which means a New Gathering.
If you guys do have any questions that come up during the presentation I would be happy to
answer them, feel free to interrupt. Anaina Hou is owned by Bill and Joan Porter. Bill is the
founder of E-Trade Financial which is the first online stock brokerage firm in the country, in the
world, as well as the International Securities Exchange which is the first online options market.
Needless to say Bill and Joan have been very successful in life and they are very generous people
and they are very generous with sharing their wealth with others. I do just want to say on a
personal note before I begin that I am really grateful to work for them,they are amazing people
and in the last few weeks maybe some of you have read there have been some very false and
inflammatory information being spread about the Porters and it is really offensive to me because
they are really great people. They are really caring,they love Kauai and they are not here to be
developers they are just trying to do something great for the community. I just don't like them
being disrespected like that.
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April 12,2011
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Just a bit about the Porters, they are heavily invested in agricultural activities on their
property called Waikoa in Kilauea. They started Kauai Fresh Farms in 2008, it is a local
hydroponic produce farm. They have over 200 acres of their property in hardwood Mahogany.
Now this is not a short-term crop,this is a long-term agricultural investment and it takes about 25
to 30 years to reach maturity for that first harvest. They also have multiple land leases with, long
term land leases with local farmers on their property and they have also donated 4 acres of the
property to Malama Kauai for a community garden. So they have been very active using their
Ag. land for Ag. purposes. They are also the owners of Anaina Hou for what we are here today.
Anaina Hou is located on the 15 acre parcel on the mauka side of Ki hi`6 Highway just
outside Kilauea Town next to Banana Joes Fruit Stand. If you can see from this aerial photo, this
photo was taken about a month ago, on the bottom left hand corner is Ktihi`6 Highway and then
just mauka of the highway you can see the new miniature golf course. Just mauka of the mini
golf course if you can tell there are two gravel parking lots, those are going to be the parking lots
for the pavilion. And then next to that is a grassy field,which is the location for the pavilion.
And then just beyond the Albesia trees, this whole area here, those are all the hardwood trees,
that is Waikoa which is also owned by the Porters. You can see that it is fully planted with
Mahogany hardwood.
Mr. Nishida: Michael can you point out the site of the theater?
Mr. Kaplan: Sure. These are the two parking lots and this is the site of the pavilion and
it faces towards the highway.
Mr. Nishida: Can you also point out the residences in the surrounding area.
Mr. Kaplan: This is the Halaseys, Banana Joes; this is one of the neighbors. I believe that
is Mr. Gair and I believe this Mr. Gillette and then the road is Kalihiwai Road or Kihiliholo Road
goes up in this direction. This entire property here is the Porters and this is the farm back there.
Mr. Nishida: Who owns the Albesia forest?
Mr. Kaplan: This area right here?
Mr. Nishida: Yes.
Mr. Kaplan: I believe some of that is the Porters and some of it is probably the
neighbors. There is a stream, Pu`u Kumu Stream, Pu`u Kumu Stream runs about from here and
then it cuts down in this direction so everything to this side of the stream is Anaina Hou and then
everything on this side is Mr. Gair's property, here. This clearing is Mr. Gair. During the
plantation days the upper portion of this property roughly where the miniature golf course is
located now, that was in productive sugar cane as well as there was a mill,processing mill on
this site. Now the lower portion of the property where the pavilion is located, since it was nearby
Pu`u Kumu Stream it was sort of a drainage way for that area and it was too damp for sugar
cane. This was told to us by Gary Smith and Gary Pacheco,they both worked at Kilauea Sugar
and Jo Halasey who has lived next door for 30 years. Auntie Linda Sproat also told us that
before the new highway was put in the original Kilauea School was actually located right in this
area too before it moved to its present location in the 1940's. And then after the plantation
closed Metcalf Farm moved in to the old buildings and they used the barn and processing
equipment for corn. Again though the pavilion location,this lower area,was still not in
productive agriculture, it was like a buffalo grass pasture. Mr. P, Gary Pacheco did say that there
was some grazing of animals down there but there was no growth of plants or anything like that.
Also, when Metcalf Farm closed they actually used the barn for youth activities, this is
what Auntie Linda said,they actually had art classes and tai-chi classes in this barn on this
property. So this site does have a history of being a community gathering space. This is a
picture of the old Metcalf Farm; you can see the barn in the silo. Kauai Marina Mower used the
old building after Metcalf Farm closed until it was destroyed in Iniki. In 1986 5 acres of this
property that runs along Kuhi`6 Highway was up zoned to Industrial, to County Industrial State
Urban. And the reason this site was chosen was because it had a history of being an industrial
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April 12,2011
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processing center. And then in 1991,another six and a half acres was up zoned to Light
Industrial and State Urban. This was the lower portion that we are talking about today for the
pavilion. This map shows the two zoning changes,the top right hand triangle was the 1996 re-
zone and the bottom portion is the 1991 re-zone.
This diagram shows one of the former proposals on this site; it was to be a commercial
and industrial park. The top portion,they were going to sell each of these lots off as retail and
industrial space. The top row was going to be retail and the bottom row was going to be an
industrial park and in 1998 a Use Permit was received for this development. The North Shore
Partners was the group that got the Use Permit and they did eventually run out of money but they
did grade the property, grade and compact the property to its present condition. And you can see
from this aerial photo you can actually see the roads,roundabouts, cut into the land as well as the
individual pads for each of these individual retail parcels. This grading that took place was in the
90's,not the picture but the grading,the grading created the unique topographical feature of the
property today which is the bluff. The top half of the property,this is the top section right here,
this is the location of the miniature golf course currently,this is at Kuhi`6 Highway grade. And
then about midway through,right about here, there is this bluff and then this lower portion here
is 25 feet below Kuhi`o Highway grade. This is the location for the pavilion.
So it's in this context of land use history that Bill and Joan purchased the property in June
of 2006. They had heard the community's opposition to some of these former strip mall plans
and industrial park plans so they decided to take a different approach and talk to the community
and see what they wanted to see on this land. We spent a year doing community outreach, we
talked with Kilauea Kupuna,past and present members of the Kilauea Neighborhood
Association. We talked to people who were involved in youth activities, environmentalists,
farmers, a lot of active community members finding out what the needs of Kilauea were as well
as specific sections for this particular parcel. The pavilion wasn't something that we had in mind
we were just listening to what people had to say. It came about by hearing the needs and desires
of the community and some of the suggestions were youth activities, a performing arts space for
the North Shore,a certified kitchen for farmers,and a high tech classroom that possibly could be
used in the future as a KCC satellite classroom. These were all the ideas that were spoken to us
and we kind of meshed them all together into a plan.
We also attended monthly Kilauea Neighborhood Association meetings,drug prevention
or teen drug use and lack of community cohesion between old Kilauea Town and the
surrounding Ag. estates was a big issue at the time. And we also researched the master plan,
development plans for the island. These are just some quotes from the North Shore
Development Plan basically looking for...the North Shore Development Plan was written 30
years ago but it does reflect a lot of what we heard talking with the community as well as just the
need for places for kids to gather and communities to gather and community centers. The Kauai
General Plan as you know is general and does not focus specifically on individual parcels but it
says about Kilauea Town, "Kilauea Town is a desirable residential community and subject to
community consensus and detailed planning in conjunction with future zone change proposals
could be an appropriate location for fixture residential development with supporting institutional
and commercial uses." Through our community outreach we found the need for supporting
institutional uses within Kilauea Town.
We also looked at the Kilauea Town Plan. I believe there is a misconception going
around. I read that in the paper a few times that the Anaina Hou site was called for affordable
housing in the Kilauea Town Plan. That was not the intent of the plan,the intent of the plan is to
have the affordable housing on the makai side of the highway,the plateau property which is 140
acres, and this is the plateau property here. And it called for a bypass road to relieve congestion
on Kilauea Road. You can see some of the residential areas here;most of that residential will be
for affordable housing. There is one direct reference to the Anaina Hou site;you can see on this
map, it says"Existing Light Industrial converts to Agriculture." And the reason why, in talking
with people who were involved with this plan,put it together, attended the charetts,the reason
they wanted to down zone this property was because of those previous commercial/retail space
strip mall proposals. They didn't want to become like Kapa`a and have a strip mall right on the
highway so that was the reason for looking to down zone the industrial site.
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This is the site plan of Anaina Hou based on our ideas that we got from the community
and the four main components are a miniature golf course with Hawaiian history botanical
gardens that is right here. This is Kuhi`6 Highway. A park and ride for the Kauai Bus in this
area here, a nursery for plants and landscaping supplies and then the Kilauea Pavilion in located
down here. I don't want to spend too much time on this but we did end up having to break this
project into two phases because of the zoning history of this parcel. We came across the
ordinance of this section of the property, the six and a half acre industrial section and it was
pretty specific to commercial and industrial park development. And the reason behind that was
when it was rezoned in 1991 the County Council,to protect the community, put specific
conditions to this type of development. Now the community didn't want to see a strip mall or
industrial park at the site, based on what we heard they wanted to see some less intensive uses.
So we met with the Planning Department, we met with the County Clerk Peter
Nakamura, and some County Council members and basically asked them how could we go about
and build Anaina Hou which the community wanted to see but also uphold the integrity of the
zoning code because there was this zoning ordinance on the property. The consensus was that
we should down zone the property to remove the industrial zoning ordinance and then through
the Use permit process come and apply for a Use permit through the public hearing process. The
other positive of that is that as you saw before the Kilauea Town plan called for this site to be
down zoned because the community was concerned about future strip development on this site.
Anaina Hou was actually prepared to go through the down zone process ourselves, we were
going to down zone it to Ag. but the Planning Department, there was a clause in the ordinance
and I don't want to get into it but basically they could carry out the down zone themselves.
So the project was split into two phases with the miniature golf course, park and ride and
nursery going through the Use permit process on the top portion while we waited to down zone
this lower portion. And actually it should be noted that the Planning Department down zoned the
majority of this section of the property to Open, they did not down zone it to Ag. and the reason
being was the past history of this section of the property not being used for productive Ag. as
well as it being a drainage area for the Pu`ii Kumu Stream. Put Kumu is this border down
below here and then it comes up and around this way. So you can see only a small section
rezoned to Ag.,the rest of this, this cross hatched section is now currently County Open and
State Land Use District Ag.
Just briefly, the Kilauea Pavilion has four components, as 250 seat outdoor amphitheater,
a 175 seat indoor theater, a conference room, and a certified commercial kitchen. We really
believe that the Kilauea Pavilion can provide the North Shore with a great venue for performing
arts and community activities. There could be concerts, theater productions, Hula performances,
movies, lectures, and these could take place at either the indoor or the outdoor theater. We think
this could be a great place for youth activities, maybe drama classes or movie classes or cooking
classes. There are some great activities or after school programs at the Kilauea gym but a lot of
them revolve around athletics and it would be great to diversify some of the programs available.
We would be happy if other community members come up with other ideas to host this space, we
would be happy to host them.
The certified kitchen, we will be able to use that kitchen to serve food at events at the
Pavilion but what we will also do is rent out this kitchen to farmers so they can make value
added products. And that is a key component in providing good income for local farmers, it
increases the value of their crop and that really helps with agricultural sustainability by providing
farmers with a good income. The conference room can be for community meetings or business
conferences,possibly a satellite classroom; it is going to have AV equipment. We did talk with
KCC, they don't want to commit because the thing isn't built but they are interested. Private
events, weddings, birthday parties, baby luaus,just big family gatherings,this could be a great
place for that. Some people in Ag. estates have 5 or 10 acres of land where they can just set up a
tent and do what they want but most local people in Kilauea Town don't have the luxury so this
is a good place to have big family events.
New jobs will be created, both design and construction jobs, temporary jobs for that
phase and then full time jobs to run and operate the facility. The goal of the facility is to be self
sustainable. This is not a profitable venture. Mr. Porter testified in the contested case that this is
Planning Commission Minutes
April 12,2011
6
a give back from him and Joan,they are not trying to make money,and they don't think this
thing is going to make money but they are willing to support it and the goal for it to be self
sustainable. And one of the ways we feel we can do that is by building the structure to LEED
standards so this will be both environmentally and economically sustainable by lowering our
operating costs and being more energy efficient. We haven't set the fee structure for the
pavilion. We expect it to be similar to a way a church operates where they do have a fee for
events that you attend at a church but most of that money goes toward raising funds for the
organization that is putting on the event.And then some of that fee does cover operating costs
such as employees and utilities and clean up. So there will be a clean up fee associated but our
goal is for it to be a minimal as possible so non-profit groups can use this facility as much as
possible.
Overall the support has been great. It is great to see so many people here,mahalo very
much everyone for coming. I know you might be here for a while so sorry. Kilauea Kupuna,
KMA members, Kumu Hula, farmers, school groups,theater groups, so many different diverse
groups of people coming together, it is great. That is what this is all about. I would love to hear
all the different wide range of people that are here to testify. I think that is why the pavilion is so
widely supported is it can create so many different...it can be used in so many different ways for
so many different groups. In the last hearing in June we had I believe over 100 letters of support
submitted. I believe we are at around over 80 this time so I know it is a lot to read
Commissioners but it is really the inspiration for this project what the community wants so if you
could take the time it would be great.
I just want to get a little bit into the zoning issue. Obviously that is the crux of this
debate today. As you know the portion of this property where the pavilion is located is now
currently County Open. And the purpose of County Open is to preserve,maintain or improve the
essential characteristics of land and water areas that are of significant value to the public as
scenic or recreational resources and impour into the overall structure and organization of urban
areas and which provide accessible and usable open areas for recreational and esthetic purposes.
We feel that the pavilion fits in the Open district because community spaces are of significant
value to the public and impour into the overall structure and organization of urban areas. Under
the CZO there are uses or structures for which are generally permitted within the district and then
there are uses or structures for which a Use permit is required. Outdoor recreation concessions
or religious facilities,what the Planning Department categorized this project, can be permitted
with a Use permit in the Open District as well as any other use or structure which the Planning
Director finds to be similar in nature to those listed in this section. The previous Planning
Director found the pavilion structure to be a similar structure to a religious facility and the
current Planning Director has agreed with that assessment as well. The CZO gives the Planning
Director that authority to make the determination. So if the Planning Director makes that
determination then it fits within the Open District for a Use permit. I don't think you can see it
but 10%lot coverage came up,that is a condition in the Open Zone,we do meet the 10%lot
coverage requirement.
As you know we are also applying for a Special Permit. Under Chapter 205 of the
Hawaii Revised Statutes if a proposed use or structure is not explicitly listed in the statute as a
use then one has to apply for a Special Permit if it is called"unusual yet reasonable". The
pavilion as a community use facility does meet the criteria for a Special Permit. I think the
Kauai General Plan says it best,this is talking about the need for more community facilities,it's
on page 5-6,they say that"The transition of Kaua`i's homestead areas from predominantly
agriculture to predominantly residential use and the proliferation of agricultural subdivisions on
the North Shore has created a need for community facilities such as parks,churches,and schools.
In agricultural areas various uses may be allowed through Special permits. The Special permit
process is designed to permit uses that meet certain standards and to mitigate impacts through
conditions. The criteria that the General Plan is talking about are these five criteria which
Kaaina did go through so I don't want to get into it too much but unusual yet reasonable is this
use of the land,unusual yet reasonable,no adverse impacts to the surrounding Ag. lands,no
increased burden on public agencies,the land was not previously suited for Ag., and new trends
have arisen since the district boundaries have been amended.
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I just wanted to read a few more quotes;this is from the Kilauea Town Plan,this is
talking about Special Permits. I read that this is going to be the first ever Special permit ever
issued. That is just not true. There are lots of Special Permits. Most of the major assets in
Kilauea Town are on a Special Permit. Our neighbor the Halaseys,they have a Special Permit
for their fruit stand Banana Joe's Fruit Stand. The former Guava Kai, it's not Common Grounds,
they have a Special Permit for their facility. The medical clinic in Kilauea Town has a Special
Permit for their practice. Kauai Christian Academy in Kilauea, Church of the Pacific in
Princeville,many religious facilities have Special Permits to be in the County Open District and
the State Ag. District. The Kilauea Town plan says"Special Permits have been granted for
urban type uses in the Agricultural Zone such as the Kauai Christian Academy. These Special
Permits for the most part provide a valued service to the community." So the Kilauea Town plan
is recognizing that the Special Permit process is in place to provide important assets to the
community when they come up. And the major thing is does the community want it and that is
for your determination to make but I believe that they do.
This is one other quote from the Kauai General Plan, they say that"The State should
adopt legislation amending Chapter 205 to make outdoor recreation activities a permitted use in
the State Agricultural District or alternatively delegate such authority to the Counties." So the
General Plan we recognizing that they are looking to streamline efforts for the permitting process
for outdoor recreation in the State Ag. District. So the first criteria is unusual yet reasonable,just
really quickly we believe it does meet this criteria because of the community input involved,
because of the community support, and because of the past zoning history. The history of the
land,just knowing that the last 25 years it was in the State Urban District,that was up until
January of 2010 when it became State Ag. District. No adverse impacts, we did go through a
contested case with our neighbors and there were concerns about certain impacts that could be
associated with the pavilion. We have addressed all these concerns through conditions of use
that we have put into the permit. For noise we will meet the 55 decibel level requirement at the
property line,that is the same level that the Department of Health, Chapter 46,Noise Regulation
sets for the Open District so that is the same level. Also,again this is a condition of use that we
put in,proposed condition of use,that we are willing to have a sound monitoring at the property
line to assure that we are in compliance with the 55 decibel levels. And again a condition of use,
no live outdoor amplified music after 1Opm.
Another concern was traffic. Our traffic study determined that a left turn lane was
sufficient for all uses on this property,that is including Phase I and Phase II,that was a condition
of use as part of our Phase I application to put in a left turn lane. That has since been done, it has
been fully constructed and completed. It was paid for entirely by the applicant. There was no
County or State funds and has since been approved by the Department of Transportation. And
we will also,again as a condition of use,have a traffic management plan which will address safe
ingress and egress to the site for any large events. Think of it similar to when church lets out on
a Sunday when for the next ten to fifteen minutes there is going to be a large group of cars
coming but that is not 24/7,that is just when there is this big event. So it is going to be
infrequent but we will address that through the traffic management plan.
Waste water,we proposed a condition of use to meet the Department of Health R-3 water
quality standards. This is far above what the Department of Health requires for an individual
waste water system. And we do plan to meet this requirement by using a constructed wetland to
treat the affluent as opposed to just having a standard leech field where it just leeches into the
ground. The wetland uses plants to treat the water, to filter the water. The water quality is much
better than the standard leech field. This is an environmentally approved system in LEED
standards. So this will help protect the Pu`il Kumu stream which is nearby and the other plan is
to actually use the treated waste water as underground drip irrigation for landscaping around the
pavilion. Dust was another concern. Proper BMP's will be in place during construction and the
two gravel parking lots we do plan to pave with pores concrete so this will negate the dust issue
because it will be paved. The pores concrete enhances the drainage of the site by having a more
pervious surface than just regular concrete or asphalt.
There were some concerns about teens hanging here so we will have,again these are all
conditions of use,have proper supervision or employees on site at all times during any events,
security if necessary for larger events. And there will also be a gate that we put in place to
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April 12,2011
8
prevent cars and people from going down to the lower section of the property after business
hours. Shearwaters,we will follow all of Fish and Wildlife's recommendations for Shearwater
friendly lights, downward facing, shielded, full cut off and no up lighting. And we have also
joined the Habitat Conservation Plan which will create new habitat for breeding Shearwaters.
Affecting Ag. uses of the surrounding properties,the neighboring property to the south is Wai
Koa which is owned by the Porters,they are not concerned about any Ag. uses being affected by
the pavilion. The neighbors to L-ihu`e side are the Halaseys,they have supported this project
throughout the entire process,they don't see any adverse impacts to their fruit stand or farming.
Across the highway,makai of the highway is the Plateau property which was recently purchased
by Bill and Denise Hay and I did meet with them and they were really excited about Anaina Hou
and the pavilion and did not see any adverse impacts. And on the Hanalei side are the neighbors
who when they were members of the Board of Kalihiwai Ridge did contest this case. These are
just gentleman's estates so we don't feel that there would be any adverse impact to their Ag.
lands.
We feel that we have addressed and properly mitigated all of the adverse impacts that
potentially could happen from the pavilion through these proposed conditions of use. No burden
on public agencies. The County talked about this,basically there were no comments that Public
Works Departments made that the uses of the pavilion would be a burden on public agencies. If
anything I feel like it would be a benefit to public agencies because we are providing a
community facility that the County probably wouldn't be able to afford during these financial
times. Land is unsuited for Ag.,just talking about the past history, I won't go through it again
but as well as the footprint which Kaaina mentioned. The lot is 6.5 acres or this section of the lot
is 6.5 so 10%of that is just two thirds of an acre so it is a small footprint. New trends have
arisen,there has been a large increase in population on the North Shore since the plantation
closed because much of those Ag. lands have been sold off and built as homes so there is a new
demand for community facilities and I think it will be spoken to by the public today. Mahalo
Commissioners, if you have any questions...
Chair: Right now we will be taking a 5 minute recess.
Commission recessed at 9:35 a.m.
Meeting was called back to order at 9:55 am.
Chair: At this time we will have Mr. Porter,the applicant, say a few words on the project
proposal.
Mr. Bill Porter: Bill Porter and my wife Joan and we are the applicants for this pavilion
project. First I want to say thanks to Michael and Karen who have done a fabulous job of pulling
this together and also to the community that worked with them extensively with what should go
on this property. I would like to hit first of all the agricultural aspect of things and as Michael
mentioned I have done a lot in agriculture here on Kauai. What he didn't mention is that we
have also put up one of the largest solar panel systems, 100 kilowatt operation,to provide power
for our agriculture, for Kauai Fresh Farms. I really believe in sustainability, green, and all that
sort of thing. We started the Kauai Fresh Farms about four years ago and it is now about a
600,000 dollar a year annual revenue business,I overall employee roughly 25 people. In
addition I hope to get it up to about a million dollars a year within a couple more years and
employee 30, 40 people, whatever. I really believe in this sort of thing and I really kind of resent
the people,the naysayers I will call them that have attacked us on the Ag. situation. The piece of
property we are talking about for the pavilion, it makes no sense to do anything Ag. there. I just
wonder how many of these people who complain about Ag. actually are doing anything
themselves about Ag. You might want to ask them. And if in fact they want to do Ag. come
right on up,we have Malama Kauai that I have set up, donated for the community, we have 40
lots in operation, we are going to expand thAt by another I don't know, 3 or 4 more acres, so
much for agriculture.
Moving on I would like to just mention about the commercial aspects. Indeed this is a
commercial thing. One of the real pleasures of my life these days is to go up our miniature golf
course and watch what is going on there. I just had a little kid come up and say thank you Mr.
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9
Porter for the miniature golf. I see guys my age with their two year olds out there showing them
haw to play golf. And on the next hole I see a family of 6 or whatever out there just having a
ball. About and I was really surprise by this, about 80%, 80 to 90, it varies day to day, of the
activity on that golf course are locals. Only about 10/20% depending on the day is tourism.
Now you might ask why it gets such good use by the.locals. Well I can answer the question,the
reason is because there is practically nothing else to do on the North Shore,practically nothing
else except take your family out to dinner or go to the beach. That is it. There are no other
facilities, no movie liouse,no nothing, church of course. So it is a real pleasure to see all the
people having fun up there. It really warms my heart.
When it comes to the pavilion,that thing is a real loser from the point of view of an
investment from a commercial point of view. By the way the golf course I should mention is just
about breaking even. And I don't know how many people we employ there, 6 or 8 or whatever it
is,but the pavilion is an absolute loser. You may remember that the theater in the Coconut
Grove in Kapa`a,they went out of business. You know why? They couldn't make money and
that is a bigger community than we have up there on the North Shore. I have talked to the people
at the Waimea Theater and they are supported by a group, I have forgotten what he said but it is
some sort of a group of senior citizens or companies or something and they don't make money, it
is a loser. When you run a movie house your ticket sales is what pays for the film. The only
place you make money is off of the popcorn,candy and cokes. Sure we are going to charge a
cleaning fee for activities. And by the way if this meeting were being held in the pavilion that I
want to build all these people would have nice seats in an auditorium. Our capacity there,I don't
know we vary around 225 or 250 seats,whatever it is. It is just really needed and I will continue
to support it along with Joan of course.
You might ask why do we want to do these things and I don't usually talk about myself
but in this case I want to. I like to keep a low profile in general. We are at a stage,we have been
very lucky in our lives,taken a lot of risks and made a lot of money but we are really in a
position of giving back to society. And actually one month from today exactly we are going to
be having dinner with the President of MIT for the fourth coming dedication of the next day of
the William and Joan Porter Management Center, a hundred and forty five million dollar
building that we provided the seed money for. And I am real proud of that one by the way.
Same thing is true in Kansas; I won't even talk about that. We have done a lot for a school that I
went to in Colorado and we have set up an endowment fund for and currently there are 30 kids
going to college in science and math who have full spholarships on that endowment. And more
importantly,the biggest one we have done is one that really Joan has started in California called
Still Heart which is a spiritual retreat center in the redwoods on the San Francisco peninsula.
You know we really love living out here,we have lived here about 6 years, we are
residents and so forth and we want to give back to this community just as we have in these other
places. I really want to see this pavilion built and it is going to cost something in the
neighborhood of 5 to 6 million dollars to build it and it will be a quality building I assure you and
I will continue to support it. Now if you folks decide to say no to this project,well so be it, I will
accept that. I will be sorry. But what that will allow us to do frankly is us this same 5 or 6
million that I have set aside to further enhance Still Heart and we already have the permits to do
that,to build some more cabins in the redwoods_ So the decision is up to you and I hope you go
our way,thank you.
Chair: We would like to take public testimony at this time. We have I think over 50
people that want to speak on the subject so our Planning Director will be taking over in this
matter.
Mr. Dahilia: Mr. Chair,in addition to the list of public speakers the Commission is in
receipt of 84 testimonies,written testimonies in support of the project and 45 in opposition to the
project. The first speaker is John Mosley followed by Gary Pierce and Brad Parsons.
Chair: Before we start I just would like.to ask the speakers to please confine it to 3
minutes and we want to move this process along and so if it is repetitive,those that are coming
up, we just don't want you to keep repeating what has been said. We just want new information
as much as possible,thank you,please state your name.
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Mr. John Mosley: My name is John Mosley,I live in Princeville,my wife and I live in
Princeville. I want to thank the Planning Commission for all that you do. Some people say it is
a thankless j ob but not with me,I thank you very much. All I can say is I am totally in favor of
this project. It is an amazing gift by Bill and Joan Porter to the North Shore and really all of
Kauai. To have people of means put their money where their mouth is and do something of this
quality is a true blessing. It is going to benefit all ofKaua`i and especially the North Shore. I
lived in California for many years and there is culture everywhere there,other places to go. Well
on the North Shore of Kauai you have to come into town if you want to go see a movie or
whatever and they are really filling a critical need. I am not going to take 3 minutes I am going
to stop right here because there are so many others that are in line wanting to speak but I urge
you to vote in favor of this marvelous project,thank you.
Mr.Dahilig: Gary Pierce followed by Brad Parsons followed by Raymond Catania.
Mr. Gary Pierce: Hello, my name is Gary Pierce. I live in Kilauea and a resident of
Kalihiwai Ridge and a former secretary of the Board of Kalihiwai Ridge. I am testifying
regarding the planned commercial amphitheater. A brief history of the land surrounding TMK 4-
5-2:17,28,where the current golf course is nearing completion, C. Brewer were the owners of
TMK 4-5-2:17,26 of approximately 473 acres that was part of Guava Kai,the guava plantation
that surrounded and connected with the golf course. C. Brewer was also the developer of
Kalihiwai Ridge. As part of the requirements of a new Ag. subdivision Kalihiwai Ridge, C.
Brewer was to have continuing ongoing farming operations,the guava plantation and the prawn
farms. C. Brewer is no bankrupt and the 473 acres of land and the surrounding parcels were
acquired in 2006 by William Porter and immediately CPR'd into 43 gentleman's estates. Should
Kalihiwai Ridge owners be denied building permits due to noncompliance of the requirements
for the initial subdivision?
In a copy of the application for the Special Use permit on page 2 of the application it
states, "Concession stands for the certified kitchen." The concession stand which I will point out
to you is outlined in blue right here, it is for the commercial amphitheater by their own words,
indoor venue and outdoor to serve refreshments and alcohol for any events held there. It is
approximately 1,000 square feet in size and there is a 16 foot window and counter for the indoor
events and 12 foot for the outdoor events leaving the rest of the area inadequate to be used for a
commercial kitchen to make a value added product. There is also no loading dock that is a
normal feature for a true commercial kitchen. Please look at the function of this.
This special use permit is nothing more than sparse zoning by a Special Use permit. This
process of spot zoning causes congestion,pollution, and disruption of the community. By
establishing spot zones outside the areas that are not zoned commercial there is no infrastructure
of roads, sewer or water. The use of these Special Use permit for this commercial amphitheater
is unreasonable. The commercial amphitheater will put additional requirements for Police and
Fire. Under the CZO,Article 18.8, 18.1,purpose(c),"To assure in proper cases that complete
development of the parcel has been planned prior to the development of the parcel has been
planned prior to the development of any portion of the parcel." Currently there is another 18
holes planned for the golf course,this is submitted iris two parts. Please do what is right by the
law,the island, and in your hearts and deny the application for this Special Use permit on Ag.
lands.
Mr. Dahilia: Brad Parsons followed by Raymond Catania followed by Yuichi and Kelly
Sato.
Mr. Brad Parsons: Aloha Planning Commissioners, my name is Brad Parsons. I thought
I would just start off with a quote from the first page of the Kilauea Town Plan and it is quoting
the Kauai General Plan. "The legislative intent of town expansion policy is to discourage
Special Permit use for civic and commercial uses in agricultural zones by providing for
expansion of the town's commercial core area." The commercial core area is actually where a
project like this should have been done. What I want to say is that we would like to ask you to
deny this request for this Special Use permit because the Special permit process is not the
appropriate matter in which to deal with uses to commercial projects as this is on lands zoned
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State Agriculture and County Open. For property owners wanting to apply for commercial use
that has no relation to agriculture and this project...a commercial kitchen is not Ag. and the
nursery from-Phase I was not built on Ag. land. The appropriate procedure would be to request
a variance or rezoning and(inaudible)for those uses and see if those uses meet the standards
associated with variance and rezoning. Instead this proposal would do an end run around the
variance and rezoning standards by applying for the relatively less stringent Special Permit
requirements.
I want to site a case because nobody has mentioned it yet; it wasn't mentioned in the
Planning Director's report from_last year from the Supreme Court that relates to this. It is
Neighborhood Board No. 24, Waianae Coast,Et. Al. versus The State Land Use Commission
and the City and County of Honolulu Planning Commission from January, 1982. In that decision
the Supreme Court applied the unusual and reasonable 5 point guideline from HRS section 205
and Land Use District Regulations. It is the 5 point guideline that has been mentioned before
you a few times today although I have noticed that some of those points have been incompletely
referenced and quoted to you,particularly I will just mention one of them,"Such use would not
reasonably burden public agencies to provide roads and streets, sewers, water, drainage, school
improvements,police and fire protection." I will also just mention that"the desired use would
not adversely affect surrounding property in any manner."
What I want to do is make a quick comparison because I haven't heard it yet,
similarly...by the way in that case the Supreme Court decided that basically a theme park,
amphitheaters,nurseries,retail,parking,a restaurant,that that was not an unusual and reasonable
use which would qualify for the Special Permit. Similarly it is believed that the proposal before
you also does not meet that 5 point test particularly, I will go through each point, commercial use
of this land is contrary to the objectives of the Land Use law and regulations. There is no Ag.
use in this proposal, a commercial kitchen is not Ag. use even if it is for improving agricultural
products and a Phase I nursery was not built. Uncontrollable crowd noise that cannot be actually
turned down of more than 55 decibels within 1,000 yards of over 50 residents on similarly zoned
lands would adversely affect those surrounding properties. The Director's recommendations do
not fully mitigate this.
No. 3, public agencies could be unreasonably burdened by sidewalks, crosswalks and
traffic lights. They will eventually be required of this after this project is in place but those are
not a part of the proposal. The fire hydrant water system is currently being drawn from a likely
unreliable reservoir and not County water. That may end up having to be changed and that is not
inexpensive. And the original waste water system,the unique waste water system that was
described to you today,that has not been fully disclosed in this proposal and likely would
conflict with lot coverage limitations on the project that have already been met or are already at
the current level. No. 4, an unusual condition....the Director's recommendations look backward
and not forward on trends around the world and in particular, one last point,this particular parcel
of land is still suited for agricultural use. It hasn't been use that way because it is basically on a
transportation thoroughfare but the land still grows vegetation and is not unsuited associated
agricultural purposes. For these reasons we believe this Special Permit for this commercial
amphitheater on Ag. land should be declined.
Mr. Dahilia: Raymond Catania followed by Yuichi and Kelly Sato followed by Janet
Ashkenazy.
Mr. Raymond Catania: Aloha,my name is Raymond Catania. I live in Puhi but I am
concerned about this projeci because every major development has an effect throughout the
island. My opposition to this plan because I am against it is not based on I don't want to see
cultural activities,I don't want to see music activities, it is simply that it is not the proper thing to
do. Because from what I understand it is supposed to be agriculture or affordable housing and I
would rather see affordable housing for working class people like me. I live in Puhi and my wife
and live close to our job and we would like to see this as a benefit to our working class people
that live in the North Shore area,specifically those that may be working in the hotels in
Princeville. We would like to see self help housing that workers can actually participate in
building to bring down the costs. And I think this is the kind of benefit that the North Shore and
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all of the island needs is homes for the working class people like ourselves who bust our butts
every day trying to make a living and to me this is a really important issue.
I know there are a lot of people inside here that I have even worked with in the past
against developments that would be hurting the island of Kauai like the Superferry but this right
here,this issue will open up the flood gates and bring in more developments that are going to
benefit the rich. And when somebody says they are going to bring sustainability and they are
going to bring joy and happiness I really listen because I don't believe there is such a thing as a
benevolent capitalist. As a working class person I really think that everything we get we have to
fight for. And Kaaina knows, he is a Union member like me, I am not trying to point him out. I
am really concerned how much he pays his workers. Does he pay them a livable wage so they
can support themselves? That is my testimony, thank you.
Mr. Dahilig: Yuichi and Kelly Sato followed by Janet Ashkenazy followed by David
Dinner.
Ms. Kelly Sato: Hi, my name is Kelly Sato and this is my husband Yuichi Sato. We are
farmers on the North Shore and two years ago when we were trying to find space for our farm
we kept getting told no by a lot of the landowners in Kilauea because we have chickens and
nobody wants that on their land. We ended up cold calling Mr. Porter as a last ditch effort and
not only did he give us the land that we so desperately needed for our dream, when we went to
the negotiating table with him I was surprised that man ever made any money in business. It was
the most generous lease agreement I have ever seen and I gave it to a lawyer to have them look at
it first and she said in all her years she had never seen a more fair and generous contract. Also
Mr. Porter had mentioned that he has 25 plus employees, they have more benefits and the best
benefits in are paid very well. If we could get more people employed by Bill Porter we would
have lot more quality of life for our people.
The next thing I would like to talk about is a lot of people are asking where the Ag. is.
They apparently have never been through that property. There are at least four other farming
operations going on, on that property, right now with a taro farmer who is probably going to
come on board pretty soon. They are full of fruit trees that have been planted,the Mahogany
trees,that land has so much Ag. going on and he supports us in so many ways. He just a couple
weeks ago asked us if we wanted more property, more land to expand our farm. Nobody does
that if they are going to be developing to put big mansions on it. He is really supporting the local
people and the farmers up there and I ask you not only just for us and the farmers but for the
community who desperately needs a community place to go. Like Mr. Porter said we only have
the beach and we need more than that up there and miniature golf is not the most existing activity
in the world but it is so busy constantly because that is all we have up there and we need more
for children, for our adults, for everybody and I ask you to support this project.
Mr. Dahilig: Janet Ashkenazy followed by David Dinner followed by Ron Dixon.
Ms. Janet Ashkenazy: Good morning Commissioners,my name is Janet Ashkenazy and
I live in Kilauea. The proposed commercial amusement facility does not qualify for a Special
Use permit under both State and County codes. According to HRS 205 this project with
amplified music outdoors is not permitted in State Ag. zoned land. The purpose of this law is to
protect Ag. land from commercial development. The only way a Special Use permit may deviate
from HRS 205 is to prove that the use will be unusual yet reasonable. The proposed facility is
not reasonable use because noise from patrons and traffic cannot be controlled to meet decibel
limits. There are over 50 homes is proximity of the proposed facility. Residents in this area
would be severely affected by the uncontrollable and intolerable noise from patrons and traffic
including tourist buses.
To further elaborate even though I am half deaf I can hear ocean waves breaking on shore
5 miles from my home. I most certainly would hear and object to the noise from the proposed
facility which would be even closer to my home. There have already been complaints from
residents bordering the proposed project regarding loud noise from customers of the miniature
golf course as they enthusiastically play their games. The miniature golf course is even further
away from the residents than the proposed project would be. Kilauea residents have a right to
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live in peace,quiet and tranquility. Their homes are their sanctuaries. It is not wonder they
would object to an invasion of noise pollution from the proposed facility. The Special Use
permit should be denied because it is more than obvious that the proposed facility is
unreasonable.
Kauai County Code also states these kinds of disturbances are not compatible within the
zoning. For example, section 8-20.5(a) states that a"Special Use permit may be granted only if
the Planning Department finds that activity or use is not detrimental to health, safety,peace,
morals,comfort,and neighborhood use." Again,per County Code,"Disturbing the peace
prohibits the granting of a Special Use permit." I strongly urge the Planning Department to deny
a Special Use permit for this proposed commercial amusement facility because this project is
unreasonable according to both State and County codes. The proposed commercial amusement
facility needs to be laid to rest now,thank you Commissioners for giving your highest
consideration to the rule of law.
Mr. Dahilia: David Dinner followed by Ron Dixon followed by Nicolai Barca.
Mx. David Dinner: I am David Dinner and I live in Kilauea. I sent in a testimony and I
just want to make a few comments,the first of which is thanks for everything you are doing and
the way you are going about this hearing. I think it is great. The second thing is I am really
pained by the division in the community over this and I think that is the central crux of the issue
here to me. I do support the pavilion, I think it gives a tremendous amount of quality to the area
that we live in and I think it has some good qualities to it. But we have to find a way to bring
this community back together after this is over and I think one of the things I see is there are a lot
of promises from the pavilion developers and I think it behooves the community to be very
careful about watching that that does happen and that this is a true exception and not something
that is going to lead to other developments. We don't want that to happen. So I am trusting in
the Commission to follow through on that and I can tell you that this community will be on the
other side of this issue if that doesn't happen. I have a long history of opposing developments,
the Superferry and the Waipouli Development and I think that this, for me, is a great exception.
So thank you very much and I do support this development,thanks.
Mr. Dahilia: Ron Dixon followed by Nicolai Barca followed by David Baker.
Mr. Ron Dixon: Good morning Planning Commission, good morning fellow citizens.
Life is very uncertain,we have natural disasters, political disruptions,we could be having
runaway inflation in the not too distant fixture the way the economy is going. Sustainability is
vitally important to people such as ourselves. The stark isolation from the rest of the world,with
passing days it becomes glaringly obvious just how important our Tamers and farm lands are to
each and every one of us. North Shore residents seem to keenly appreciative of this. In the
many years I have been shopping at various farmers markets on our North Shore I have seen the
numbers of friends,neighbors and visitors who are my fellow shoppers increase substantially. It
is inevitable there would be more of us in times ahead. If we start down this slippery slope of
rezoning Ag. land it is not in my estimation overly dramatic to say it could be the beginning of
the end for our island.
How are we going to feed ourselves if we are cut off from the rest of the world for some
reason? And if we do grant this Special Permit the obvious question to me is where does it end?
If past performance is any indication it will most certainly not end until every last nickel has
been squeezed out of every last parcel of saleable land. This would leave us totally dependent on
imports. The dependability of which is far too shaky on which to base our very survival. Noise
is very disturbing. I have dear friends who live within ear shot of this place,they are going to
have a 250 seat outdoor amphitheater. I don't see for the life of me how they can claim to be
able to keep it down to a certain decibel level. I can't even keep my wife quiet. It seems to me
from the appearance of the supporters here I would say they are remarkable,wonderful people
and I wish them well in everything but I have to speak out against this project. Thank you very
much for your kind attention.
Mr. Dahilig: Nicolai Barca followed by David Baker followed by Tripp Mc Callister.
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Mr.Nicolai Barca: I will be very brief because I know so many people want to speak.
For what it is worth I have been living in Kilauea for 18 years now and I just want to say that I
support the project and I think it will be good for the community. The benefits of the mini golf
are already obvious. I was a little bit skeptical at first and now I see it is a great place for the
youth to go. It seems like everything else is supposed to be good for the community so I support
the project and that is all I have to say,thank you.
Mr. Dahilia: David Baker followed by Tripp Mc Callister followed by Wayne Fujioka.
Mr. David Baker: Mr. Chairman, honorable Commissioners my name is David Baker. I
live and work in Kilauea. Please protect our resources for fixture generations. This developer
may permanently damage the precious ecosystem on and bordering this property. The property
is not zoned for this kind of development. The Put Kumu stream runs right beside all the
drainage runoff and sewage treatment facilities for this entire development. That means that the
damaging oil and chemical pollutants from the many vehicles using the parking lots and
roadways may all eventually wind up in the stream. This site plan shows you in the pink lines
indicate the storm runoff. It flows into the detention basin and then overflows on to the spillway.
The spillway for all the oil and chemical runoff is placed within the flood plain that slopes into
the stream. Remember the last time you were at an open concert? Remember the lines at the
bathrooms? This project has 16 bathrooms, will have hundreds of users in this 14,000 square
foot facility, 14,000 square feet.
This is Open/Ag. land and not a large commercial area in a civic center with adequate
County services. It is located too close to the waterway to prevent contamination. This is not the
place for a facility that will take its heavy toll on the environment. In fact this is exactly why
developments like this are located in commercial areas serviced by County sewer,water, and
other departments. The Kauai County Code,section 8-20.5(a)lists, "Numerous requirements
specifically address that the Use permit may be granted only if the project will not cause any
substantial harmful environmental consequences on the land." That is the law,follow it.
Secondly, I have attended all the Planning hearings and contested case hearings as an
interested observer. Never has this project been presented to the public or the community of
Kilauea in a professional and transparent way like today. This is what I mean,just look at the
Hunt group who is working on developing Kilauea's Town Core on their commercial property in
the center of town. They have methodically and completely made every resident of the North
Shore aware of their upcoming project by staging public presentations at the new multi-million
dollar auditorium at the Kilauea school we have. Invitations were sent out to every resident by
mail,public notices,ads,banners, and the result, over 300 people turned up like today. Was this
done by the applicant? No. Mr.Porter has pushed the plan right through the KNA where only a
dozen or fewer people attended meetings presided over by his stewards. No widely publicized
presentations were ever made. Never has he asked to make a presentation to the surrounding
communities. Not even the organizations Mr. Porter belongs to. So much for this overwhelming
public support. Again,keep the country, country, enforce the zoning laws. Thank you for your
careful consideration of protecting our island and upholding the law.
Mr. Dahilig: Tripp Mc Callister followed by Wayne Fujioka followed by Joan Heller.
Mr. Tripp Mc Callister: Good morning my name is Tripp Mc Callister. I would like to
share a bit of my time with the kids. They sort of got looked over. All I have to say is music,
entertainment, sharing food is such a part of our culture here that,please, let us share it.
Mr. Bodie Sturgeon: Hi,my name is Bodie Sturgeon and I tank you for the opportunity
to speak today. I know I only speak for myself but I know that I represent many kids on the
North Shore. Please let us have the pavilion complex. Too many of us end up sitting inside,
bored, and some,not me, get into trouble because there is nothing else to do some days. We love
the mini golf and we would really love a place for more after school programs, a place to see
movies and a place to put on plays. We want to hear live music too. I am almost a teenager and
I need a good place to hang out that I can get to easily. My parents almost never drive me to
Lihu`e, especially now that, so I hear, gas prices are so high. I know I am just a kid but I live
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here too and I love Kauai more than any place on earth. Please let the pavilion be built, thank
you.
Mr. Nicolas Barnum: I am Nicolas Barnum and I vote for the pavilion to be built and I
will say for kids in Kilauea, lots of kids want to go to miniature golf. I support it and please
build it.
Ms. Brianna Bender: My name is Brianna Bender and I do want the pavilion to be built.
I am a Tahitian dancer and I would actually love to dance up on the stage and please build it.
Mr. Reece Leonard: My name is Reece Leonard and I am totally in favor of the pavilion
being built. It is super hard going down to Lihu`e all the time to see movies and live
performances,thank you.
Mr. Mc Callister: Pretty good turnout for such a secret meeting, thank you.
Mr. Dahilig: Wade Fujioka followed by Joan Heller followed by James Gair.
Mr. Wade Fujioka: Good morning,any name is Wayne Fujioka and I represent Shioi
Construction, in support of the Kilauea Pavilion. I was the project manager for Shioi
Construction, the General Contractor hired by Anaina Hou to construct the earthwork, roads,
utilities, landscaping, the caddy shack building for the mini golf course and the bus shelter for
the County of Kaua`j bus system. Our 2.7 million plus dollar contract provided much needed
construction jobs for our Shioi Construction crew of approximately 6 to 12 people and over 870
man days of work. The contract also provided about 1.8 million dollars in sub-contracts to 15
Kauai based sub-contractors which is included B&B Pacific, Beachside Roofing, Creative
Partition Systems,Dr. Sheet Metal, Grace Pacific, Harvey's Flooring, Island Masonry, Kauai
(inaudible),Nakagawa Painting, Mr. T's Pest Control,Rainer Kauai Overheard Door,Ruttan
Refrigeration, H. Tanaka Plumbing, T.G. Electric, and Wellington Fencing. We strongly believe
that Anaina Hou will continue to provide for future employment opportunities for Kauai people
with the proposed pavilion. We ask for your support on this project, thank you.
Mr. Dahilig: Joan Heller followed by James Gair followed by Jonathan Mc Roberts.
Ms. Joan Heller: Good morning, I am Joan Heller and ask that you not give this
applicant a Special Use permit. Please remember orily you are accountable for today's decision.
Your vote will continue to have ramifications that affect all of Kauai for years even after your
service on the Commission ends. For me the effect of this commercial project is another
reminder of a mainland style structure that will only be for those who can afford it,not really for
the whole Kilauea community or island residents who have been blessed and provided with free
and equal use policies at each of our County neighborhood centers. Also, don't forget the
current administration made a major schedule change for night games at the Vidinha Stadium
due to Federal regulation of the Shearwater protection. So how can an open outdoor
amphitheater in the Shearwater's backyard not be a concern for the County? I understand the
lights will be tuned down but the lights will be on.
My final reminder covers the sound consideration especially for those who have already
voiced their frustration in the Garden Island's letter to the editor section about barking dogs and
crowing roosters in their neighborhoods. Are those folks here today? And to use up my 3
minutes I would like to just say that I think Mr. Porter with his generosity and his concern for the
community, I think island wide he can make more of an impact if his 5 million dollars can be
contributed to the County Parks and Rec. Department so that we can improve and rehab and
expand the County services at the Parks and Rec. which I really,really appreciate because there
are so many families that use it without charge. And I don't think anybody ever remembers what
the County is offering free, so thank you for that.
Mr. Dahilig: James Gair followed by Jonathan Mc Roberts followed by Lyle Robinson.
Mr. James Gair: Good morning Commissioners, my name is James Gair. I live in
Kilauea, mahalo for this opportunity to speak here today. There are many problems with this
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April 12,2011
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application. The Planning Director's report incorrectly characterized the use of this project and
similar in nature to outdoor recreation concession and/or religious facilities. None of them are
similar in nature. The CZO defines these uses as indoor and outdoor amusement commercial.
None of the proposed uses are permitted within the County's Open District with or without a Use
permit. This use is not compatible with the surrounding areas and will have an impact on many
adjacent properties. The uses to host parties, weddings,conferences, and luaus are only
permitted in the County's commercial districts. None of the proposed uses are permitted within
State Ag. lands pursuant to HRS 205 and Chapter 13. Chapter 8, generally permitted uses and
structures,there are no indoor or outdoor amusement commercial listed there. The purpose is to
preserve,maintain,or improve the essential characteristics of the land necessary to insulate or
buffer the public and places of residents in places of non-desirable factors such as noise. It is not
compatible with Article 18 or 19.
The Kauai General Plan Chapter 5 is labeled"Preserving Kauai's Rural Character",
says to concentrate commercial uses in town centers and conserve the open space between towns
to prevent commercial development. The primary intent is to conserve land,to preserve Open
and Ag. lands as key to Kaua`i's rural character essential to its image as the Garden Island,the
primary intent of the Ag. designation shall take precedence over the secondary intent. Land use
map policy is very specific and directive,to preserve open lands and to preserve them
predominantly free of development and it is the most restrictive of all the land use designations.
Discretionary zoning permits should be eliminated. How can the noise from 250 to 1,000 or
more cheering fans and the performance on stage be contained? Unless the building in enclosed
and sound proof it cannot be contained. What happens when the 55 decibel level is exceeded?
No one has answered this question which deserves an answer. Section 8 of the application says
the main building houses a certified kitchen serving as a concession stand during concerts and
movies. Clearly the kitchen's primary function is as a concession stand and not suitable for Ag.
uses.
The Kilauea Town Plan did not call for an amusement commercial complex and it is only
5 years old. It also stated that Special Permit uses of Ag. lands must coexhist and be compatible
with adjacent residential uses and to abate the spread of non Ag. uses on Ag. lands. I have an
exhibit here from section 8-8.4 which says"Where a parcel of land is adjacent to or within 1,000
yards of a district other than Open no Use permit shall be issued for uses which are generally
permitted or permitted under the Use permit in all adjacent or approximate districts." These red
stars indicate more than 50 homes that are within the pink radius starting from the pavilion site
and none of them could ever get a permit like this in their respective districts. The land coverage
is well over 10%since Mr. Kaplan said that the two parking lots were going to be paved so it is
well over. These and many other facts presented here today should help you decide the fate of
this application. Please vote for denial and keep Kilauea country,thank you.
Mr. Dahilig: Jonathan Mc Roberts followed by Lyle Robinson followed by Bodie
Sturgeon.
Mr. Jonathan Mc Roberts: My name is Jonathan Mc Roberts. I live in Kilauea Town. I
am not going to repeat all the things that have been said, the presentation was very good. I agree
with everything that was done in the presentation. I would like to talk a little bit about some of
the points that were made such as sustainability, agriculture and the importance of that. If this
was on important agriculture land I would be on the other side of the issue. I am definitely in
support of this program because it is a small piece of land that never was really used
commercially for agriculture. The majority of people I know,the vast majority of people I know
in Kilauea are very much in favor of it. In terms of sustainability we don't have to just worry
about Ag. land we have to also worry about the price of gas. We need to start thinking not only
on Kauai but all over the country about why the current system in the United States of suburban
living,rural living isn't working well. The rural nature can be preserved if people don't have to
drive long distances to go do things.
Right now with the price of gas over four dollars a gallon and possibly going to five or
six depending on what happens it is going to be more and more important to have all the things a
town needs in a short distance. This will provide things not only for Kilauea Town but people
from Hanalei far out on the North Shore don't have to drive all the way into Lihu`e, all the way
Planning Commission Minutes
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17
back out for all their kid's events, for all the features that go on. We need to start thinking and
this is project is one, we have to create things that people do not have to drive great distances
because it is going to become more and more difficult to do that. Also in doing this project I
think you will provide a better place for our aging population which also have trouble driving at
night so they don't have to drive all the way into Lihu`e and all the way back to do things. For
several reasons not mentioned before I think that this particular project on this small amount of
marginally agriculture land makes a lot of sense, thank you.
Mr. Dahilig: Lyle Robinson followed by Bodie Sturgeon followed by Nick Bryrann.
Ms. Lyle Robinson: Aloha, thank you for listening today. My name is Lyle F�obinson
and I would like to just say that the four names after mine are the children who were already up
here. I was trying to get them through to get them back to school so Bodie Sturgeon, Brianna,
Nick and Reece. I believe that the only dangerous precedent that would be set today would be if
you don't allow for the pavilion project to move forward because that would be a strong
statement opposing community support. This is a philanthropic community project which will
greatly benefit the North Shore at large. And I understand that the close neighbors don't want
this to happen. I understand their perspective and how they feel that it will impact their lives.
But I believe that when big decisions are being made on the behalf of any community the
benefits of the many must outweigh the benefits of the few. There are many, many, many people
young and old all along the North Shore who are really looking forward to this happening. I
have many positive points that I would love to add. There are a lot of people here today who
want to speak in support of this project and I have submitted a pretty long written testimony so I
will let you read that testimony and I will let everybody else speak who wants to speak so thank
you for hearing all of us today, mahalo.
Mr. Dahilig: Samantha Hamilton followed by Bill Gillette and Richard Kraft.
Unidentified Speaker: Excuse me, I also have some other kids from school, can they
speak in place of the two that were on?
Chair: Okay but just keep it brief.
Mr. Chauncey Smith: Hi, my name is Chauncey Smith from the Kauai Pacific School. I
am a fourth grader and I would like to support the Kilauea Pavilion plan. I think it is a
wonderful idea to have a pavilion that is so close so we would not have to drive so far at night,
mahalo.
Mr. Shannon Smith: Hi, my name is Shannon Smith. I am a fifth grader at Kauai
Pacific School in Kilauea. I am in support of the Kilauea Pavilion project. It is important for us
kids to have a place to go that is safe and fun. The pavilion would also be great for the
community. Please support this project and allow the pavilion, kids are Kaua`i's future, thank
you.
Mr. Dahilig: Samantha Hamilton followed by Bill Gillette and Richard Kraft.
Ms. Doran Smith: My name is Doran Smith. I have worked with many of you so thank
you Commissioners for your time today. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank the
Porters for really doing this the right way, for going through all the proper channels, for choosing
to down zone the property when they probably could have much easier been able to get this
project going the way it was. But they down zoned it by choice to preserve it for the future.
Having worked with other large projects on the North Shore and being in land use attorney I can
appreciate the issues involved in complying with the zoning code and so I really appreciate their
efforts and their community involvement and their desire to do what is right for the community.
And I am in support of the project as well, thank you.
Ms. Samantha Hamilton: Hi,my name is Samantha Hamilton and I am here today in
support of the pavilion project. I am one of the many people who have been very lucky to work
for the Porters over the past few years. I worked for three years at Kauai Fresh Farms at the
hydroponic greenhouses on their property in Wai Koa. I was there from the beginning when we
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April 12,2011
18
were growing it from one small greenhouse and now we are a major supplier of fresh produce to
not just the North Shore but all around the island. I just want to say thank you to them and I just
want to testify that the jobs they create are very good jobs,they support a very great working
environment,pay their workers fairly and they have been great people to work for and very
supportive.
I just want to say too, for me,the solar panels that they have put up at the farm are a very
big deal and a huge commitment towards sustainability. For me personally that is a huge issue
for the future of our island and the North Shore and they don't talk so much about sustainability,
they don't proclaim they are green,they put in solar panels,they design buildings that are going
to be LEED certified,this is going to be an amazing...it is going to set the bar so much higher
for any kind of development on the North Shore in terms of the standards of sustainability that
people are going to want to match. And I just want to say too that I have learned a lot about the
pavilion project over the last couple of years and I think it is tasteful, it is limited, and I think it is
a substantial support for the arts culture, agriculture,all those kinds of things that are biggest
most important parts of the North Shore community. Thank you for your time and please
support the pavilion.
Chair: We are going to take a 10 minute recess.
Commission recessed at 10:46 a.m.
Meeting called back to order at 10:57 a.m.
Mr. Dahilia: Bill Gillette followed by Richard Kraft followed by Greta Kraft.
Chair: Just to give everybody a heads up before Mr. Gillette comes up, I just wanted to
let everybody know the process. We will be going through this receiving testimony through
lunch, it is going to continue for a while so it is our plan to break for lunch at 12:00 and then
come back to continue the meeting after lunch a little bit after 1:00.
Mr. Richard Kraft: My name is Bill Gillette, I live in Kilauea and I am opposed to this
project. My greatest concern for my family, for myself, for my neighbors, and for many,many,
many of the residents of Kilauea is the affect that the amphitheater is going to have on noise. By
any stretch of the imagination with loud speakers, crowds anywhere between 500 on up there is
absolutely no way,no way that this 55 decibel can be stopped at the property line unless there is
some kind of invisible wall that is going to go up and do that. The mitigation on this has not
been addressed and what has been said I don't need a doctorate degree in acoustics to tell you
that it is going to affect a lot of people in the surrounding area. In the immediate 1,000 foot area
there are 55 homes and this is going to be a huge impact. The pavilion it's self,what could go on
outside could be put inside, could be sound proofed, and the community could enjoy it. What is
going outside is the biggest concern. We all probably wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the
outside venue that is going to take place and cause the noise which is probably one of the major
concerns of everybody that is opposed to this project. In closing I have written another written
testimony but in closing I just want to say that the decision made today by you Commissioners is
going to have a profound effect on the North Shore, on Kilauea, and the surrounding neighbors
not today but for generations to come. This is a very,very important thing, it has to be thought
out, it has to be done right and it has to be done according to the law,thank you.
Mr. Dahilia: Richard Kraft followed by Greta Kraft followed by Chris Jaeb.
Mr. Richard Kraft: My name is Richard Kraft and my wife is Greta Kraft so we will just
go together. We are both beekeepers and we have bee hives on the Wai Koa Plantation property
and we are very happy that there will be a certified kitchen because we would like to do
byproducts with the honey. And to create a certified kitchen yourself is a huge investment so we
are very happy that that is going to be happening. We are in favor of the project. We also lease
11 acres of land on the Wai Koa Plantation for agricultural use and educational use and we have
already planted a great deal of fruit trees. We have a diversified vegetable garden and we are
going to enter into essential oils,planting with herbs and different varieties of plants that will
allow us to do essential oils. We are very much in favor of this project because we are supported
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19
by the Porter's generosity in having people do agriculture projects in the area. We hope the
Commission will take that and know culturally it will be extraordinary. I am a musician and to
find a venue in which you can play music,I am a classical musician, is almost impossible and it
costs a great deal of money so this will provide a possibility of bringing in classical music into
this area. Thank you very much for your consideration.
Ms. Greta Kraft: I would just like to add that for the collaboration of this project that I
am really in favor of this project because the Porters are people that really want to find the best
solution for the community. And if I would have one wish for this here is that we can set a
precedent where the different points of view can come together and find the best solution in the
consciousness of the `Ohara,it means the bigger community. And I think we have here two
people who are really willing and who are able to offer their resources generously in this way of
doing things. So I am really happy that this can happen in Kilauea,thank you.
Mr. Dahilia: Chris Jaeb followed by Judy Brennan followed by Fran Brennan.
Mr. Chris Jaeb: Hello,my name is Chris Jaeb. I am President of Malama Kauai, a
board member of the KNA,owner of Common Ground,neighbor to Bill Porter, and resident of
Kilauea. I have worked on and off now for four years with Mr. Porter, shared water, roads, and
land that we border and I just want to vouch for the character of the Porters outright and the way
they have managed my relationship and the way they have worked with the community overall.
It is a true gift that they are offering. Five million dollars is probably just the cost of the building
and that is not including the infrastructure that is going to take place and the range of costs
associated with all the legal fees associated with some of the things he is doing right now to
make the pavilion possible on behalf of the community. As a board member of the KNA we
have reviewed this project on and off now for about three and a half years and they have done
nothing but go through the right channels on it.
I think the surprising part for me personally has been the amount of divisiveness that has
been caused by what I am going to call a rabid minority. The way they have misinterpreted the
laws and the way they have created falsehoods and truly misrepresented major pacts of the
project. So I just want to really in some way understand on behalf of the community how we
proceed and what the vision for the community is. And in some way I understand also that this,
the divisiveness they have caused is crystallized support at one level but also in some way made
us try to understand who we are and what it is that we really want. And this pavilion is a good
example of what the community of Kilauea really does want;they want a place to meet most
fundamentally. There is not a place in Kilauea that you can go to and have more than 50 to 60
people in a public space.
This is a gift that in some way it would be great if the County or the community could
afford its self. And to now have the opportunity to whether it is go to a movie, go to see a play,
or to have special events in a location that we can really come together(inaudible) is a great
vision and a great gift and really gives us the opportunity to create our own future in a way that
we currently do not. So thank you for you for your thoughts and your time on this. And one
more thing I want to add would be they did down zone the land from Light Industrial to Open
and Agriculture and if this was Light Industrial it could have been an auto repair shop or who
knows the range of things that on occasion have much more impact from a noise perspective than
the type of noise we are going to see currently in lieu of the fact they are mitigating the noise as
well. So I have a feeling that at the end of the day the people nearby are going to be in much
better shape from a noise perspective than they would otherwise be.
Mr. Dahilig: Judy Brenna followed by Fran Brennan followed by Mark Goodman.
Ms. Judy Brennan: Aloha,my name is Judy Brennan. I live on Kalihiwai Ridge. I will
keep this short and I hope sweet. You have heard many pros and cons for this project and I hope
you will hear the pros. These facilities are needed and would greatly enhance the pleasures of
living on the North Shore. I love driving by the mini golf after years of thinking it might be a
strip mall blight. Now it is a beautiful botanical garden, which would you rather have? The
pavilion project promises to be just a beautifully done. The Porters are a class act and I believe
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this creation will be too and it won't cost the taxpayers any money. I doubt that anyone values
peace and quiet more than I do however I urge you to approve this wonderful project, thank you.
Mr. Dahilijz: Fran Brennan followed by Mark Goodman followed by Mark Mc Guinness.
Ms. Fran Brennan: My name is Fran Brennan. I reside up on Kalihiwai Ridge also. I
believe we are really fortunate to have individuals witling to fund, construct, and mange a variety
of positive facilities and services. These facilities currently are not available on the North Shore
and they will improve living conditions for residents, families, and visitors alike. These facilities
will be conveniently located in an open area previously only decorated by for sale signs for years
and years. As our island continues to grow the North Shore actually becomes more remote from
the south where some of these and other important facilities are located. In the 17 years I have
lived on the North Shore the time to travel south on our two-lane artery has increased
significantly. Worse, the price of fuel has nearly tripled. With if any transportation
improvements contemplated our access to the facilities on the South Shore is likely to continue
to deteriorate. This project is a wonderful opportunity to bring more entertainment options and
community meeting facilities to our North. Shore. Being a tourist designation area and one of the
fastest growing areas on our island we need this. Why should families and tourists waste hours
and hours driving or busing 60 to 80 miles round trip with rapidly accelerating gas prices just to
see a movie. A solution is available. It won't cost the County any tax dollars. In fact it will
probably increase them. It sounds like a winner to me.
Mr. Dahili,ja: Mark Goodman followed by Mark Me Guinness followed by Faith Collier.
Mr. Mark Goodman: Good morning Planning Commission, my name is Mark Goodman
and I am one of the 50 families that live within the 3,000 feet of the proposed project and I am
against it. I am not against the concept I am just again this location. Section 205 of the Hawaii
Revised Statutes Chapter 13, the Guidelines for Issuance of the Special Permit, is it reasonable?
Is it reasonable for part of the community to be subjected to a continuous barrage of noise from
crowds of people applauding, celebrating, yelling, having a good time at open air concerts,
weddings, luaus, and private events? You can't control people and you cannot control the noise
that would be generated. This is not reasonable. Kauai County Code section 8-20.5 states that a
Use permit may be granted if the Planning Commission finds the establishment or activity is of
compatible use and is not detrimental to the health, safety,peace or comfort of the neighborhood.
Let's take one word which is peace. Peace will be taken away from the community of
Kilauea,part of it. We will be subjected to noise of crowds of people at open air concerts,
weddings, luaus, and private events. How do you control the noise and activities of 500 people
at a concert? You do not. You may have noticed I didn't even mention music. Let's assume
they keep the music at the 55 decibels which in agreement you have come to but how do you
control the noise of 150 tourists at a luau? How do you control the noise of 200 people at a
dance concert? You cannot control people having a good time. And look at the additional
seating, we are having a good time right now, so we have 220 bench seats and we have a lawn
area that will seat another thousand people on the lawn area. And per the Director's report it says
for larger events. They are going to pack them in. The primary function is a commercial
venture. And in the words of the applicant Michael Kaplan, stated if we can rent this out every
night we will. This law was created for this exact scenario to protect the rights of the people.
The former Planning Director's report states that pursuant to Chapter 8-8.3, KCC, "The
facility is similar in nature to outdoor recreation and religious facilities." Religious facilities are
a place for worship. The outdoor amphitheater is being compared to the Christian Academy?
This would really set a precedent that a church is similar to an outdoor amphitheater. Movie
theater meets the definition of indoor amusement commercial under KCC 8-1570. The outdoor
amphitheater meets the definition of outdoor amusement commercial pursuant to KCC 8-1596.
Nowhere in the code does it mention outdoor recreation. This is the County Code. This is why
laws are written to protect the rights of the people. Please make your decision on the laws and
not for other reasons, thank you.
Mr. Dahilix Mark Me Guinness followed by Faith Collier followed by Koohan Paik.
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Ms. Faith Collier: I feel really upset and I am not going to say what I was going to say
because something is not being 4ddressed very much here. There has been amazing amount of
slander and viciousness and lies by the opposition towards Bill and Joan Porter and I am really
upset. These people are world class philanthropists, stewards, givers beyond what any of us can
even imagine and they give from their hearts, from the overflow. They are extremely hard
workers,they have high level, 100%integrity,and they always take the high road. In talking to
Joan I heard about all these vicious,horrible, slanderous, (inaudible) lies that were being directed
against them. Joan did not have one negative thing to say about anyone, she just like the sheep
going before the shearers, silent,knows her inspired vision needs to move forward.
These are not mundane developers, Bill and Joan Porter;they are inspired visionaries
who are here to bless this planet and specifically our island. They do everything with aloha
spirit. The opposition is...this island is beautiful and gentle and sacred because of the hearts of
the people. When people become vicious and antagonistic and make up lies to get what they
want,that is what makes the island ugly and unpeaceful. It is the hearts of the people that need
to hold the peace of the island. I just had a thought when we were inhere about the(inaudible)
and the Taj Mahal. I would imagine that was a nice big open space and maybe the neighbors
didn't want to see some Special Use permit for the Taj Mahal but his was an inspired vision and
we don't know what is going to come of this but we have heard just on a practical mundane level
how valuable this pavilion is. And I am talking from a higher spiritual level that we need to have
a beacon of light on the North Shore. We already have people oFworld class level that
everything they do is with the up most integrity,it's exquisite, it beautifies, it is magnetic, and I
am just really upset about the people who are slandering the Porters. I pray that those people
will humble themselves and ask for forgiveness and change their minds.
Mr. Dahiliz Koohan Paik followed by Keone Kealoha followed by Scott Mijores.
Ms. Koohan Paik: Aloha Commissioners,thank you for hearing all of us today on this
very tense day. My name is Koohan Paik,I also go by the name Camera Obscura. I am a
performer as well. And I am with the Kauai Alliance for Peace and Social Justice. I live in
Kilauea near the proposed development. I am also very upset like so many people are about the
divisiveness that this has caused our community because 90%of people in this room I have
known for many years and have worked with. And I have to be one of that rabid minority that is
going against the pavilion and it is because I want to speak out in favor or Hawaii Revised
Statutes 205 that protects the minority that lives adjacent to the pavilion. I just had to get that in
because sometimes laws are in place like the stability laws to protest the minority. I am sick and
tired of the paid promoters telling us how much this community wants the development because
the minority's rights count in this situation.
There is nothing that the proposed development offers that is not already available on the
North Shore except for the movies theater. We already have a beautiful outdoor amphitheater at
Church of the Pacific. They are getting a grant to build a very large certified kitchen and the
amphitheater at Church of the Pacific does not impact any neighbors negatively. We already
have conference rooms at Princeville Neighborhood Center and Kilauea Neighborhood Center
that is free and open to the community. And yet the promoters of this development and the
developers I feel have not been responsive to the needs of the people who they are going to
impact the most. Th}s reminds me of Superferry and the same way the people of Kauai were the
minority because Superferry Was going to impact Kauai the most and the people on Oahu who
were going to be benefited and did not get negatively impacted such as most of the people on the
North Shore blamed it on a rabid minority and said these are the elites in Kaua`i fighting for this.
To me it is the same scenario.
Noise from the outdoor amphitheater is the biggest problem from the members of the
community. People have repeatedly asked the developer,repeatedly to enclose the amphitheater
because then we wouldn't have this divisiveness but they have always refused,never budging. If
they really cared what would best serve the community as a whole, including us rabid minority
people they would agree to enclose the amphitheater so there wouldn't be any negative impacts
on neighbors. That might be able to qualify for a Special Use permit,this does not. It is
unreasonable. You might be able to lower the PA system to 55 but when you have the crowd
noise,no,thank you.
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Mr. Dahilia: Keane Kealoha followed by Scott Mijores followed by Paul Massey.
Mr. Keone Kealoha: Aloha Chair and Planning Commissioners. My name is Keone
Kealoha. I was the Vice President and the President of the Kilauea Neighborhood Association
before this project was introduced and during the time that it was heard at the Kilauea
Neighborhood Association. I work in Kilauea. I co-founded Malama Kauai which is a non-
profit focus on building community primarily through the lens of local food. I live in Kilauea,
my son was born in Kilauea in a house there and I am a native Hawaiian who feels very
connected to the aina and I am here to do what I can,my Kuleana, in that capacity. I would like
to say that I am in total support of this project. In my capacity as the President of the Kilauea
Neighborhood Association in 2009 and 2010 I presided over and facilitated numerous meetings
that address this project directly. There was presentation after presentation that were made,this
meetings is always open to the public, our agendas are posted publicly,people are aware of this
meeting. It is at the same time, same day,the same place and I think the association has been
around for over 20 years, 25,26 years.
Every time there was a concern that was brought up we asked the applicants to say okay,
take a look at this,what can you do and in every case that I was aware of they made a very
conscious effort to look at how could they mitigate these concerns. I don't recall the folks of the
Kalihiwai Neighborhood Association ever attending one of our meetings, at least not one that I
was involved with in that capacity as a Board member or speaking out in opposition to this
project. I think that came much later. But even when that occurred and I did sit in as someone at
the contested case hearing, I think even at that point the applicants were still looking at how can
we compromise,how can we work this out, what are your concerns. And I think that is still the
case at this point. I also personally sat over the Kilauea Town Plan as it was being completed. I .
spent numerous meetings at the County Council getting that adopted as an amendment to the
General Plan. I know intimately and the town plan as far as it is written,as far as my
understanding of it,does not speak against the current us of the application before you. I also
feel that I walk the walk when it comes to sustainability (inaudible) community. I spend my time
doing that.
I would just like to speak to two points and then I will be done. One is just the history.
We currently lack spaces in Kilauea for meetings and gatherings. The neighborhood center is
booked,our movies theater that we once had is not as available as it used to be. Our beach parks
are now places for community to gather and we don't have any public commercial kitchen for
agriculturalist to engage in(inaudible) activities around Ag. This facility would support those
activities and would allow the community to meet. I think in general what we hear is people that
are scared about what may come and hopefully we can address some of those fears. In closing I
think you have to look at the legal implications,is this legal. If it is legal then I ask that we move
to figure out how we can mitigate the concerns of the community members. There is a much
larger community but we always want to listen to the voices of the minority and address those as
much as we can. But please don't stop a project that is such a benefit to our community, let's try
to collaborate and figure out how we can mitigate those concerns,thank you so much.
Mr. Dahilig: Scott Mijores followed by Paul Massey followed by Paulina Barstolie.
Mr. Scott Mijores: Good morning my name is Scott Mijores,thank you Chair and
Commissioners for attending this hearing. I would also like to thank Michael Kaplan for putting
on an excellent presentatior►. I wasn't going to come to this meeting at first but after reading
things in the newspaper and on the internet I felt it was my civic duty to come here and testify on
behalf of the project which I am in favor o£ I can't really say anything more than what has
already.been said other than I really feel grateful that we have people like the Porters in our
community and they are willing to give unlike any other developer that I have ever seen propose
anything before this board. They don't have an exit plan. They don't need an exit plan. They
are doing this for the community whereas other developers you know there is something going
on,they are doing it with borrowed money or they need to get out of it. That doesn't seem to be
the case in this instance.
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I will say this as a father of 3 children, 2 boys, one 23 and one 26, and then one daughter
who is 11, and by the way I am one of the SO homes within the radius of the pavilion,that it is a
challenge. One of our boys is in Med. School right now and he is doing well,the other boy was
challenged by living here on Kauai. He had to leave the island because there was too much
trouble and too much distraction going on, on the North Shore. And the friends that he has been
associating with unfortunately for them they don't have family on the mainland that they can
send their children to where they can get away from these distraction and these activities that
kids tend to engage in. I think that this project if it could just change one child's life and I know
it will change many more than one child's Iife that this project is well worth it's while.
In addition I would just like to say that the people that are around the project,most of
them are in favor of this, the others that aren't seem to be on the north or west side. When they
purchased their property they knew that something...that was a industrial zoned property and
they knew that something was going to go there that could possibly adversely affect their peace
and quiet or their tranquility or whatever. They should be really grateful that the Porters have
decided to do something and are so willing to work with them to help mitigate any discomfort or
noise and I just think it is a matter of perspective. If the highway wasn't there and then all of a
sudden it was you would be upset that you have to listen to highway noise. I think we can pull
this community together by actually moving forward with this project and giving the people who
are fearful and concerned reassurance that this is good for the community and that the Porters
will be good stewards of this land,thank you.
Mr. Dahilig: Paul Massey followed by Paulina Barstoli followed by Tim Kalai.
Mr. Paul Massey: Aloha everyone, I am grateful for this opportunity to testify today. I
am here to voice my strong support for the Kilauea pavilion project. My name is Paul Massey. I
am a resident of Kapahi. I coordinate agricultural education programs at Kauai Community
College and the Kauai Community Seed Bank Garden which is located on former Guava Kai
Plantation land in Kilauea owned by the Porters. One of the primary reasons the community
college is a desirable venue for our Ag. training program is because of the classroom facilities
we have access to. We are fortunate to have use of the high tech auditorium which allows us to
make multi-media presentations including the screening of instructive films. One facility that we
are lacking at KCC is a commercial kitchen where teachers and students could work together to
develop processing methods and value added products that enhance the storage life and
economic value of our island's agricultural crops.
Think about how much shelf space is taken by packaged food at the super market you
shop at? It is all created in commercial kitchens. A commercial kitchen could also serve as part
of the facilities needed to process and store Kauai grown agricultural seed, a crucial component
of our island's food security strategy. In our agricultural education programs we are responding
to the strong regional aspect of the island by offering training a various sites around Kauai
bringing the training to the people where they live and work. The Kilauea Pavilion will make it
possible for us to provide top level agricultural training to the North Shore community in a
convenient location. Agriculture, like any segment of our culture does not exist in a vacuum. In
order to flourish it needs to be actively integrated into the arts,business,health, and recreation
and educational facets of our culture. The Kilauea Pavilion is an ideal facility where these
threads of our social fabric can be woven together. In closing I believe that the Kilauea Pavilion
is highly compatible with the revitalized agriculture industry on Kauai and I urge you to grant
this Special Use permit that will allow it to be built,thank you.
Mr. Dahilia: Paulina Barstoli followed by Tim Kalai followed by Dianna Bowman.
Ms. Paulina Barstoli: Aloha Chair and Board,thank you guys for this time. My name is
Paulina Barstoli and I live in Kilauea on Kalihiwai Ridge. I am married to a Hawaiian man,
Harry Kaumoana Jr.,and we have five children. I am also employed by the Porters and I would
just like to take this time to say thank you so much Bill and Joan for this opportunity for our
community to have such a wonderful place for our children to be and spend their time. And I
truly believe the love that we have to share with our families and to be able to have a space that
we can bring our kids and spend more time with them is...that is it,just beautiful in its self. I
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strongly encourage you to approve this and give back to our community as well, thank you very
much.
Mr. Dahilig_ Tim Kalai followed by Dianna Bowman followed by Felicia Cowden.
Mr. Tim Kalai: Aloha E Chairperson Texeira and to the rest of the Board, my name is
Tim Kalai. I too am a resident of the Kilauea area a tad bit south in the community of Moloa`a
even though we are still encompassed in Kilauea Town proper. Much has been said here this
morning much of which I too don't wish to reiterate but I do first and foremost want to thank the
Porters for coming and speaking on their behalf. And I also want at this point in time wish to
thank those that are expressing their concerns about the project. I feel that it is truly important
that we listen to them as a helpful community to understand their concerns and hopefully we can
meet those through the mitigating processes that will be going forth. And as other folks have
already stated if it is within the law that this project can go forward please let it stand so that it
can do as such. These folks have been nothing but a truly value added benefit to the community
of Kilauea. Never since I have been living on island seen most other developers go through the
process of what I will term as protocol, that is coming to the community to ask what their needs
and desires are to attempt to fill those desires and needs and also by truly making that become a
reality especially in Kilauea Town proper.
Many development has taken place prior to this and unfortunately there was the
proverbial carrot that was hung before them and the developer got pretty much what they felt
was accomplished they never basically saw it fulfilled what was promised to the community.
And because of that they have always been somewhat apprehensive about allowing development
to go further. At this point in time we can see that these people are truly trying to fulfill the
community's voice. They are trying to make things a reality and I do also hold a spot for these
people that have their fears about such a thing. But there is and there are things that are in place
and only through the process of mitigation can we sit there and monitor such things. But please
don't snuff this out because this is truly something that the community really has wished and has
wanted and I can only ask that you as Commissioners, when you take your voice or make your
vote on this that you once again support it as much as I do and as much as the community at
large does too, mahalo nui
Mr. Dahilig: Dianna Bowman followed by Felicia Cowden followed by Lauren
Adelman.
Ms. Dianna Bowman: Aloha Chairman and Commissioners and audience. Let hie get
right to the point, the Kilauea Pavilion will be a welcome and valuable resource to the North
Shore community. And from what I have heard here too you have heard other people beyond
that community who also feel that it is a good move to approve it. There will be a practice area,
I am a member of Halau (inaudible), we have our lessons in Kilauea, and we would love to
perform there. I remember last year we had to go clear down to KCC to perform but the majority
of us are from the North Shore and surrounding areas. But we wouldn't be the only ones using
it, I am taking a Hawaiian language course and I know that I would rather sit on chairs in a
conference room at a facility like this than at the Elementary School where the chairs are a little
smaller. We have heard about commercial kitchen, I think that is going to be really a
tremendous benefit to the community,
What the North Shore currently has is really inadequate. This project that addresses
those inadequacies and does the best job that I could even imagine making something available
to the residents. So having said that many diverse organizations, local, farmers,teachers, and
other organizations, local organizations will really have the benefit from this place. I am
strongly in support of Anaina Hou project as it is written today. Let's not deprive keiki and
residents of these facilities,thank you.
Mr. Dahilig Felicia Cowden followed by Lauren Adelman followed by Aaron Feinberg.
Ms. Felicia Cowden: Hello,my name is Felicia Cowden and I want to express my strong
support for the Kilauea Pavilion. There has been so many things that I agree with that have
already been said but I have another point that I would like to emphasize and that is about noise
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pollution and what it is to be a good neighbor. I live on a small lot in a residential area of
Kilauea,my backyard opens right on to Kilauea Park. Seven days a week there is something
going on in the park. Park noise is happy noise. I am willing to listen to tents being set up,
trucks backing up,to having speakers pointed right at my house. I get to hear and be a part of
the luaus. Sometimes I go and crash a party. I will just say hey you guys are having so much
fun I want to be a part of this and there is always a lot of aloha. I not only have balls kicked
against my fence regularly they go over the fence. I have people who need water, need to call
their mom,need a band aide,want the lilikoi,the banana. I am so happy to give it to them.
What I know is that it takes a village to raise a kid. I love all these kids doing this. Do I
ever hear fights? Yes. Are there dogs that come along the back fence? Yes. There is nothing to
mitigate the sound,I wouldn't even ask for that. My next door neighbor struggling to keep...he
still hasn't repaired his house from the hurricane,he lets people walk to the park through his yard
10 feet away from his bedroom window. I have to worry about my dog barking at those people.
We are a neighborhood and we take care of each other. When I listen and I love these people, I
know most of these people who are complaining and I like and respect them. They have acres;
they have got trees in the way. I don't get it all because they are good people. I think they will
find that they are actually happy with the activity that is right there. This Kilauea Theater is
going to be lucky if it has an event once a week. I have sports games going on. I have all kinds
of yelling.
Around my neighborhood which is tight and small there are farmer'i markets,there are
all kinds of things. I have stereo churches, somebody said a church is not the same thing, let me
tell you those churches rock. They have really good bands, I hear them and I hear them both
with different music at the same time. Am I willing to tolerate that? Absolutely,that is what
makes a community a community. And so when I am sitting here hearing about people with
these beautiful homes and lots of acreage and I know they are amazing people,they have done
lots of good things. But I think you know what,it sounds like the haves needing to have more.
It doesn't sound like good community. I have zero sympathy over the sound issue for these
people. Anyway,please support it, love to all of you including the people I am speak in
(inaudible)to right now,thank you.
Mr. Dahilig: Lauren Adelman followed by Aaron Feinberg followed by Ian Cowden.
Ms. Lauren Adelman: Hello,my name is Lauren Adelman and am in total support of the
pavilion. That was so beautifully said. Just one thing I would like to mention is there was a
gathering at the taro patch and it was really nice to have all this culture and community come
together. And the Porters are the only people who have the means that are willing to share with
all of us in the community. And I don't know legally what is available,what is not available but
if it is I am in full support and th6 benefits will be a million fold,thank you.
Mr. Dahilia: Aaron Feinberg followed by Ian Cowden followed by Katherine Castelo.
Mr. Aaron Feinbera: Hello,my name is Aaron Feinberg. I am a resident of Princeville
and a business owner in Hanalei. I just want to touch on the written statement that I supplied full
support. Moving from the mainland, I have only been here 4 years and I will never truly be a
resident on this island in the sense of the understanding that I have now. We give up things to
live here when we move from the mainland,not in the sense of community because the
community here is unbelievable but more in a sense of the culture. I did grow up in New York
and I moved out to Utah and Portland and to have those things available to you where you can go
to see a movie or to see a concert. I am in Princeville,not even Ha`ena, it is an hour round trip,
sorry an hour one way,two hours round trip. Maybe twice a year I go down to Lihu`e for a
concert,maybe. To have something,we are on an island in the middle of the Pacific where we
have nice weather 90%of the time and we don't have an outdoor venue for music. It is
something that is very badly needed on this island. Please support the pavilion,thank you.
Mr. Dahilia: Ian Cowden followed by Katherine Castilo followed by Alvin Castilo.
Mr. Ian Cowden: Hi,my name is Ian Cowden. Thank you first, I want to say thank you
Commissioners for listening to everybody with their opinions about this Kilauea Pavilion. I also
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want to thank you Bill;for just having a good community and for having the golf course which
everybody likes who is a kid and other people. I would really like the Kilauea Pavilion because I
have a band and I would like to play there. My mom was the one talking about the Kilauea Park,
I also live there so I hear it all the time. Usually I am the one making all the noise with my
drumming going on and,nobody around, I have neighbors let's say less than 50 feet next to me
both ways and they don't come over saying stop and making a big deal of it so I am happy about
that. I think Bill has a good heart and it is pretty big for how much generosity he has. Like do
you think anybody else would spend that much money just to try to help the community and the
whole island of Kauai? I don't think anybody would do that. So I just want to go and hopefully
it will happen. I hope you guys decide,right.
For those people over there vetoing the Kilauea Pavilion,well first about the agriculture
thing, I thought before that it was Light Industrial and then I heard there were other places like
mechanical stuff places like mechanical shops there so I don't know why. And agriculture,they
do have plants,the mini golf course has plants like sugar cane, ferns and all the Hawaiian stuff so
that counts as agriculture kind of. These people, I don't know why they are saying oh yeah,this
permit 265-86(b),they should just think about how fun it would be for the whole community and
of Kilauea. I think they should have the aspect of that and they get to go there too. What if there
was a good band playing, oh my gosh, it is their favorite band! Let's go watch it! What is so
bad about that, I don't know. So thank you guys,have a good day.
Mr. Dahilig: Katherine Castilo followed by Alvin Castilo followed by Dan Shook.
Ms.Katherine Castilo: Aloha, my name is Katherine Castilo. I am a resident of Kilauea
for 10 years and I am in support of the Kilauea Pavilion. I just wanted to point out, everybody
said so many things but something about a precedent,there are no LEED certified buildings on
Kauai. How about setting a precedent for how a sustainable business could be created and that
is what it sounds like they are trying to do here. And it just sounds like a really positive thing
amongst all the other positives that are happening to let people see how it should be done so that
we can continue to do it correctly from now on,thank you.
Mr. Dahilig: Alvin Castilo followed by Dan Shook followed by Bill Booth.
Mr. Alvin Castilo: Aloha Ka Ko,my name is Alvin Castilo,I am a resident of Kilauea I
would say about three generations;my daughter was born in Kilauea in the house where we live
now. I am in total support of the pavilion because it is a great resource for youth,adults,
Kupuna,to come to a common ground to again go to these activities where we have to go all the
way to Lihu`e to get to see these activities like cultural events,music,art, workshops,the list can
go on. But I am here because I am also employed by Joan and Bill Porter and I am the botanical
manager at the Kauai Miniature Golf. And when you say there is no agriculture like the young
person before me said they have sugar cane,we have rare native plants,we have citrus,cane,
avocado,nine types of bamboo. And we have an interpretive course meaning that you can go
through this whole course and learn the history of Kauai and Hawaii. Like the first three holes
would be predominantly about native plants and the origin of how all these plants came to
Hawaii and so forth so I feel like it is a benefit to the community because we bring more plants,
more community and just more love to the place. So the more plants and happier people we
have the better the place is. I just want Kilauea to be the best it can be as a community. I£eel
like this is going forward for Kilauea,mahalo.
Mr. Dahilia: Dan Shook followed by Bill Booth followed by Parker Croft.
Chair: Dan, can you hold off one second,just to let everybody know, we had planned to
close for lunch at 12:00 but our lunch is not going to be ready yet so we will probably be going
until about 12:15,thank you.
Mr. Dan Shook: My name is Dan Shook. I am a farmer in Kalihiwai Ridge. I have been
farming there for 20 years. I have been against development in the past in our neighborhood
when the guava farm was threatened with a subdivision I did my best to help stop that. Mr.
Katayama will remember that and it least it kept the guava farm in production for a number of
years after that. I am in complete support of this project and I would like to thank the Porters for
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offering this to the community. I find it hard to believe that there would be this opportunity that
would come up again where someone owns the land that they could do this on and is willing to
put the fiends forward with quite possibly no gain or no profit in the end. I think that is a very
benevolent thing and I think this community, most of this community recognizes that.
A couple of issues in this project that are a little disturbing to me is not about the project
but about the attacks on the project have been focused on the fact that it is taking some Ag. land
out of Ag.potential and most of the people that are making this point are actually living on Ag.
land and not actually farming. When I bought in Kalihiwai Ridge in 88 and ultimately built in
1990 and started by plantation I thought I actually was buying into a farming community. I was
naive I guess, I thought it was going to be small farrils and we were all going to be friendly
farmers. That isn't how it turned out actually and I am one of the very few people that actually
has farmed my land continually and I derive my income from farming and I have for 20 years. I
accept the fact that my neighbors don't all want to be farmers because it is actually kind of a
tough row to hoe. You work hard and you don't necessarily actually make very much money.
You work really hard and we have thousands of acres of farm land on this island that is lying
fallow right now. We have plenty of room for farms.
What we don't have is farmers and what we don't have is ideal crops that we can actually
make money at and we have a market for. And so we are really rich in farmland and really short
in the people and the potential of what to grow. I think the Porters have come in here and shown
what you can do,they started a hydroponic tomato and I think they war growing other things
now,cucumbers and stuff. They have shown with a little resources or a lot of resources you can
actually create here and this is actually what we need,we need people to come in here and help
this island and give us opportunity. Ad not only did they plant 80 thousand hardwood trees they
are now offering us some recreational opportunity and so I think we really should take advantage
of this opportunity,thank you very much.
Mr. Dahilia: Bill Booth followed by Parker Croft followed by Steve Mickle.
Mr. Bill Booth: Good morning, I am Bill Booth and I am a resident of Kalihiwai Ridge
Community Association. I come as a private citizen and I am also the current President of
KRCA. I know there are some issues here that we have been talking about today,most
importantly noise. After I came on the Board of the Kalihiwai Ridge Community Association
we sat down with the former Directors,two of them,and we asked them what was the most
salient issue regarding this project and they said noise. From my point of view I said well,we
are not a regulatory agency we are just a homeowner association and we can't basically tell
Anaina Hou how they can do their use however we can go to them and ask them for some kind
of mitigating conditions regarding the noise. And as I understand it a second installment to the
offer was given to you and to us to look at and we basically said okay,what we would like to do
is to revisit the settlement and there are a couple of issues we really feel are important. Believe
me I understand legitimately there are concerns about noise. I think these guys that live next
door to the project, I think they have some real viable issues here.
So we looked number one to the operating hours of the project,number two, we
requested a gate be put across the project so there couldn't be intruders coming into the project
after 10:00 at night. We felt that was good security. Number three,we asked for real-time
recording data bank type device which would let us know how much noise is being affected at
the property lines through the audio monitor devices. So after we asked for that and we got that
by the way we also asked for a mutually verifying system of noise levels so that if there is a
problem we go back to Mr. Porter and his representatives and they are certainly going to know if
they are on record. We wanted to be as I guess empirically clean as we could be. The other
point that we also looked to is we created a liaison officer out of KRCA and no better than Mark
Goodman who is behind me waiving the sign. I asked Mark if he would not be the person that
directly goes to the management of the project next door and has direct accessibility at any time
to talk about any issues regarding noise and venue. I think that is about it,thank you very much.
Mr. Dahil,ig: Parker Croft followed by Steve Mickle followed by Mary Dente.
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Mr.Parker Croft: Aloha Ka Ko. Michelle Rose,my wife, and I farm on Kalihiwai
Ridge. I want to thank the Porters for their support of agriculture on Kauai. This is an
extraordinary inspiration to everyone on Kauai and there are many, many people who are
grateful for them and for everything they have done. There are two issues that I have heard
raised that I would like to offer possible suggestions to the Planning Board. One is concerning
the precedent about removing agricultural land and using it as a Special Use. The commercial
kitchen is an agricultural use; unquestionably, it is something we need very,very much.
Secondly,the miniature golf course serves as an educational format for introducing people who
are very much estranged from agriculture and reintroducing them to what it is,what plants mean,
what food means,what the entire landscape means as a working landscape. And that is
something that people coming to Kauai increasingly want to learn.
There is a third point that I would like to suggest as a possibility for the agriculture and
that is the possibility of having the farmer's markets there once or twice a week. The reason I
am emphasizing these points is that I think it is very important for the Commission to distinguish
this project as satisfying the agricultural aspects of the use requirements and distinguishing it
from other projects that may come forward in the future and rely on this. Even though we don't
intend it now as a precedent but in fact pretend that it is a precedent for their project. So
emphasize the agricultural aspects of what is going on there now and what is being intended,that
is one thing. The second aspect is the noise. I would encourage you to do some empirical
testing as to what the noise levels are at the residents now because they exist and they may at
times be quite high. In fact at times they may exceed what you have set for the standards at the
property lines. So by having a standard, an empirical standard of what exists now you will be
able to know what changes may occur.
There is a third point I would like to make that I don't think everyone be aware o£ There
has been a video posted anonymously in which Mr.Porter has been associated with Adolf Hitler
in which the Planning Commission and the Board of Kalihiwai Ridge have been associated with
Nazi Puppets. This is absolutely disgusting. I have a statement here I would like to leave with
you to consider as a resolution and read it, it is brief. "The Kauai Planning Commission holds
the publication associating Hitler and Naziism with members of our community to be offensive
and completely repugnant to the spirit of aloha and common decency. There can be no tolerance
for any behavior that threatens our civil discourse and insults the citizens of our island. We find
this anonymous publication to be cowardly and shameful."
Mr. Steve Mickle: Aloha Commissioners,my name is Steve Mickle and I reside up on
Kalihiwai Ridge as well. I wanted to make a couple of additional points and I will try not to
repeat a lot of things that have already been said. My wife and I support this project and we
would urge you to approve it. We have longed for a facility to attend on the North Shore where
we could attend performances of hula or Christmas events, live musical performances, or to be
able to hold meetings like that. And the few times that we do drive to South Side we are
primarily concerned about how early we have to leave the South Side to get home for fear that I
might fall asleep while driving. It really is a serious concern so we really would appreciate being
able to have a local facility that would allow us to meet with our neighbors and not have to
endure these long drives back and forth across the island.
We are all aware that Anaina Hou has agreed to all of the requests of the current
Kalihiwai Ridge Board of Directors which neighbors the Anaina Hou project. These requests,
their granting these requests shows just how serious they are about mitigating the potential noise
complaints and handling the migratory bird situation. Additionally the developer is doing this
out of his desire to benefit the community and not to profit from it. Porter should be commended
for this gift to our community. The opposition to this has suggested incorrectly that the
Kalihiwai Ridge residents are opposed to this. The primary opponents used to be on the Board
of the Kalihiwai Ridge Community Association until they were vote off the Board two or three
months ago with this very issue at the forefront of that action. They elected,the former Board
elected to sue on behalf of the Association without taking a formal poll or asking more than
approximately 25 residents what they wanted. The Association members received anonymous
letters that originated or were supported directly by the former KRCA Board advising us not to
support this. The prior Board made the decision to become a part of the intervener action in a
private executive session to engage a lawyer to sue on behalf of the Association against this
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project. So instead of being proactive and unbiased the Board, three of whom own property
adjoining the project just went after Anaina Hou and its founders rather than seeking out what
our 180 Association members wanted. Please vote to allow a Special Permit for this project.
Mr. Dahilig: Marge Dente.
Ms. Marge_Dente: Alohd,my name is Marge Dente. I live in the Waipouli Ahupua'a. I
don't live anywhere near this project. I am a lei maker, I live on Ag. land and yes I do have an
excise tax license and yes I do pay my taxes. I produce lei products for Kumu Hula and their
halaus. I want t thank you personally for having this hearing and I personally want to thank the
Porters. I am sorry I don't know you but it is wonderful to have this kind of benefactor in our
community. I have worked with many, many wealthy benefactors over the years helping to
develop performing art centers, very large farmer's markets, very large community centers and I
have been very much a part of this kind of thing. If this were on a different kind of zoned land I
would be completely supportive of it and I would use it as I am in the performing arts world
myself. And I am on the Board of Directors of KKCR Kauai Community Radio and we are
constantly looking for venues for meetings and for performances.
What I object to is a Special Use permit. I am very familiar with the fact that the County
no longer has any money to really monitor Special Use permits once they are admitted. I live in
an area where vacation transient rentals are illegally being run and there is nobody on the County
who can actually monitor them and they are very, very offensive. And in my particular case they
are very offensive. So this is a problem, the person who spoke before saying yes we have to
monitor the Porters. Yes, I hear there is tremendous integrity with the Porters, I am glad to hear
that and apparently the Porters have very deep pockets. I am very happy to hear that.
There is a major traffic problem that really hasn't been addressed. There is no crosswalk
that is really going to do the job. I myself travel 50.7niles an hour up and down that highway
right through that area, how is that going to be controlled? Obviously there is going to have to
be a traffic signal, who is going to pay for that? Obviously there is going to have to be more
crosswalks and can you imagine 200 cars arriving for a performance any night from the south or
from the east, the amount of traffic pile up on that highway is going to be unbelievable. It is an
accident waiting to happen, believe me. You folks must deal with that. I request that you deny
this petition because it is Special Use. It should not be Special Use. Concentrate your energy on
selectively changing the zoning in the entire island to upgrade because as someone said before
me the trends, they are changing so you as planners need to address the issue of selectively
changing zoning. No Special Permits, thank you.
Mr. Dahilil;: First up after the lunch break will be Mary Patterson, Eric Bronstein, and
Rebecca Anderson.
On motion made by Camilla Matsumoto and seconded by Jan Kimura, to defer for
lunch recess, motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
Executive Session: Pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 92-4, 92-5(a)(4) and
$ and Kauai County Charter Section 3.07E the Office of the County Attorne requests an
executive session with the Planning Commission to provide a briefing regarding legal issues
related to the implementation of Ordinance No. 904. This briefing and consultation involves the
consideration of the powers, duties, privileges, immunities and/or liabilities of the Planning
Commission as they relate to this agenda item.
Executive Session: Pursuant to Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 92-5(a)(2), the purpose
of this executive session is to discuss matters pertaining to the evaluation of the Planning
Director. This session pertains to the Planning Director's evaluation where consideration of
matters affecting privacy will be involved.
On motion made by Camilla Matsumoto and seconded by James Nishida, to go into
executive session, motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
Commission recessed for lunch at 12:07 p.m.
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30
Commission went into executive session at 12:10 p.m.
Commission adjourned the executive session at 1:31 p.m.
Meeting called back to order at 1:33 p.m.
Chair: We are still on the Anaina Hou application so we are going to be continuing with
the public testimony.
Mr. Dahilig: Mary Patterson followed by Eric Bronstein followed by Rebecca Anderson.
Unidentified Speaker: That woman over there said we could take her place. I will be real
brief First of all thank you very much for considering all this and your attention. I have noticed
how well you have listened to everybody. I want to just make two quick points, one is that I am
an actor and I don't really participate in theater very much because about 95% of the theatrical
productions take place in L-iiu`e and this would give a venue on the North Shore. Being an
actor,putting on a production involves a lot of rehearsals and it means back and forth, back and
forth. Having a venue like this on the North Shore would give people with acting interests a
chance to have a local venue. The other point I wanted to make is Merrin and I would like to
create a value added product from our produce that we produce on our property, we have two
ideas. At this point we have no real viable place to produce that commercial kitchen and this
would be a great boon. And I just think this is an incredible gift being offered to the community
of Kauai and I think if we pass it up we are making a really large mistake,thank you.
Ms. Merrin O'Ryan: I am Merrin O'Ryan from Kilauea area near Moloa`a and I just
wanted to say my thanks to the Porters for offering this incredible gift to our community. It is a
once in probably forever opportunity to have a wonderful facility built that will really benefit so
many people. Thank you for listening, I don't want to take up any more time but I really
appreciate everyone coming to the hearing, aloha.
Mr. Dahilil;: Eric Bronstein followed by Rebecca Anderson followed by Beryl Blaich.
Eric Bronstein,Beryl Blaich?
Ms. Betel Blaich: Aloha Chairman Texeira and members of the Planning Commission.
Thank you very, very much for your patient attention. I am testifying today as an individual and
I strongly opposed these permits and this project at this site. Although I do live across the street
quite nearby my reason is not the certain impacts, my reason for objecting to this project is
simply that the County Open Zone and the State Agricultural District is just not suitable for this
pretty substantial commercial auditorium and events facility. And this is really appropriately the
Open Zone, I mean a stream is bordering it, it is a drainage basin, it is a sloping area even though
there has been tremendous site work in the past to try and make it usable and level. I know that
there are lots of my friends and fellow environmentalists here and it is hard when you see
something that is so attractive not to kind of think oh well, it is okay. But really we spend a lot
of our time saying we need to keep things out of drainage basins, we need to protest streams that
are going to flow into Class A waters as the Pu`u Kumu Stream does at Kalihiwai and Kaupea.
The allowed uses in the Open Zone usually accommodate a small number of people
relatively and they are quite in-permanent and they are small in scale and they kind of have
minimal use of impervious surfaces. Those are things like day-use areas, private recreation; I
don't think that means parties, and camp grounds and single family homes. This parcel has some
really interesting planning history and if you have lived in Kilauea as long as I have, many have
lived so much longer, you have seen many, many wants and wishes imposed on this. But kind of
a cool thing happened and one thing is that the County Council and the County Planning
Commission, when this was up zoned said if this is not utilized as a Light Industrial Commercial
it must revert to the Open and Ag. zone and that is what happened.
And another cool thing is that the County invested in the Kilauea Town Plan and brought
in really ace planners, a lot of community input, and what that said is you must down zone this
parcel because if you don't you are inviting urban sprawl, urban commercial sprawl all along the
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31
Kuhi`o Highway. Because it will create not so much even a precedence but an economic
incentive for all the neighbors, especially the new guys across the street who are wanting to
subdivide to see their properties as not just agricultural but as something that has potential
commercial. The greenhouses and the nursery,those are very good uses, I am like everybody
else on the North Shore, I am really, really missing the movie theater but land use planning and
regulation is not about wishes, it is not about majority rule, it is not even about wonderful
enthusiastic and good neighbors. It is about land use suitability and this parcel is unsuitable for
the proposed use, thank you so much.
Mr. Dahilig: Dan Bonow followed by Gary Pacheco followed by Hope Kalai. Dan
Bonow, Gary Pacheco.
Mr. Gary Pacheco: Planning Commissioners, thank you for the opportunity to come
before you. I am a lifetime resident of Kilauea, I have lived there all my life. I have seen the
area change from the plantation to what it is now. I am very active with the community with the
non-profit area and something this pavilion and certified kitchen in the area that they plan to
develop will be a great asset for the community because right now if you want to hold a
fundraiser it is hard, you have to go bouncing all over the place trying to get some place to do
your fundraising. With something like this right in our backyard it will be much easier for us to
conduct these fundraisers. The meetings, if you want to go to the neighborhood center for
meetings it is always in use, you would have to meet in the patio in the back or some other place
because that little building is always in use. The community really makes use of the community
center. So with this at least you have an opportunity to go somewhere else.
As Dan Shook stated before a lot of the people that are against this development, they
bought into Kalihiwai Ridge which was an agricultural subdivision. And I can almost be certain
that most of them are not doing agriculture so why are they so concerned about one little piece of
agriculture? The areas that they bought they are supposed to be doing Ag. and why aren't they
doing it if they were so concerned about agriculture? I feel that this will benefit the community
and like I say I am a lifetime resident of Kilauea and I think that we will profit from something
like this and I hope that you vote yes and have this thing done, thank you.
Mr. Dahilig: Hope Kalai followed by Betty Dux followed by Kumu Kehaulani Kekua.
Ms. Hope Kalai: Good afternoon, my name is Hope Kalai and I am a farmer and a
mother and a grandmother. I had things I was going to say but most everybody has covered
them already. We live in Moloa`a and we have been having growing pains, these are growing
pains, we are changing and people don't like it and people want it and some people don't.
Moloa`a has had live music events for the past decade on Ag. land, on a farm, and in one of the
last musical events there were a lot of tickets written, parking tickets, and we actually had
farmers ticketed for having red dirt on their cars. We have a need in the Kilauea area for live
music, a place for Ho`ikes, for plays, for kids to perform, we have an unmet need and I don't
want to see anybody else ticketed or arrested for parking or trying to hold music. We need to
have a place like this somewhere. So we had some folks who have the ability to provide this
need come to our Community Association and ask what do you guys need in your community?
And I honestly didn't know that our kids suffered from putt-putt deficiency but it is
working. I didn't think putt-putt golf would really work in Kilauea but it is. I didn't think the
hike/bike path would work but it is. So it is there. We need a place for our children to be able to
enjoy music, hula, whatever that is not a bar and right now music is in bars and that is not right.
So our community is changing, we do need a site like this, if this isn't the place lets figure out
what is an make it work. But I am really offended by seeing the word"teens"on a bulletin board
with bad stress around it, we have children at risk that we need to deal with,we need to provide
for them and not fence them out with gates. We need to give them something beneficial to do,
not tell them where they cannot be after a certain time. We need to show them family friendly
events, not exclusionary tactics. I don't like fingers being pointed and people being called names
that are trying to help our community. I think there is a better way that we as a community can
deal with this situation than calling people names and trying to exclude our children. That to me
was a really...it really upset me. Teens are a different critter, let's face it they are hormonal;
they have way different world realities than a lot of us do but that doesn't mean we need to just
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exclude them, We need to give them beneficial family friendly events. Thank you for your time
and going through the growing pains of the Kilauea area.
Mr. Dahilig: Betty Dux followed by Kumu Kehaulani Kekua and Kathy Butler.
Ms. Betty Jo Dux: I am Betty Jo Dux. I have lived on Kauai for 40 years. I know that
there is a lot of people with big money here who seek more development and immediate
gratification. I speak for the thousands of kids who can't be here and speak for themselves.
What I hope is that when you make your decision you think or you don't think of the dollar
signs, you think of the children and you think of the future of Kauai, that is my voice,thank
you.
Mr. Dahilig: Kumu Kehaulani Kekua, Cathy Butler followed by Sandra Herndon.
Ms. Kehaulani Kekua: Aloha(speaking Hawaiian). Aloha Chairman Texeira and
members of the Planning Commission. Thank you very much for this opportunity to listen to all
of us today. My name is Kehaulani Kekua and I am the Kumu Hula of Halau(inaudible). We
are not popularly known throughout the community however we are the longest standing cultural
practicing traditional hula school on the island that was established in 1945. 1 come here as a
native Hawaiian, as a Kumu Hula, and as a keike o ka aina,born and raised on Kauai and my
family has been here for thousands of years. I also sit before you in this room as a minority in
my own homeland. And I am here to express my strong support for the approval of a Special
Use permit to allow for the Kilauea Pavilion to be constructed and developed.
Our Halau is based in Kilauea, I teach classes at the Kilauea Parish Hall and our Halau is
one of the smaller Halaus on Kauai. There is no facility on the North Shore of Kauai where I
can actually bring all of my students together under one roof in the same room. As a traditional
Hawaiian cultural practitioner, for me, my understanding of hula and (inaudible) as a cultural
practice is not as an entertainment form, it is a spiritual practice as part of...it is part of my own
spiritual beliefs of which engaging with nature is primordial and of utmost importance. So there
are so many things that I want to speak to about this particular project but what I feel needs my
mano and my ike is to try and dispel the fear that having an outdoor gathering space is not a good
thing.
Agriculture has many aho, it has many threads that reach out into the community. And at
the very basis of agriculture is the need to understand what we do to plant things, what we do to
nourish it, and what we do to enable these things to grow. You cannot do that without culture.
And so I strongly urge you to approve the Special Use permit, we need a place to gather, we
need a place for our families to come together for positive purposes. And with that I thank all of
you and I thank the Porters for their generosity. There is a higher law at stake here and that is the
law of aloha and respect and aloha aina, mahalo nui.
Mr. DahiliQ: Cathy Butler followed by Sandia Herdon followed by Aikane Alapai.
Mr. Aikane Alapai: Aloha mai kako, my name is Aikane Alapai. I was born and raised
in the Hale Lea District, Hanalei, Kilauea, and the whole North Shore of Kauai. Here I
represent(inaudible), Kumu Kehaulani Kekua is my Kumu. I support this pavilion whole
heartedly and I wish for you to allow this for the community because it is projects like this that I
became a part of hula that I came off the kalohe path. This is important for Kauai. This is
important for the North Shore. Like Kumu Kehau said we are a minority. The naysayers don't
even know what minority is. I am a native Hawaiian Kama`aina to this land. I know what it
feels like to not our voices heard so this issue is minor. Noise pollution, I also have an ear
problem and I am just so grateful that I can hear the ocean from my home.
About the Shearwaters, (speaking Hawaiian) is my ancestors. I cannot say that the
Porters did not try to Malama the Hawaiian people, the community of Kilauea. I cannot say that
because it is not true, they have. And their vision and goal is for the betterment of the
community. About the Shearwaters, I guess somebody created something called a fly zone
where the Shearwaters fly from A to B through this certain zone,that is ridiculous. We teach our
children in Halau and through ancient observation as well as chant profiling. There is a simple
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chant and it goes (speaking Hawaiian) and what that means is that the birds fly above wherever
they please. I strongly support this,mahalo nui to the Chair and to this Commission(speaking
Hawaiian),mahalo nui.
Mr. Dahilia: Tsajon Von Lixfeiid followed by Tek Nickerson followed by Sharon
Goodwin.
Mr. Tsajon Von Lixfeid: Aloha, I came to this beautiful island 20 years ago in time for
Iniki and I witnessed something that I had never seen before and that is how people come
together in a community. The aloha spirit was just amazing. Now I see once again there is aloha
spirit happening here in the Kilauea community. I see people coming together for something
they really want and they feel really is important to their community. We have heard a lot
talking points from the opposition,we have a heard a lot of legalese but I didn't see a lot of aloha
from the opposition. The Aloha came from those who support this project because they are
passionate about it. This project will not only provide a place for non-profit organizations and
civic organizations but should we ever God forbid have another hurricane as disastrous as Iniki
we need a place like this and a kitchen that can serve the community in a time of crisis and
emergency. No one has brought that up and I think that is important.
I own the Lotus Gallery in Kilauea. I am a past President of the Rotary Club of Hanalei
Bay and I have had a lot of experience with grants and with generosity. I don't see any of the
members of this opposition in a non-profit charity organization like Rotary. I think that Mr.
Porter brings a heightened sense of consciousness to all of us and we should see that above all
that this is bringing the community together in a way that only Iniki had done before. This
project I believe will have profound positive effect on the Kilauea community,thank you.
Mr.Dahilia: Tek Nickerson followed by Sharon Goodwin followed by Ann Eu.
Mr. Tek Nickerson: Aloha gentlemen. I oppose the proposal to grant a Special Use
permit. I would probably support a zoning change following legal procedure. I am a
homeowner in Kapa`a and an Environmental Land Use Planner. I truly admire the Porters and
what they have created and supported and I am very grateful to them however their character and
track record is totally irrelevant. What is relevant is that their proposal is premature. If the
pavilion is approved it must comply with the code on the books. Granting a Special Use permit
of this nature would be illegal and it will invite court action. Special Use permits were not
invented as away to circumvent the objectives of zoning law. This is what the Hawaii Supreme
Court ruled in 1982 when it overturned the nearly identical case of Neighborhood Board No. 24
vs. State Land Use Commission,the Oahu Corporation,and the City and County of Honolulu
Planning Commission. The Supreme Court ruled that the Planning Commission and the Land
Use Commission were in error when they granted a Special Use permit to a developer wishing to
build an outdoor amphitheater, an indoor theater and other amusements on agricultural land.
Sound familiar?
My greatest concern is that the procedure would open pandora's box to other applications
for a Special Permit. As you know there are proposals scheduled for your consideration to allow
90 acres adjacent to the Kapa`a Intermediate School to be developed for hundreds of residential
homes by Three Stooges,Inc. I also found this proposal to break or circumvent the law to be
similar to how the Superferry was rammed down our throats. Governor Lingle learned the hard
way that there are consequences. Now is the time for integrity to return to all decisions made by
public officials. The major decision makers on this issue before us must realize that if we don't
like the code we can change it but we don't break the code,thank you for your thoughtful
consideration.
Mr. Dahilig: Sharon Goodwin followed by Ann Eu followed by Sally Hopkins.
Ms. Sharon Goodwin: Aloha Commissioner and other Commissioners and audience.
Why am I here? I am going to speak to the preservation of the rural character and the fragile
beauty of Kauai. I oppose the granting of the Special Use permit sought by the developers of
the Anaina Hou Kilauea Pavilion. I believe that granting a permit for a commercial venture on
State designated Ag. land sets a precedence that will encourage;similar development on Ag.
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April 12,2011
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lands and I would like Ag. land to remain just that,Ag. land, incumbent with its rules and
regulations. Two weeks ago a 500 foot ship sailed into Nawiliwili Harbor that came from China,
it was named the Chow Mai. That ship came to collect quality scrap metal from our island to
take it back to China where it would be put to use. The ship had 5 holds and it was an
opportunity for a lot of people here to see all this stuff go away. Well, I asked by neighbor who
is a dock worker what happened because the ship did sail away about 3 nights ago. He said they
hardly got anything and I said why, we have scrap metal and he said there are rules and
regulations. They got shut down at night because the neighbors all complained it was too noisy.
What is going to happen if we have a pavilion and we have venues and people complain,
are the police going to come out and shut the venue down? Are they? Noises resulting from
future venues will adversely affect people. I know every time the kid two parcels over fires up
his dirt bike, I like the kid but the bike is really loud. Noise affects people,please consider that
when you make your decision. I would really love to see the rural character and beauty of our
island remain. And that is not to say I don't want Kilauea people and their lovely community
and the Hanalei community to have what they need, especially the kids who sat there,they were
wonderful. I want them to have what they need. Just don't put it on Ag. land,thank you very
much.
Mr. Dahilia: Ann Eu followed by Sally Hopkins followed by Michelle Hughes.
Ms. Michelle Hughes: Good afternoon Commissioners,my name is Michelle Hughes
and I actually came here today with a completely unbiased point of view about this. I do live in
Kilauea; I have lived there for 30 years. I am about a mile away makai of this applicant's
property. I had the pleasure of meeting Joan Porter recently and I knew immediately that she has
a huge heart and that she wants to do the right thing. However as a person who has sat in the
seat they are sitting in today and it is kind of nice to be here and not be in that hot seat I
understand that it is very, very important to have a balanced view point and I don't envy your
decision today. What I listened to all morning was a very,I thought was some impassioned
points of view from both pro and con and what I came away with was there needs to be balance,
there needs to be sensitivity,there needs to be a respect for the laws that exist. And there needs
to be in the final analysis a mitigation of the impacts of such a project and in mitigating the
impacts of the things that have been brought up today are extremely important. But the most
important that I think I heard was the noise and the traffic. I guess even the sewage was another
one.
I know that when you go and meet as a group, as Commissioners, as Planners, you are
going to consider all of these things. As far as having this opportunity I think it is an incredible
opportunity for all of us in the community but particularly on the North Shore to have generous
donors like this who are willing to give of their time and their money and to create this. Whether
it is at this point in the form in which it needs to be,that I would leave up to you but I would say
that the word of the say would be balance and perhaps compromise,thank you very much.
Mr. Dahz_'1ia: Our final speaker, Ken Taylor.
Mr. Ken Taylor: Chair,members of the Commission my name is Ken Taylor. I am not
here today to speak for or against this project. From what I hear it is a very good project and it
would be very beneficial to the community but I think we are going at it in the wrong way. I
think the property owner should be in for a zone change and then bring the project forward. I
don't think this is the proper venue to bring this project forward. It was mentioned earlier by one
of the speakers and I will just read a short paragraph but in the Supreme Court decision, Supreme
Court No. 7112,January 22, 1982,this paragraph goes on to say"Five organizations composed
of residents brought action in which they challenged the granting of a Special Permit for
construction of an amusement of 103 acres of land within an agricultural district. The Circuit
Court, City and County of Honolulu,Author S. K. Fong,upheld issuance of a permit and the
organization appealed. The Supreme Court,Lund, J.,held that the proposed use of the lands for
the amusement park which would consist of cultural theme rides, restaurants, fast food shops,
retail stores,exhibits,theaters, amphitheaters,banks,nurseries, and a 12 acre parking, sewer
treatment plant and other related support services was not an unusual and reasonable usb which
qualified for a Special Permit."
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Now when I read that I see exactly what we are talking about here and it is my belief,
strong belief, the proper way to move this forward is to deny it at this point in time,come back
for a rezone and then come forward with the project. And I think if you folks do your job as you
should you will realize that under the law it is pretty obvious that you have some hurdles to jump
over because you cannot, I don't believe, find that this is an unusual and reasonable use of the
land. It is pretty well spelled out. It has been upheld in the courts before. I don't have any
plans on challenging it in court but I get the feeling that it may happen and why put everybody
through the agony and expense when denying the Special Use permit now would allow the
applicant to come back for a rezone and then move forward in a proper manner,thank you.
Chair: This concludes the public testimony portion of this particular—I am sorry, we
have another speaker.
Ms. Cathy Butler: My name is Cathy Butler. I am a long time resident of Kilauea and I
live in Kalihiwai Ridge now. I have experienced a lot of events at Common Ground in the last
couple of years and I am just questioning the sound because over the last couple years I have
specific toasts from Common Ground which is twice as far away as the pavilion will be. I have
heard the words of toasts. I have thought about it,well is this acoustical sound or is it...these are
just like the crowd sounds, clapping, drumming. The main objection would be the hours and that
it is an outdoor amphitheater. From 10 in the morning until 10 at night or later from what I have
heard,we could have to listen to that. I could go live in Kapa`a next to a bar and probably hear, I
would only have to hear it at night.
So anyway there was...I mean I have been up until like 1:30 in the morning because of
events there and also called the police and had to break up, on our street on Kahili Holo after the
event or during the night. One was on Halloween night, 2009,people would come up our street
and hang out for hours and I would go out there, my husband said what are you,the security or
something? I would go out there in my car and turn my brights on and they would leave. About
1:15 in the morning a group didn't leave and I had to call the police. I don't know if they ever
came. So I am questioning being able to control these different things and feel it is really an
unreasonable use of this property. There was a circus on December 4th of this year and a friend
of mine went up and took readings of the decibel levels along Kahili Holo which is way farther
than the pavilion would be and all of them exceeded the 55 decibel limit and that is about 3 miles
away. I didn't know if you wanted to see this or not but at 6pm the decibels were 57,there are
different areas that the readings were taken. At 8:00 they were 66 which doesn't sound like a lot
but it is kind of like an earthquake where they rise,they are not just like a little bit more.
Anyway, another thing I wanted to, well that was my main concern and I thank you for listening.
Ms. Rebecca Anderson: Hi,my name is Rebecca Anderson and I work on the North
Shore and live on the North Shore with special needs children in the Kilauea School. I just
wanted to say that what I have seen in this room today and what I have heard throughout the
course is that there is a lot of community leaders who really want to come together to pull
different projects and to create bridges to expand our community and just to have that platform in
order to make those bridges with each other and to create something larger than themselves. I
am also hearing a lot of self preservation from the opponents and I don't really get it but I know
that is important but it seems to me that is the difference is wanting to expand and enrich our
community and wanting to self preserve in our neat little tiny social or personal areas. So
anyway I just want to say I am in support and thank you for your time.
Chair: This will be the last speaker.
Mr. Bob Butler: Hello, my name is Bob Butler and thank you for letting me speak at the
very end. I wanted to say that essentially this is a land use issue and you are our Planning
Commission and the decision we make here,you make here today, I don't think it should be in
the balance sheet method of a decision where you have so many pros on this side and so many
pros on this side, so many cons on this side, here are so many people for it and here are so many
people not for it because there are definite favorable benefits for the community for this sort of
development. I think there is a reason why it is zoned Open in the County level,there is a reason
it was zoned Ag. on the State level. And when a man named Big G bought this property and
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brought it before the Planning Commission to change the zoning years ago he did and it became
more valuable that way and then he sold it to someone else and they went on with their plans.
And then that was sold and they went on with their plans.
So in looking back at that I wanted to look forward a little bit and say we have a
marvelous benefactor here in Kauai, Kilauea,Mr. and Mrs. Porter and because of that there
doesn't need to be a profit motivation to this and so a lot is given, long term leases, Ag. leases.
If Mr. Porter looses interest or it passes to another section of the family or if it is sold are there
provisions to revoke a Use permit should you give it to them or does it just become running with
property and the new people to come in who many need to make a profit in order to run the
situation? It may change everything, the use may be similar but it may be completely different
and we just don't know that. So that was the one thing and I just hope you guys are...you are
here to make this decision, you are our Planning Commission and I just think it should be
weighed completely as you can with the law in mind and why this zoning is there with the
specialness of this property. Because when I came I wanted to change Kauai but what I found is
Kauai changed me and my plans were puny compared to what I saw and how I was accepted by
all the different people that were already here from all the different waves of immigration from
the sugar cane plantations to the previous. So continue, good luck and I hope you make a wise
decision.
Chair: As I just mentioned this concludes the public testimony portion. I would like to
sincerely thank all of you for coming here and spending most of the day giving your testimony.
It is not easy doing what you are doing, speaking publicly and with the passion that you have and
certainly we will take what you have said today under very serious consideration,thank you for
speaking out this morning and this afternoon. At this point I would like to ask if the
Commissioners if they have an questions they want to ask of Kaaina, the planner.
Mr. Nishida: Kaaina, Special permits run with the property and not with the applicant?
Staff: The determination has been made by the County Attorney's Office that all land
use permits, Special permits as well as zoning permits do run with the property and not with the
applicant, nor the business.
Mr. Nishida: When I read the conditions the use of the pavilion is for public purposes
there is not limitation other than the 10 o'clock and the decibel level so should this permit pass
into different people's hands because it is going to run with the land. So should it pass to
different people's hands it is a public use of the pavilion, it could be any use. Are there any
restrictions to the use of the pavilion other than as a pavilion?
Staff: In so far as...if you could give me a little more guidance on what you are asking
Commissioner Nishida.
Mr. Nishida: I guess just that,that as long as it was used as a pavilion or an outdoor
amphitheater the only limitations would be the 55 decibel limit and the, the 55 decibel
monitoring equipment and the gate and the 10 o'clock.
Staff. As far as what is recommended in the conditions of approval currently there is a
55 decibel level limit as well as hours of operation and the use of pavilion type uses or theater
type uses. In the event that this body accepts the recommendation and approves it under those
conditions the applicant will have to meet those conditions there are other standards that would
also be imposed upon the use and/or structures by other County and State agencies as well in the
event that they ascertain building approval such as this Commission experienced today,
maximum occupancy pursuant to fire standards, things of that nature as well.
Mr. Nishida: Regarding that,the Water Department, the Fire Department, and the traffic
mitigation reviews are all completed?
Staff: That is correct.
Mr. Nishida: You have letters back from the normal agencies?
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37
Staff: Yes,those were transmitted back in June to the Commission.
Mr_Nishida: And all was okay?
Staff. There were some that brought out certain aspects that need to be further addressed
and follow up with those agencies particularly Public Works. It was to be reviewed and finalized
should the applicant reach building stage.
Mr. Nishida: You are talking about the Fire requirements for the structure and that kind
of thing?
Staff: Exactly, specific structural issues.
Mr. Nishida: The traffic mitigation, did State DOT, were there any traffic mitigation
measures?
Staff: The applicant actually when they submitted their traffic impact analysis report
they did that a couple of years ago and incorporated both Phase I and Phase 11. And so they
installed those improvements on the highway previous to even entertaining the second Phase of
the application. And in fact I am aware that State DOT did a secondary review and a third
review because it was brought up my many community members whether or not the traffic
impact analysis was accurate and DOT found that it was in fact accurate and had the appropriate
mitigation measures included
Mr. Nishida: So the mitigation measures as far as the traffic are already installed as far as
the TIA report for Phase I and Phase II?
Staff. Correct.
Ms. Matsumoto: You know in the conditions do they hours of operation have to be
stated?
Staff I believe they are stated.
Ms. Matsumoto: I'm sorry, I might be looking at the wrong place,I don't see that.
Staff. Right now the recommended condition of approval has it closing at I Opm and that
was specifically taken from the settlement agreement between the applicant, the intervener, and
the County of Kauai Planning Department.
Ms. Matsumoto: I see the l Opm but what time does it start?
Staff. Currently,that is correct Commissioner,there is no specific hour of operation that
they have to be required to open or at or should I say no earlier than.
Ms. Matsumoto: And then also the number of days per week.
Staff. Correct and under this, this would be 7 days a week.
Ms. Matsumoto: We are assuming that.
Staff Without any further restrictive conditions of approval or recommended conditions
of approval that is the interpretation the department would take.
Mr. Blake: What is going to happen after today relative to this issue? We have had this
public hearing, well let me back up. There have been recommendations that were made by the
department and now we have aired this whole matter over again and the public has had a chance
to speak pro and con. So what happens after today?
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38
Staff. Well that is the Commission's prerogative, they can take action today and the
department is advising taking action. You have specifically...
Mr. Blake: Is the department going to supplement, amend or do anything more relative
to the recommendation?
Mr. Dahilig: Nothing more Commissioner. Based on what we have heard from the
public testimony as well as what was enumerated throughout settlement agreement that was
agreed to by the legal interveners and party to this matter as well as the department and the
applicant we think that the settlement agreement still should be approved as a recommendation.
Mr. Blake: Are we bound by every single statement in that settlement agreement?
Mr. DahiIix No you are not.
Mr. Jung: I think just for clarification Commissioners,just so you know the public
hearing is closed so what happened was when the interveners go approved and they went into the
contested case the contested case was settled via the settlement agreement. So normally you
would get out of the contested case hearing a recommendation from the hearings officer but now
because there is that settlement agreement, in effect, that becomes the recommendation. But you
guys still have the authority to approve, deny, or modify those conditions.
Ms. Matsumoto: I am looking at the diagram of the project and just logistically thinking
about for the commercial kitchen, is the kitchen on the right?
Staff. I believe it is located closer to the highway.
Ms. Matsumoto: So we don't see it.
Staff. Well it is within the complex it's self.
Ms. Matsumoto: I know it is inside the building but is it...it looks like it is to the right,
on the right side. So my question is you know when you are making things, you have products,
you have boxes, you have jars, you have materials that you need, your food, your ingredients. So
what is the plan to move all that in and out of the that building because I see on the map here, I
might be wrong, I see one door and is it going to be that one?
Staff At this point I will direct your question Commissioner to the applicant to go over
the details.
Chair: Would you like the applicant to point out the...?
Mr. Dahilig: I know we have the architect; he may be able to answer the question.
Mr. Mark Ventura: My name is Mark Ventura. I am the architect for the project.
Commissioner, this is a detailed floor plan of the facility here. I think you probably have that.
The certified kitchen is here, we have a double door entry which will be a loading dock area. We
also have an access point to a passageway that will get one into the kitchen facility. There are
actually 4 doors that get in and out of the place but the double door here is sort of the main
loading area. We anticipate that those types of operations will happen probably not during the
times of operating either movies or functions in the outdoor auditorium but there is an area here
that will provide for the loading and whatnot.
Ms. Matsumoto: I am not concerned about conflicting, using commercial kitchen
operations at that same time as an event but I just wanted to better understand the flow because
when I was looking at this I couldn't quite see that, thank you.
Mr. Ventura: Any more questions?
Ms. Matsumoto: Where are the double doors?
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39
Mr. Ventura: The double doors are right here in the picture so it is sort of off...just
adjacent. This is the porte-cochere and the entry area. It is designed for flexibility right now,
there are various areas,table top type areas to do various things, cooking and concession and
cleaning and whatnot.
Chair: Could I ask a question of Mr. Ventura, are there any plans for expansion at any
point?
Mr. Ventura: There are not, not at this time anyway, flexibility but not expansion.
Mr. Katayama: If there were changes to the footprint would that be covered under the
Special Use permit?
Staff. During say building permit approval there are certain changes such as Mark might
be eluding to, sometimes they will make changes like how many entrances they might have or
the doorways,that type of amendment is generally viewed by the department as a non-substantial
change that we do in-house. If there is any type of amendments proposed in which it will
increase the capacity of the facility then indeed something that at least under the current
recommendation for conditions of approval would require Planning Commission review and
approval for an amendment to the existing Use permit.
Mr. Katayama.-. Thank you. Do you know the nature of the LLC, is it a"for profit"?
Staff: It is not a 501-3C which is a non-profit so in so far as can it make a profit, indeed
it can. But we can have the applicant address that further if need.
Chair: Would you like the applicant to expand on that?
Mr. Kaplan: It is an LLC.
Mr. Katayama: What is the nature? ,Isn't it portrayed that it is serving a community
function for the benefit of the community? How is the governance of that corporation or the
company?
Mr. Kaplan: I don't really know how LLC's operate so I don't want to entertain that
question.
Mr. Nishida: Michael, as far as the operation of the outdoor amphitheater, do you expect
the amphitheater to run 7 days a week?
Mr. Kaplan: No I do not. I did say I believe one of the neighbors mentioned that I had
said that I wanted to use it as much as possible and the reason why I said that is because
obviously the more it is being used the more demand it is filling. But the second part of that
quote that I said was that I find it highly unlikely that it is going to be used especially for large
events, I mean for producers in the kitchen and movies that is probably more frequent. But to
have a big event at the pavilion I think would be highly infrequent,just that we are on the North
Shore of Kauai and as far as let say concerts go, we don't even get that many concerts that come
to L-1hu`e. So I don't think as far as like concerts go it would be very frequent at all. I think
most of the uses for this facility will be small community activities and I do still stand by my
statement that the more it is used the better but I don't think it is going to be used at least for the
outdoor venue or larges events, it will not be that frequent for large events.
Mr. Nishida: Would you be against restricting the use to the outside amphitheater for
concerts to the weekend, Friday and Saturday nights?
Mr. Kaplan: You mean just specific to the weekends?
Mr. Nishida: Yes. Well actually specific to concerts, amplified music concerts to Friday
and Saturday nights?
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40
Mr. Kaplan: I guess it would depend on how you defne a concert. If it is just Hawaiian
music on a Tuesday night is that considered a concert or is rock, like a band?
Mr.Nishida: I think any kind of...my question would be to any kind of amplified music
that would utilize the...I would say any kind of amplified music.
Mr. Kaplan I think the condition that we have settled with the Kalihiwai Ridge
Association is the decibel level at the property line and the reason behind that settlement was we
haven't decided what mitigation measures are going to be used. We did have a sound study that
was conducted. We were give some mitigation measures to look at,wing walls,berms, sizing of
the speakers, style of the speakers, all those different things. So the reason why we didn't want
to commit to any specific types of those mitigation measures is because we are not sure, we just
have a conceptual floor plan so we are still in that...we are not going to go through with all those
studies if the permit isn't given. So that is for mitigation measures. I think it is the same thing
for frequency, if we meet that level, 55 decibels; 55 decibels at the property line is less than what
the ambient noise level is the neighbor's homes. The neighbor's homes are at least, I don't know
the exact distance but they are not right at the property line,they are at least 500 feet past that.
So that was the whole reason behind putting in the decibel level limit at the property line.
Mr.Nishida: That is why you haven't included any of the mitigation measures on the
application is because you don't know what they are that are going to meet the 55 decibel level.
Mr. Kaplan: Right, so we are committing to that result. The result is 55,that is the
lowest level that the Department of Health allows at the property; that is the limit that is stated in
those health regulations. The other condition that we committed to is putting a sound monitoring
system at the property line that records it so we are going to know exactly what the measure it, it
is going to record it so there is evidence at what that level is so we can properly mitigate what the
noise is. Now if say we are over, I mean I believe we can meet these mitigation measures, or
meet the level with mitigation measures, I think that is no problem. There is a record if we go
over it and then we would have to say hey,look, we are going over that level;we need to take
new steps to meet that limit. So that is the reasoning for the decibel level. That is our result.
Mr.Nishida: So would and I guess this is a question for...so the berms,wing walls, all
of that kind of stuff was, well I don't know if it was proposed but was indicated in your sound
analysis of the property. But what you ended up with was the 55 decibel level,right?
Mr. Kaplan: That is correct.
Mr.Nishida: So Kaaina would plans, say win g walls and berms,would that require a
change to the Special Use permit?
Staff: It would depend on the proposal but say if a berm was proposed or specifically a
wing wall and it wasn't in the plans existing today,right now before the Commission, indeed we
would administer that in house or say within the department. As a wing wall or a berm it would
not allow for further or intensified use,further intensified use of the property.
Mr.Nishida: Because it would be used to comply with the requirements.
Staff. With toe 55 decibel, correct.
Mr. Nishida: That is why you are saying you don't want to commit to reduced usage, at
the 55 decibel level it will mitigate any concerns by the neighbors. I think most people are
saying,you are talking about crowd noise and everything too.
Mr. Kaplan: 55 is everything.
Mr. Nishida: And what you plan on is mitigating to that 55 decibel level and if you
cannot implement, so what happens if your sound engineer says I cannot do it at that 55 decibel
level or do you know pretty much that you can?
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41
Mr. Kaplan: Based on the sound study,we do have an acoustical engineer that is on
board, I think I forgot to mention that, D.L. Adams out of 0`ahu and we have been working with
them for a number of years. So the few things they are going to do is help us design this for
proper acoustics but that will also help mitigate noise propagation. We actually conducted a
sound study,I am not sure if you guys have reviewed it but the sound study gave us specific
mitigation measures that we are looking at, the ones we are talking about, wing walls, berms, and
they did say in the study that if we have some of those mitigation measures we can reach 55 at t
the property line.
Chair: Anybody else?
Mr. Kimura: Kaaina, from March 31, 1986 this zoned Limited Industrial, am I correct?
Staff: Correct.
Mr. Kimura: On January 26, 2010, the County rezoned it back to Open/Ag.
Staff: Correct.
Mr. Kimura: On June 8, 2010 the applicant put an application in for this particular
proposal.
Staff. Right.
Mr. Kimura: So basically from Light Industrial to Open/Ag. it has been what, 2 months
before they put the application in? It was zoned Open/Ag. for 2 months before they put the
application in.
Staff: To be specific the applicant put the application in for the pavilion about 2 to 2 and
a half years ago however given the nature of the zoning ordinance that zoned that particular part
of the lot to Industrial which limited or restricted tourist activities from occurring within the
industrial area the department informed the applicant that they could not submit that portion of
the application for the pavilion until the rezoning took place. And so they had to wait until the
rezone so shortly thereafter the rezone took place the applicant did submit the Phase 11 portion of
the application.
Mr. Blake: You are going to have these static sound sensors on the boundaries. How
soon after it registers in excess of 55 do you take action?
Mr. Kaplan: I believe we would have to take action immediately because that is going
over the condition.
Mr. Blake: If in fact you can't control the crowd noise are you going to precede the
performance with please don't clap or don't clap loud, waive your hands in the air instead of
clapping?
Mr. Kaplan: The sound study that was conducted factored in 250 people at this event that
they were having,theoretical event so I believe it was 125 men and 125 women,that was the
study. So again in talking about the frequency of events I don't think that...maybe once a month
if that, I don't want to speculate but how many times are there 250 people gathering for a
concern at a given time. I think it would be very infrequent.
Mr. Blake: If that is the case that is well and good. But then what you are asking the
people who are concerned about noise, crowd noise or any other kind of noise is we can't
mitigate it 12 times a year, it is just going to happen and we are asking you to just bear with us.
Mr. Kaplan: I guess we can make some announcements then.
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42
Mr. Blake: You have the 250 and then you have the outdoor seating which will
accommodate more people, right?
Mr. Kaplan: Well it is going to be a grassy, yes, like a grassy are so it is possible.
Mr. Blake: I think it is a legitimate concern, peace and tranquility on Kauai is highly
valued asset.
Mr. Kaplan: I think Commissioner, one thing I did just think of, I believe I don't have
Chapter 46 in front of me right now but I believe the rule does say that it is...so 55, it is like 90%
of the time and if it goes over that it has to come down within a...it adjusts for fluctuation. So it
is not saying, it obviously recognizes that noise is not going to be straight 55 decibels, there are
ups and downs and there is going to be crowd noise. Again I don't have that Chapter in front of
me but I think it does sort of account for those fluctuations be it crowd noise or some other spike
like a tractor trailer driving by on the highway or something like that.
Mr. Dahilig: Commissioner Blake, I think also when we evaluated paragraph 10 with
concern to the 55 decibel issue and how do we enforce this notion of exceeding the 55 level, I
many make a suggestion to the Commission that we add to the condition that besides the KRCA
the Planning Department shall also have access to the recorded sound decibel information from
the sensors within 24 hours. And the reason why I am recommending this is because we are not
trying to supplant ourselves as the Police Department or supplant ourselves as the Health
Department. But I think for the purposes of use and in hearing you, Commissioner Blake, you
also want us to make sure that if this is granted the noise that is produced by the use is also
monitored and if not then this use permit shall be enforced accordingly. And I think the
fortunate thing about having a requirement of having these senses installed is that you actually
do have real time recorded information rather than having to send a police officer or have
somebody else that stands at the property line with a decibel meter and say okay, what is this.
This is in essence a video camera for surveillance, another kind of method so we trust that this
stuff won't be tampered with. I think what is helpful. is that we do have access to this after the
fact, if we get complaints we can ask for this information from the sound engineers from the
sound system and issue a cease and desist order and zoning compliance issues accordingly.
Mr. Blake: Good. One of the testimonies that was given talked about balance and when
I think about mitigation that means it is already happening. At first it is here, then it goes up to
here, then we mitigate it down again. And so I think mitigation is im ortant and I think that we
all live in a society that is a growing dynamic society so there are things we have to put up with
because we live side by side. But to me I would like to see the least amount of mitigation
necessary so that it doesn't go up to here,we slap you on the wrist this hard, it goes higher, and
we slap you harder because the people that prize peace and tranquility have to be considerate
also. That may not be the final determining factor but it is still an important aspect of the whole
equation. And that is why I sympathize with that concern and I think that the other statement
about us living here because we choose to, we choose to live here for many different reasons and
one of them is peace and tranquility to the extent possible,to the extent reasonably possible.
Ms. Matsumoto: In condition No. 9 how was the 10 o'clock time determined?
Staff: That was specifically come to an agreement between the intervener, the
Association, the applicant Anaina Hou, as well as with the Planning Department.
Mr. Raco: Michael, with the comments that Commissioner has just said regarding the
mitigation process what else can you or Mr. Porter bring to the table to guarantee the
homeowners that are bordering your property and your project that they can rest assured that
noise will be mitigated? Once you make that noise they are going to hear it and it is never
coming back. Is there anything else that you are willing to do?
Mr. Kaplan: Besides the actual limit?
Mr. Raco: Yes.
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43
Mr. Kaplan: Are there other suggestions?
Mr. Raco: I am asking you.
Mr. Kaplan: Well we are going to put in the mitigation measures that are necessary to
reach that limit but besides that actual limit I am not quite sure what those other options would
be but I would be happy to evaluate them.
Mr. Raco: The other option would be to cease and desist the outdoor amphitheater if the
noise or mitigation levels are not per the levels of the Kilauea Ridge.
Mr. Kaplan: We plan to meet that condition. We put that in place because we
understand one,just what Mr. Blake is saying, that is a concern. We never came into this project
that we wanted to play loud music every night and disturb our neighbors, that was never the
intention of this project. We want to make everyone happy and meet that condition so we plan
on meeting that condition. That is why we put it in there. We also agreed to that condition
because we feel we can meet that condition in a reasonable manner.
Mr. Raco: But in a real world scenario you would have mitigations,the homeowners are
not leaving their houses, they are not going anywhere. But with the mitigation going over and
over and over and over,these conditions to me as I read it right now does not give any
justification or any water because they will still have to put up with your mitigation. So what
else can you do to guarantee they will have their peace and tranquility?
Mr. Kaplan: I guess I don't quite understand because I think 55 is the level that we are
going to meet.
Mr. Raco: So if you go over that and you go over that in a period of 10 years of this
project and in the 10 years they are living there it goes over 20 times,when does the mitigation
stop and where does the line end?
Mr. Dahilig: Commissioner, I think we like to have a real test case scenario out there if
we maybe had the structure already built but what we don't have right now are these scenarios,
these hypothetical that are done by a sound engineer and the 55 decibel level is something that I
think is actually more of an umbrella threshold versus a specific mitigation type of threshold. If
it means they have to plant Nawiliwili trees around the amphitheater or if they have to build the
berms higher of even if they have to go as far as to partially enclose the amphitheater,they have
to do whatever they need to do to meet that 55 decibel level. If they don't then it becomes
incumbent on the department to then ask the Commission to issue an order to show cause why
they cannot meet the 55 decibel limit. And it would be our recommendation at that point if
nothing works then to say you are going to lose that pondition in your permit to operate that
outdoor amphitheater and you need to abandon use for it. That would be the appropriate action.
Mr. Raco: I wouldn't argue with that Director but what I am saying is that what you just
said is not part of a condition or not in a condition right now. And if the department, as the
Commissioner asked, if these conditions are done then what you just said is not inhere. So
would that be added or revised?
Mr. Dahilig: I would find it difficult to ask through a condition the applicant to already
commit to an order to show cause type of situation without some form of investigation or due
process.
Mr. Raco: Right and that is the due process I guess I am asking the applicant that in a
case of any mitigations what do the homeowners that surround their property have or guarantee
that after mitigation after mitigation and after resolvement, resolvement, resolve...after so many
times or so many years what protection does that property owner next to them have other than
for the department to cease and desist order?
Mr. Dahilig The other options is they can go to the police and they can ask the police to
come in, they can ask the Department of Health. But if we are looking at it from a permitting
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44
standpoint it becomes an enforcement standpoint, it becomes an enforcement situation for the
department. After evaluating whether 55 decibels was appropriate before we signed off on the
settlement agreement it was explained to us that that is a threshold that is scientifically created
based on ambient noise and by thresholds for the Department of Health and the Police
Department. And so it is something that is allowable by law, 55 decibels, and if they are in
excess of that, again, this becomes...we are not supplanting ourselves as the Health Department,
we are not supplanting ourselves as the Police Department. But if they cannot control that use
to meet that threshold then it becomes incumbent on the department to begin its enforcement
activities as we are with any other permit and say that you either have to fix this now or you have
to cut it out.
Ms. Matsumoto: I have in my notes here about the noise. I put down logistics and I am
going to assume that you are going to have a scheduler to plan your events and whatnot, a
scheduler is an expert and they are going to, they might not be 100% accurate but you can
predict which events are going to be well attended, which ones are going to be a smaller event. I
would like to, I don't know if we can put this in the conditions but encourage...
Mr. Kaplan: Sorry to interrupt but condition 11 is addressing that.
Ms. Matsumoto: Sort of. My point is as a way to keep the peace in the community is to
make sure that you, let me just say it really straight, make sure that you don't schedule those
kinds of loud events on a weeknight for example, that is just going to drive everybody crazy,that
you honor that. You create your schedule so that it is going to keep the peace in the community
and that is just a simple thing. You can do that through your scheduling. That is going to be
another way for you to work with the community. So I don't know, we are talking about
conditions...
Mr. Raco: Chair, can I just ask Mike one more time. What did you hear today in
opposition to your project?
Mr. Kaplan: Noise.
Mr. Raco: So what can you do to mitigate the noise besides complying with the 55
decibel? What else can you do?
Mr. Kaplan: The hours of operation, 1 Opm.
Mr. Raco: 10pm, every night, Monday through Friday, Monday through Saturday, what
days?
Mr. Kaplan: It is any day.
Mr. Raco: So 7 days a week.
Mr. Kaplan: It is not going to be used 7 days a week but it could be one of those days.
Mr. Raco: I am asking you what would you propose then.
Chair: In other words 10 o'clock, 7 days a week.
Mr. Kaplan: Yes, there is no limit on the week days or weekends that it can or can't be
used.
Mr. Dahili2: So Mike, would you be adverse to having night time activities that go to 10
o'clock 3 to 4 days a week or limited only to weekends? Would the applicant be adverse to
having that as a condition?
Mr. Kaplan: The reason why I am adverse to it is because if we are meeting the
condition of the 55 decibels at the property line, let's say there is 20 people doing a hula
performance, I don't know what it would be but let's just say it is something small and we are
Planning Commission Minutes
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45
clearly meeting the condition which is 55. I think 55 is the biggest condition because if we are
below 55, 55 is like less than a conversation and that is at the property line and there are no
homes that are right at the property. So if you look at the sound study data I believe it is down to
like 49, 50, or 51 in that area of decibels once it actually reaches the houses and that is actually
less or equal to the ambient noise along with the highway and wind rustling through the trees and
all that. So that is the only reason I would be adverse to choosing that because that is the
ultimate goal that we have to meet and that is not going to impact the neighbors if we are at 55.
Mr. Raco: Is that the project goal,to meet 55 decibel,right?
Mr.Kaplan; Well not goal,we are legally binding ourselves to that.
Mr. Raco: Okay and that is fine but what I am trying to push you to do is constrain and
have borders on both sides so it will be a win/win situation. You have to understand that on this
project I see two amphitheaters, one inside and one outside,there are two of them. So in order
for you to get two you need to find some way as the applicant to find a win/win situation here.
And it seems to me that you are just saying I just want to comply with the 55 decibel and be open
7 days a week to 10 o'clock at night, am I correct?
Mr. Kaplan: No,I would want to confirm what the event is. I guess that would be thing.
Mr. Raco: I don't want to limit you on what the event is. I want to limit the sound and
concerns that we have been hearing from this morning to now about sound regardless of decibel
numbers. Sound is the issue here. That is why I asked you if you were listening this whole
entire time is that sound is what is dividing probably this community which is unfortunate and it
will be but you as the key holder need to find a win/win situation. So I am asking you what can
you propose or come up with to make it a win/win situation so everybody is happy.
Mr. Kaplan: We would be happy to come up with whatever it will be,we are fine with
that.
Mr. Raco: Which is what?
Mr. Kaplan: Just off the top of my head, sure we can...
Ms. Matsumoto: May I say something? On a very practical level, say if you have
somebody come to you and say I want to put on a concert and you know it is going to be a little
bit on the noisy side. You have two spaces, if I were a scheduler working for you I would say go
inside, do it on the inside not the outside and the person will accept the place or not. And that is
choosing for the community more than choosing for the entertainer. It is kind of a practical
solution to help keep the peace, it is sort of your guide.
Mr. Kaplan: I am in complete agreement. I want to reach that agreement I just didn't
have something prepared at what that number or frequency would be but I would be happy to
work with the Commission or the neighbors to determine what that number or value or frequency
would be. I am totally up to that, I think that is a great idea. Again the only reason I don't want
to commit to anything is I don't have that number off the top of my head.
Ms. Karen Tang. Hi Commissioners, my name is Karen Tang. I also work with the
owners on this project. I think what Mike was trying to get at and maybe why there is some of
the confusion in our conversation here today,we don't want to limit the number of activities that
can be happening if there is a need for it in the community. And say they are limited to certain
days, say weekends because what if something can open say a show or a play can only happen
on a Tuesday because that happens to be a holiday. So the two certain days is dangerous to the
program because that is limiting but maybe we could commit to a certain number which I think
is maybe what you are looking for in terms of number of nights per week rather than saying just
weekends or 3 to 4 days a week. Like Mr. Kaplan said I don't think there would be a situation
ever where there would be 7 days a week of activities outdoors so if you are looking for us to
commit to something like a limited number of days for outdoor amplified music or outdoor
activities in the amphitheater then I think that is absolutely something we can do. We just don't
Planning Commission Minutes
April 12,2011
46
want to say what days those are because what if it is New Years Eve and that is Wednesday
night? You see what I am saying, to commit to like say weekends to the actual number of times.
Mr. Raco: What you need to understand is you are asking us to come in for...you are
coming in for this permit.
Ms. Tang: Correct.
Mr. Raco: It is your responsibility to come into us and give us what your scenario would
be. We have had churches in here where they had a skate park and there were limited times
because they were surrounded by the community. And I am just asking for the same that you
need to come up with the proposal. You don't need me to tell you what I need to make sure...
Ms. Tang: Sure, I understand what you are saying.
Mr. Raco: You need to come to the table. We don't need you to tell what we would like
you need to tell us what you would like.
Mr. Kaplan: So I think the best thing that I would like to do is maybe if we could take a
10 minute recess so I could speak with the Porters so that way we could...I just don't want to
make a decision for everyone without conferring with the owners.
Commission recessed at 3:04 p.m.
Meeting called back to order at 3:14 p.m.
Chair: The applicant has some things he wants to inform us of.
Mr. Klan: Mahalo Commissioners for giving us that time. We did have some ideas I
just wanted to confer with the owners before I committed to anything. So a proposed condition
of use that we offer to the Commission is to have outdoor amplified music only on Thursdays,
Fridays, Saturdays, and holidays until 10 p.m. and on Sunday until 6 p.m. And we are still
subject to the 55 decibels and we would still have to meet that limit at the property line.
Chair: Any questions for the planner on that?
Mr. Raco: Thank you.
Chair: Last question.
Mr. Blake: You said the property slopes, it is at the highway level and then it slopes 25
feet down to Pu`u Kumu Stream. So the natural drainage would be down to Pu'1 I Kumu Stream,
it wouldn't go makai, correct?
Mr. Kaplan: Yes that is correct.
Mr. Blake: What kind of protections if any do you have against I think they call it non-
point source pollution?
Mr. Kaplan: Could you explain non-point source?
Mr. Blake: Stuff like oil dripping from cars in the parking lots and whatever flows
through the property that isn't natural? Do you have retention basins or anything?
Mr. Kaplan: A retention basin is currently on site. When we grated the property it was
factored in, all the drainage for the site was factored in or I should say factoring in this future
pavilion so the retention basis is sized for this phase well and that is including all the roads and
parking and structures as well. And that is currently in place on the site.
Mr. Blake: The retention basin will handle all of the developed portion of the project?
Planning Commission Minutes
April 12,2011
47
Mr. Kaplan: That is correct. Everything drains into to that retention basin.
Chair: Do you have...?
Mr. Kimura: I want to make a motion.
Ms. Matsumoto: I have a question.
Chair. You want to ask a question prior to the motion?
Ms. Matsumoto: Yes. Are we going to add what you said?
Mr. Dahil,ig„ Yes. I would suggest that if the Commission chooses to make a motion and
approve the Director's report and the application that paragraph 9 be amended to include the
limitations on days and times as stated by and consented to by the applicant as well as an
amendment to paragraph 10 that would include the County Planning Department as an also
authorized-accessor of the decibel information as recorded by the sound equipment.
Chair: I think we are kind of jumping the gun a little bit. The first thing we want to do is
we want to have the motion and what is that motion and do we want to amend the conditions, if
we want to do that. So the first thing is, is there a motion?
Mr. Raco: I just have one more question for the applicant that is probably not a form in a
condition. One of the testimonies and probably the last testimony that a neighbor brought up
was what is the long term ownership of the property that will incur that the landowner would not
sell out in having this plan? We never discussed that.
Mr. Kaplan: I can't say from my standpoint what the long term goal of the land is but
these conditions do run with the land so regardless in the fixture they still are subject to these
same conditions.
Chair: Let's go back again, does anybody want to entertain a motion?
Mr. Kimura: I make a motion, move to approve Use Permit U-2010-14, Special Permit
SP-2010-3, Class IV Zoning Permit Z-IV-2010-15, TMK: 5-2-017.028.
Ms. Matsumoto: Second.
Chair. Call for discussion, at this point we want to amend the original motion to include
the appl'icant's recommended condition change.
Mr. Jung: At this point Commissioner, given there is a motion to approve if you want to
amend any of the conditions to reflect what the applicant said as well as what the Planning
Director you can move to amend the staff report to reflect those.
Chair: I have to entertain a motion to amend.
Mr. Raco: So I would entertain to amend condition No. 9 and the condition reads, "The
applicant agrees that there will be no live music in the outdoor amphitheater after 10 p.m." and if
I could revise or maybe the planner has a crafted...?
Staff- We crafted a recommended condition of approval along the lines of what the
applicant testified to. Condition 9 would be amended to read"Amplified music venues to be
held in the outdoor amphitheater shall be restricted to 6 p.m. on Sundays 10 p.m. on the
following days, Thursdays,Fridays, Saturdays, and federally designated, State designated, and
County designated holidays."
Ms. Matsumoto: Second. State and County, what about federal?
Planning Commission Minutes
April 12,2011
48
Chair: All holidays.
Staff. Once again, federally designated, State designated, and County designated
holidays.
Chair: All those in favor say aye, opposed, so that condition has been included.
On motion made by Caven Raco and seconded by Camilla Matsumoto, to amend
Condition No. 9, motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
Chair: Do we have any other conditions that we wish to amend?
Mr. Dahilig: I would suggest that the Commission entertain amending the conditions to
include in the second paragraph in paragraph 10, after the third line that says "KRCA and the
County of Kauai Planning Department."
Mr. Blake: So moved.
Mr. Kimura: Second.
Chair: Any discussion on that amendment, all those in favor say aye, those opposed,
motion carried.
On motion made by Hartwell Blake and seconded by Jan Kimura, to amend the
second paragraph in paragraph No. 10, motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
Mr. Raco: I had one condition Chair, for explanation from the Director regarding
condition No. 1. If he could kind of justify it.
Mr. Dahilig: As eluded to earlier and based on the questions from Commissioner
Matsumoto regarding how the ebb and flow of people and deliveries would work with the
certified kitchen and then also Commissioner Katayama's questions regarding footprints, as we
move forward through the building design review there will be possibly changes that are
recommended in the course of fire compliance, building code compliance, etc. Right now we are
looking at architectural renderings that may not necessarily be appropriate for full building plan
review. And so what condition 1 is meant to do is at least give the department a little bit of
leeway to say that is a minor change, it doesn't expand the amount of use that is happening, it
doesn't expand on the footprint in a manner that exceeds the lot coverage issues. And also if
there are also things like adjustments based on the sound engineer's recommendations that they
want to make to the property we also would want to be able to have the flexibility to do that. So
that is where we would say if those types of changes are put through the design review process
then we would be able to handle it administratively. If they all of a sudden decide to put in a
4,000 seat amphitheater or 300 seat type of auditorium then that would be something that we
would bring back to the Commission for review.
Mr. Raco: I just kind of read that, I mean what you just said was a lot longer than what
that condition reads.
Mr. Dahilig: I try to be thorough.
Chair: Is it necessary to go ahead and review all the conditions so that we understand it
completely or are you fine with all of the, okay, I would like to go back to the main motion then.
Mr. Raco: I just have one more question regarding condition No. 7 on page 6 where the
owner, as I read that...
Chair: Page 4.
Mr. Raco: Yes, condition No. 7, "The applicant will meet the requirements of the
Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance with respect to parking, lot coverage and the like based on the
Planning Commission Minutes
April 12,2011
49
final plans verified...", excuse me, it is condition No. 15. Michael if you want to chime in
anytime please do so on this conditions. "The applicant shall appoint a liaison to meet regularly
with designated representative of the KRCA to discuss any concerns of KRCA members with
respect to operation concerns of the Kilauea Pavilion such as noise,traffic, and after hours
problems." Is that condition just to discuss? Shall we put"to resolve" or anything like that?
Isn't that the intent of that condition?
Mr. Dahilig: I think that is the condition, it is an easy identifiable first point of contact
between the Community Association and Anaina Hou, LLC.
Mr. Raco: So could I add"discuss and resolve any concerns from the KRCA"?
Mr. Dahilig: I think that is appropriate if you want to add the words "to discuss and
resolve".
Mr. Raco: And the only reason why I am saying that Michaelis to just give the KRCA
some foot in the door that they can come up to have the discussion but also have resolve.
Mr. Kaplan: Yes, that is fine.
Chair: So is the applicant fine with that?
Mr. Kaplan: Yes.
Staff: Actually, can I interject here for a second? I would like to confer either with the
Commission appointed attorney or the department attorney in that condition specifically because
does that mean resolution has to occur in order for the condition to be met and if so that could be
potentially problematic with enforcement.
Mr. Jung: I think with regard to condition 10 if the noise issue does not exceed 55 that
they wouldn't be non-compliant with the condition of the permit. But with regard to traffic it
becomes a little more questionable,traffic and after hour problems, if there are complaints. If
you maybe"attempt"to resolve, it is going to be difficult to fully resolve issues that may still be
up for debate. So the question is at what point does it come back for an order to show cause and
how would this Commission-
Mr.Mr. Raco: At this point I am hoping that the applicant does meet with the Association
and have some kind of resolve and I think that is the essence of that condition is, I mean
regardless of just trying to find a(inaudible).
Mr. Kaplan: We could put"make a reasonable effort to resolve".
Mr. Raco: Resolve, I want to resolve things, not"reasonable". I could give you a
"reasonable" approval.
Mr. Jung: Just so the Commissioners know that if something is not resolved then it could
be a potential violation of a condition of the permit.
Mr. Trask: Yes and I would just say that on behalf of the department if the applicant will
agree to that condition I think that might address any concerns. I think the question was posed if
they would agree and I think we should hear their answer.
Mr. Kaplan: Yes.
Mr. Raco: Yes to what?
Mr. Kaplan: We agree to the
Planning Commission Minutes
April 12,2011
50
Mr. Raco: To add the word"resolve"to condition No. 15 so I would motion to amend
the condition No. 15, "Applicant shall appoint a liaison to meeting regularly with the designated
representative of KRCA to discuss and resolve any concerns."
Mr. Kimura: Second.
Chair: Any discussion, all those in favor-
Mr. .
Mr. Nishida: I have a question. Resolve doesn't mean they can change the condition the
condition is set, right?
Mr. Trask: Yes.
Chair: All those in favor say aye,those opposed, motion carried.
On motion made by Caven Raco and seconded by Jan Kimura, to amend condition
No. 15, motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
Chair: We are back to the original motion, we had a motion to approve and seconded, is
there any discussion on that original motion? If not I am going to be calling for a roll call.
On motion made by Jan Kimura and seconded by Camilla Matsumoto, to approve
Z-IV-2010-15, U-2010-14, SP-2010-3, motion carried by the following roll call vote:
Ayes: Nishida, Blake, Kimura, Raco, Matsumoto, Katayama,
Texeira -7
Noes: None -0
Absent: None -0
Not voting: None -0
GENERAL BUSINESS MATTERS
Annual Report relating to Condition No. 5 from Jas. Glover for Use Permit U-92-36,
Special Permit SP 92-6 and Class IV Zoning Permit Z-IV-92-38, original applicant Grove Farm
Compggy, transferred to current permit holder=Jas. W. Glovers Ltd.
Staff Report pertaining to this matter.
Staff Planner Lisa Ellen Smith read staff report(on file).
Chair: Will the applicant please come forward. You have heard some of the information
provided by the planner, how do you feel about it, what is your opinion about that?
Mr. Walton Hon w. First of all, for the record my name is Walton Hong. I am
representing the applicant James Glover and with me is David Pierrie with James Glover, as well
as Jon Romanowski, the Vice President, in the back in case there are any questions. We received
a copy of the staff report. We really don't have any comments on it. I think it is...the status
report by James Glover was for information purposes only pursuant to a condition on the Special
Permit. We go along with it, what else can I say.
Chair: Do the Planning Commissioners have any questions of the applicant?
Mr. Hong: If you want I can make a short statement but I am not sure if it is necessary.
Chair: Why don't you go ahead and do that.
Mr. Hong: It may address some of the outstanding concerns. First of all, as indicated
Glover did submit on March 16, 2011 its annual report for 2011. This is consistent with the
condition of the original permit that we submit annual reports to the State Land Use Commission
as well as copies to the County Planning Commission. Subsequent to the submittal of the March
Planning Commission Minutes
April 12,2011
51
2010 report the Planning Commission requested a thorough review because there were certain
questions raised by the public and the Planning Commission said to the Planning Department, go
ahead and do a review to ensure permit compliance. On July 27th of last year the Planning
Commission received the report from the Planning Department on the review which read in
conclusion, and I am going to quote,"As request by the Planning Commission a review of the
permits issued was performed including a site visit by staff on July 22, 20109 and based on the
findings noted above and attached documentation of site conditions observed, it is concluded that
the existing use of the old quarry and start up operation at the new quarry are in compliance with
the conditions of the permits,Use Permit U-92-36, Special Permit SP-92-6, and Class IV Zoning
Permit Z-IV-92-38 issued in 1992."
The report then included the following recommendation, "Based on the foregoing it is
recommended that the Planning Commission receive the communication from Malama
Maha'ulepu for the record and no further action warranted. This motion was passed to accept
the staff report". The 2011 annual report that we was just filed about a month ago demonstrates
continued compliance with each and every condition of the permit over the period of the last
year. We would like to,both Glover as well as Grove Farm because I know Grove Farm is the
landowner,would like to commend the Planning Department and the Planning Commission over
the years for their efforts to facilitate commerce since as we know the quarry operations produce
some that is necessary for continuing improvements in this State,while protecting valuable
social and historical resources. When the original permit was issue in 1992 the State Land Use
Commission as well as the County of Kauai Planning Commission I think recognized that the
only way to protect Waiopili was through this permit which required reclamation of the old
quarry site when the quarry operations stopped.
The reason why I say this was the way to protect it is if there is no permit then there is
nothing to require reclamation of the area. These permit conditions were imposed after I think
very thorough thought and public input and is still a complete permit with those particular
conditions that have been met religiously if I can by Glover. Regulatory agency requirements
and the regular cost of business,annual reports, information requests,have all been diligently
submitted by the applicant Glover in a timely manner. And the rock processing operations in the
old quarry will be ending shortly, as you know we had a two year window. Once we started the
new quarry we had to shut down the old quarry within two years. It is going to be shut down in
August of this year, August 19th so we have about 4 more months in which we can stay at the
site. After the old quarry shut down then Grove Farm as they have agreed to do will undertake
the reclamation process as set forth in the conditions. As I said the conditions of the permit do
protect Waiopili and it has to remain intact and(inaudible). Other than that I would just thank
you for the opportunity to appear before you and if I can respond to any concerns that you may
have. I am not sure if there are any outstanding issues that any of the Commissioners wish to
address.
Chair: Thank you very much,Jimmy, would you like to speak on this?
Mr.Nishida: Regarding the grading and reclamation master plan,you have not
(inaudible)because I think what you are saying,just to go over the report, is that the public
hearing notice was given 2/16 or was held 2/16/95 so you complied with the public hearing
notice as far as the requirements of the Use Permit, is that right?
Mr. Hong: The requirement of the Use Permit is we had to develop a reclamation plan
and present it to the Land Use Commission and the County after public hearing. So we did have
the reclamation plan done. We did have a public hearing, and then pursuant it was presented to
those two agencies.
Mr.Nishida: And the reclamation, grading and reclamation master plan was approved
and will be implemented 8/19/2011, sometime after that.
Mr. Hong: Some time after that that is correct.
Mr.Nishida: Are you planning to have, do you represent Glover or Grove Farm?
Planning Commission Minutes
April 12,2011
52
Mr. Hong: Glover.
Mr. Nishida: So you cannot speak to whether they are going to have a public hearing
regarding the reclamation plan.
Mr. Hong: I can't speak for Grove Farm but I am not sure if a public hearing is necessary
since the reclamation plan was already approved at their public hearing and I believe it is still
enforce and effect.
Mr.Nishida: Question for the County Attorney.
Mr. Juna: Which condition are you looking at?
Mr.Nishida: I think what Walton is saying is correct. My question is...
Mr. Jung: There was no public hearing requirement for this particular item but if they did
hold a public hearing based on the basis what backed up the plan then that could satisfy this
condition as long as they implement the reclamation plan.
Mr.Nishida: So can we require a public meeting in addition at this time of Grove Farm
to go over the reclamation plan?
Mr. Jung: Unfortunately because this permit was issued back in 93 the only v(ay to
modify or amend an existing permit would be to show there was noncompliance with a
condition. So to get to the order to show cause point you have to have evidence that there was
some kind of violation of a condition which would then trigger the possibility to have the
Commission revoke, amend, or modify the permit.
Mr. Honiz: Let me comment,just a slight correction, the condition reads as follows also,
"The grading and reclamation master plan shall include both the proposed site and current quarry
site. The applicant shall schedule and hold a public meeting prior to the submittal of the
reclamation plan for the current quarry site", and that was done_
Mr.Nishida: Yes, I was talking about if we could get an additional meeting.
Mr. Hong: That would be up to Grove Farm.
Mr. Nishida: And then the second question, "The proposed quarry operation shall not
overlap the existing quarry operations beyond the two years from the date of commencement",
condition No. 9. So that is why you have responded and acknowledged the condition because
you are not going to proceed beyond August 19`"which is in just a few months.
Mr. Honz: That is correct.
Mr. Nishida: So all the operations,the scale house, everything is going to be gone. And
then you cannot address the reclamation plan because you are not Grove Farm.
Mr. Hong: That is correct.
Mr. Blake: On 4.a again, it says "The applicant shall schedule and hold a public
meeting". A public meeting was held in 19$0?
Staff. 95.
Mr. Blake: 1995, and we have the plan in the files.
Staff: Yes and a copy was additionally submitted per the request from Malama
Maha`ulepu last year, in July.
Planning Commission Minutes
April 12,201 I
53
Mr. Blake: We have no indication from Grove Farm that they are going to be any
changes to the reclamation plan?
Staff. We have not been notified of any changes in the accepted reclamation plan of 95
but there is a representative from Grove Farm here, I believe.
Mr. Blake: Is he next up?
Mr.Nishida: He is next up.
Mr.Blake: So any questions on the reclamation plan should be addressed to Grove Fann
then.
Chair: In the meantime, Canmie, do you have anything, Wayne, Hartwell, back to you
again.
Mr. Blake: The only question I have of Glover is Malama had asked for certain items of
information, documents. Have those been provided?
Mr. Hong: If I recall the items that needed addressing,first of all was a request for a site
visit that was done over and over again and for reasons we have elaborated on the site visit was
not possible because of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Safety Administrative Act. However
we were able to accommodate staff without to turn it into a public site visit requiring opening to
the public. We were able to accommodate staff in July of 2010 where they went out and they
looked at the site and they were satisfied generating the report, staff report of July 27,2010
which was accepted by the Commission. I think personally that is kind of flogging a dead horse
so to speak,we can't do anything because of the Federal laws as well as other laws,keeping in
mind that mining operations touch a lot of different agencies,not just State agencies. There is
the Department of Transportation, Alcohol/Tobacco,Firearms,Explosives, OSHA,Mine Safety
Health Administration, Department of Health Clean Water Branch,Department of Health Clean
Air Branch,these are just some of the agencies that we have to touch basis with that made it
impractical and very,very difficult to have a site visit by the Commission,by law it is supposed
to be open to the public. This was explained to members of the Planning Department prior to
their visit in great detail what the requirements are and very frankly I was surprised at the
strictness if you would like you have to be accompanied by a person who is has special training
on a one on one basis. You just can't tell the guy go and take a look at it. These are requirements
not set by us but by agencies beyond our control. So as I said I believe the request for a site visit
which I believe were made numerous requests were made by Malama Maha`ulepu in 2005, 2006,
and again in 2010,all resulting in the same ending, we can't do it
The second item was a copy of the agreement between Grove Farm and Glover and our
position is that this is a private business document between two private entities that I think of
necessity needs to be kept in confidence. The agreement does not cover only the quarry
operations it covers a lot more than just the quarry operations so we don't think it is relevant that
we have to provide a copy of this agreement. However we have stated numerous times for the
record and I will repeat it again, in so far as these two quarries are concerned this agreement does
provide that Glover must comply and satisfy all the conditions of the permit,no ifs,buts or
maybes. And then secondly,upon the closing of the quarry operations at the old quarry Grove
Farm has the obligation to implement the reclamation plan as presented to the State Land Use
Commission as the County. I think those are the two salient points and we will state again for
the record, it is in the agreement we make that representation.
The third item if I remember correctly addressing was a copy of the current NPDES
permit,they wanted to see a copy of it and very frankly there is no permit that is stamped and
issued. What we did is we applied for a permit and the Department of Health by letter told us
that they were administratively backed up so we are administratively extending that permit until
we can act on it. We have a letter in the file. If you recall at the July 27th meeting the planner
did submit this packet with supporting material and in that there is a thing that says "Department
of Health, CWB",which is the Clean Water Branch, "Extension of NPDES Permit". And the
letter if I may read it into the record states as follows,it is dated December 21, 2009 addressed to
Planning Commission Minutes
April 12,2011
54
Mr. Jon Romanowsky, Vice President, James W. Glover, Ltd. "Dear Mr. Romanowski, the
Department of Health Clean Water Branch is unable to complete the processing of the subject
renewal application prior to the permit expiration at midnight on December 31, 2009. Therefore,
in accordance with Hawaii Revised Statutes, Chapter 342.d.6(h), the DOH hereby
administratively extends the subject NPDES Permit until a final determination on your
application is made. The permittee shall not be held in violation of HRS 342.d and Hawaii
Administrative Rules, Chapter 11-54 and 11-55 during the pendency of this application so long
as it acts consistently with the permit presently granted. It is the permittee's responsibility to
ensure that anyone working under this administrative extension of the permit understands and
complies with the terms and conditions therein. Should you have any questions regarding the
processing of the application please contact Mr. Mark Tomomitsu of the Engineering section,
Sincerely, Alec Wong, Chief, Clean Water Branch."
They still have not acted on that presently. As far as we know, as far as we can represent
there have been no violations of this permit, all the conditions of the permit continue to be met so
we are okay on that. But I can't give you a letter that says here is a new permit but I think this
covers it. I think those are the points that I believe were outstanding to be addressed. If I missed
any please advise me and respond.
Mr. Blake: Are Kapuna Kea Pond and the un-named stream part of the reclamation plan?
Mr. Romanowski: I don't believe there is any specific reference to them.
Mr. Blake: They are located on the old quarry site?
Mr. Romanowski: From what information that we have based on...
Mr. Blake: I know when I was reading somewhere in here that the pond had been
drained.
Mr. Romanowski: Yes, that was actually in the staff report of July, 2010. That happened
some time probably in the 1950's when there was sugar farming irrigation and subsequent early
quarrying activities. There is no record of it as such.
Mr. Blake: Does of did or is Glover still utilizing the pond for any purpose?
Mr. Romanowski: No.
Mr. Blake: It just sits there dry.
Mr. Romanowski: It is within the buffer area around Waiopili, in wet times it gets
swampy, dry times it is dry.
Mr. Blake: Has the water been diverted from that unnamed stream totally or does it run
at certain times?
Mr. Romanowski: It may run, it is difficult to say when it rains, our water according to
our NPDES Permit our storm water is directed into the detentions basins so it would be directed
with the rest of the quarry or the rest of the storm water of the facility.
Mr. Blake. And when your operations end on August 10' you have no further authority
over the old quarry site?
Mr. Romanowski: No we don't, it will end at that time.
Mr. Blake: So if anybody wanted to visit the quarry site after the old quarry site, after
August 19`" is it still a matter of contacting all these other sister agencies?
Planning Commission Minutes
April 12,2011
55
Mr. Romanowski: I believe not. Most of the agencies are related to our current mining
and quarry operation,Mine, Safety and Health ADF so it would be up to the landowner
obviously.
Mr.Nishida: Do you file anything with; you are going to file something with the Federal
government regarding the closing of the site then.
Mr. Romanowski: That is correct. We will file a mine closure notice.
Chair: I would like to open this up to the public.
Mr. Nishida: No, the Grove Farm representative.
Chair: Grove Farm, you have a question for the Grove Farm rep.?
Mr. Nishida: Yes.
Chair: Thank you, would the Grove Farm rep. please come up.
Mr. Dave Hinazumi: Good afternoon Chair Texeira and members of the Commission,
my name is Dave Hinazumi and am here to represent Grove Farm.
Mr.Nishida: So Dave, when is the public meeting going to be held for Malama
Maha`ulepu to review the reclamation plan?
Mr. Hinazumi: Fortunately I believe Mr. Jung already reported that we have met that
condition.
Mr. Nishida: I think one of the things that I read, I don't know if I read the reclamation
plan correctly but the reclamation plan stated that there was significant destruction to the
historic,well,that when the permit prevue or whatever,the site was different from that Ching
had described earlier. So what the reclamation plans was going to do was take away or restore it
back to where that was some time after what was described in the historical documents. You are
just going to remove the (inaudible) and whatever fill that was put in, is that right? Or had some
other things you are going to do? You are not restoring the Heiau to the original description by I
think it was Ching or I am not sure, you are not restoring that, that is not part of the reclamation
plan.
Mr. Hinazumi: We are still in the process of reviewing the reclamation plan and
determining what the appropriate course of action is. I believe the, I am sorry I can't recall if it
was in the staff report but I thought there was some mention as far as what the baseline should be
because it said,the condition talks about the condition before we got this permit. I cannot give
you a clear answer right now, like I said we are still in the process of reviewing. That is a fairly
old document now so there is a lot of things we are still trying to get a better grasp as far as what
the cultural history was. We are working with Aunty Stella Burgess to get a good understanding
and see how we can properly implement the reclamation plan.
Mr. Nishida: So your calendar going forward is what? What is going to happen from
now until August, what is going to happen after August? What don't you know and what are you
not sure of?
Mr. Hinazumi: I am not sure if we can give you a firm timeline right now other than just
saying we are in the process. Through our office's discussions with Aunty Stella Burgess she
said you need to look at various historical documents, get all the information together. I couldn't
give you a timeline now. Certainly it is an urgent matter for us,as has been represented August
is when the quarry operation will close and then the obligation reverts back to Grove Farm to go
manage.
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April 12,201.1
56
Mr.Nishida: So at the 19th, in August, at the very least you are going to have the
beginnings of the plan in place so you can start the reclamation process whatever that process is
determined to be appropriate.
Mr. Hinazumi: Well my understanding is the plan is already in place.
Mr.Nishida: So how you are going to implement it and the timetable, you are still
working on it.
Mr. Hinazumi: Yes, we are still working on getting that developed and part of it is re-
vegetation, making sure we can get some appropriate plants in there. Obviously our goal is to
get native things back in there. Unfortunately I cannot commit to anything at this time but just to
let you know that we are working on it.
Mr. Nishida: So once that is set you are not planning any public informational meetings
or you are not at that point yet.
Mr. Hinazumi: No, we are not at thgt point yet.
Mr.Nishida: So question for the Director, is this something we can request if no public
is given, is that something we can request?
Mr. Dahilig: I don't have the new permit in front of me and this pertains to an old permit
that is not issued under our authority and so whether we have the leverage to actually request a
timeline in written form from Grove Farm is I would say difficult but it is something we can
request on behalf of the Commission. And if Gove Farm would like to respond then we can
handle it that way but again this is a LUC approval,the action before the Commission today is
really related to just accepting what is an LUC mandated transmittal. I don't think we are in a
situation where we can either condition approval on this or ask that as a mandatory measure to
the new permit because we don't have the new permit and that is not up for discussion today for
the new quarry whether we can ask for this. But it is something that I am sure the Grove Farm
representative hears is of concern for the Commission.
Mr. Nishida: Oh, because the permit ends when the quarry operation ends, the old quarry
permits...
Chair: Lisa, you wanted to comment?
Staff. There is only one permit that has been issued for the rock quarry.
Mr. Dahilig: I am saying that right now what I am saying is what is on discussion for the
table right now is not that permit and what I am saying is that if we were to ask as a requirement
for approval for this, for the old permit that is not even under our authority, it is not something
we can ask for as a condition of approval today. That is what I am saying.
Staff. I am only aware of one permit.
Mr. Nishida: So we cannot request to request.
Mr. Dahilig: You can request to request and we can definitely try to follow up and see
what we can do to try to get this information for you Commissioner but I don't think it is
something that we can dovetail in as a matter of today's approval which is only accepting as a
ministerial action what is the LUC's condition status report.
Mr. Nishida: Is the LUC condition another annual report next year and will that be
covering the reclamation plan?
Mr. Dahilig: My understanding is that once the permit is done, the permit is done.
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57
Mr. Nishida: So once they close the mine, that is with Grove Farm,the reclamation plan
is with Grove Farm because they are the ultimate permit holder.
Mr. Dahilig: Yes.
Mr. Nishida: But as far as the permit it is going to move to the new quarry operation.
Mr. Dahilig But again that is a separate issue because this is again an LUC approval.
What is before the Commission today is strictly the status report that is required to be submitted
to the Planning Commission.
Mr. Nishida: That is what I am asking so what is the status report going to cover?
Mr. Dahilig: It probably will cover those types of items.
Mr. Juna: I think the status report would cover the conditions of the permit because the
permit actually goes onto the next new site so once the site closes then that is when Grove Farm
kicks in to do the reclamation plan because the reclamation plan was birthed out of the LUC
approval.
Mr. Nishida: So will they require permits for the reclamation plan?
Mr. Jung,: That is something we would have to evaluate but I think because it came out of
the condition of the Special Permit, we will have to look at that but I think, Lisa Ellen, do you
know anything about how that would...?
Staff. I don't, I guess I am wrong. If there are two permits, I wasn't aware of that.
Mr. Jung: I think there is a bit of misunderstanding. As of right now there is one permit,
the reclamation plan generated was generated out of that one permit.
Mr. Nishida: There are two sites.
Mr. Dahilig: Two sites and so in terms of what our authority is, right now the old site is
strictly an LUC issue this pertains to the old site.
Mr. Nishida: And on August 19`h there will be only one site and then what you don't
know is whether the old site is still under that permit or not.
Mr. Dahilig: My understanding is right now there are not even activities going on at the
old site as I understand.
Staff. Yes there is.
Mr. Dahilig: There is, okay I guess I misheard, until August, okay. So I guess the new
site kicks in but in terms of how this old site was handled was through the LUC and not through
US.
Mr. Nishida: I get that but I am wondering what is going to happen after August 1 9th
Mr. Blake: Assuming for the sake of argument that we cannot require Grove Farm to
hold another informational meeting I would like to encourage Grove Farm to do that because
this, no one remembers, I don't think anyone that is here today was present at that meeting even
if they wanted to be present. So I would encourage Grove Farm to hold an informational
meeting on their reclamation plan so that we know what is planned and how soon if they can and
what the timeline is for probable'completion. And what specifically will be undertaken relative
to the restoration of Waiopili Heiau. Are you in contact with Frances Ching?
Mr. Hinazumi: I don't think so.
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58
Mr. Blake: Because I am sure he would be,well I am speaking for Frances without
getting his permission but he having authored the report,the original report,I don't believe he
would be adverse to working with you and he is right now the Alpha and Omega on all things
Waiopili.
Chair: Lisa Ellen, did you want to say something?
Staff. This is in the report,there is only the one permit and it was an LUC permit. There
was no permit necessary for the old quarry as it was a nonconforming use under 8-23 so there is
only one permit that was issued and it is for the new quarry. Conditions of this permit as Walton
discussed earlier covered the reclamation plan for the old quarry although there were no
conditions or anything necessary for that. And I am sorry to say this on the floor but there are
two reclamation plans, one for the old quarry site once its closure has been complete per the
conditions and the second one would be for the other quarry from my understanding and what
was submitted, sorry.
Mr. Katayama: Can I just ask a question,can we have the planner sort of research
because we are talking about a 20 year old permit under different rules. What were the
governments for this project lies to the extent this Commission has any authority or any
(inaudible) for this and if we don't then it becomes just receiving of the report.
Mr. Dahilia: That is essentially the action that is up for the Commission's discussion
today,just receiving the report.
Mr. Katayama: (Inaudible).
Mr. Dahilia: That would certainly be helpful even for me.
Chair: Lisa Ellen you provided something in the past as far as some kind of summary?
Staff Yes sir,the report of July of last year,July 27`'of last year was fairly thorough. I
read just about everything I could find on the area as noted in the background including a
timeline in history but I am happy to do the research again if the Commissioners request it of
course.
Chair: Thank you very much. At this point I would like to ask anybody from the public.
I think we have a signup list.
Mr. Dahilia: Beryl Blaich followed by Jerrie DePietro followed by Branch Harmony.
Ms. Beryl Blaich: Aloha Chairman Texeira and Planning Commissioners. I want to say
thank you very much to Walton Hong and David Pierrie for some information that they have just
presented, some of which answered questions that I have. I want to thank Lisa Ellen for
clarifying that there is one permit but conditions did affect the old quarry and I want to thank
Commissioner Blake and Commissioner Nishida for asking some very good questions that have
been on our minds too. I am not going to really...I do want to point out and these are the
conditions that were,these are the joint conditions that the Kauai County Planning Commission
and the Land Use Commission and they were recorded at the Bureau of Conveyances on
December 14, 1994. And the first condition under these states, or maybe it is the second, "The
Planning Commission reserves the right to add additional conditions,revise existing conditions,
or revoke the subject permits through proper procedures should the applicant fail to...etc." So
according to this it seems that you can amend conditions of the existing permit.
I want to take a step back now if I can and just reiterate that I am the coordinator of
Malama Maha`ulepu and because of our mission to protect natural and cultural resources and to
preserve the areas undeveloped with compatible agriculture and culture and education and
recreation,this quarry operation is very important to us. And so we really appreciate the annual
report and this chance for us to try and understand the quarry operation and the impacts of the
quarries. I have to express some frustration and of course Walton is correct,we have been like a
broken record saying we would like to go on a site visit or we would like the Planning
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April 12,2011
59
Commission to go on a site visit and not just a site visit where you drive around in a van. So
why I am frustrated, or course there are all these elaborate,I guess,Federal regulations but we
the public are supposed to because this is an existing permit and Walton just mentioned this and
it puzzles me a great deal,if we have strong objections to this permit we have to (inaudible)their
permit violations and ask for a revocation and then we might be able to have a site visit. But the
crazy thing is that since we can't go to the site we can't see whether their permit conditions are
complied with,we do have to accept everything. I cannot compare a map with what I can
actually see on the ground. So it is a frustrating situation and once again I am going to say I
would really love it if at least the Planning Commission could go on a site visit which did not
necessarily involve the whole public but perhaps you have told me that is not possible.
We do have some questions but the first thing I want to say is that we appreciate the
Planning Director's recommendation that the final report on reclamation be given two months
after the old quarry closes. But here is the problem,they are not even going to be able to begin
to reclaim at that point. I mean reclamation on the old quarry only possibly be beginning, it
would be wonderful if Grove Farm would hold an informational meeting on this. And
furthermore the new quarry is supposed to be reclaimed incrementally so quarry, reclaim, quarry,
reclaim. And so this process of reclamation is going to go on for years. Waiopili Heiau will not
be able to be fully reported on or finalized,reclamation or restoration will not be finalized two
months, in November of this year,so couldn't there be an annual status report on the
reclamation of the old and new quarries including a report about the status of reclamation of
historic sites, especially Waiopili Heiau. Now you are going to say we can't amend this. I am
going to say I think you can and also Michael,you already put that forth as a request.
Mr. Dahilig: It is a recommendation.
Ms. Blaich: As a recommendation. Now for other questions,my other question was do
these proceedings,minutes of these meetings about the quarry have to be forwarded to the LUC,
have they been forwarded to the LUC in the past since this is a joint permit that you hold with
the Land Use Commission? That is just a question.
Mr. Dahilig: I think part of;typically this is more of a ministerial type of process but
because of the heightened scrutiny that the Commission in the past has shown with respect to this
issue we thought it appropriate to actually bump it up for Commission acceptance before we
handle it ministerially. So typically,no,because apparently it is more of a filing type of situation
from the way we read the permit but in this particular case because of again the public interest in
this as well as the Commission's interest we thought it appropriate to bring the subject matter up
for discussion.
Ms. Blaich: The subject matter being the whole situation.
Mr. Dahilig: Well actually this particular acceptance of this pursuant to the LUC's
permit and not our permit.
Ms. Blaich: May I refer a couple more questions? May I refer you to this little chart?
Chair: Finish your testimony.
Ms. Blaich: Some of our questions are really small and some were already ansvylered
except that for instance I included for you the same letter that Walton read from the Department
of Health about that NPDES permit. It does say that they will extend it until they have a final
determination. I guess I understand that no final determination has been made and that is still up
in the air. I also had some very small things like I am wondering when the aerial photograph
submitted with the applicant's report was taken, Walton?
Mr. Pierrie: David Pierrie for record. That photograph was taken on the 28'h of
February,2011.
Ms. Blaich: Thank you very much. I also notice under the Health Department conditions
2.d,2 which is a clean air condition, it says are there any stationary crushing plants for which
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April 12,2011
60
you need certain permits. And the response was that all necessary permits have been obtained,
will be obtained prior to construction of new or related limestone crushing plants when that
occurs. My question and Mr. Pierrie can answer it right this minute is where is limestone
crushing occurring now? Is it happening in the old quarry? And if so and this quarry is going to
close how are you doing on applying for new permits.
Chair: Excuse me I would prefer that you address the Commission whether than going
back and forth to the applicant.
Ms. Blaich: I am very sorry.
Chair: Just ask the question and we can go ahead and determine who can respond to that
question.
Ms. Blaich: And then I still have some questions about the detention basin runoff
system. There is a berm and there is a detention basin and are those one in the same or are those
two separate engineering features that work together to contain runoff for the second quarry.
When the Director did a site visit last year with the staff planner she had a picture of a
containment basin and is that the same thing as the detention basin. That is another small
question I had. And then it talks about effective dust control measures and this is another
condition,page 7, or condition 7, and I wondered what the dust control measures are at the new
and old quarries. And those are small things but I think some of the things that are more
important to us is.this whole question of the restoration of Waiopili Heiau. Now in this latest
staff report it says that"In accordance with the licensing agreement with Jason W. Glover Ltd.
Grove Farm Rock Company Inc. is responsible for the restoration of the existing quarry.
Statements by the Grove Farm Rock Company for the 1999 annual report are as follows: all
limestone structures and limestone and structures and going to be removed."
Well I am not sure that Grove Rock Company still exists and so if the reclamation
agreement or the license agreement is between the Rock Company and not with the present
company was that condition amended? These are the reasons why the licensing agreement
should be included on the permit. It should be reviewed by you, it should be filed with you and
the Planning Commission and it should be on the permit because there are changes. And also
people tell who is responsible but we don't see who is responsible and I also think that things
that are not involved with this permit can be redacted. Financial agreements can be redacted.
But the core legal responsibilities for restoration,reclamation, should be part of this record
especially when the condition was that these permits will never be transferred. If they are
transferred they will be null and void. And I am so sorry,I just want to really quickly, one more
thing,and no actually I think Commissioner Nishida tackled this or found this out, I really
wanted to know what does it mean...
Chair: Can you wrap it up? It has been 15 minutes.
Ms. Blaich: Thank you, I am so sorry but operations, ceasing operations mean nothing is
going to happen,there is not going to be waxer flowing from the new quarry into the
sedimentations of the old quarry,there is not going to be storage,there is not going to be
crushing.
Mr. Dahilig: Jerrie DePiotro followed by Branch Harmony.
Ms. Jerrie DePietro: Aloha Chairman Texeira and Planning Commission members,my
name is Jerrie DePietro. I am Secretary of the Board of Malama Maha`ulepu,thank you so much
for letting us speak today on the report about the closing of the Maha`ulepu quarry,the first
quarry. We were here last year as you recall to request the annual quarry report from Glover and
above all today I just want to touch since you do have some new members on the Commission a
little bit of familiarization with the two quarries. Above all we ask for you continued attention
because you have the primary oversight and authority for the Use permit,the Class IV Zoning
permit and shared oversight for the Special permit. Our purpose today is to engage with you in
order to better monitor the quarry activity and to expedite the long delayed quarry reclamation
and the Heiau restoration. We would like to establish and urge a timeline be put into place as
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April 12,201 I
61
soon as possible. We are asking again the Planning Commission to conduct additional site visits
both of the new and old quarries. To familiarize you guys a little bit,this is the old quarry that is
about a quarter mile from the ocean then the new quarry is more inland.
So we want to ensure that permit requirements continue to be met. We want to make sure
the status of the Department of Health permits concerning discharge into the class A ocean water
is occurring in a proper and clean basis. And we need to know about the license private
agreement between Grove Farm and Glover. We want to know that the responsible party will be
responsible. And we need to stipulate the start time and expected completion time and future
inspections and the activities of the old and new quarry, especially the restoration of the cultural
sites,namely the Waiopili Heiau and the Keapuna Pond. Malama Maha`ulepu again asks you to
conduct a public site visit to the new Maha`ulepu quarry in order to understand the current
operations. We do want to see that when the old quarry is closed down that it is not used any
further for the pond sedimentation. We would like to be able to really see that pond which is
quite a large water area be cleaned up and restored. The Waiopili Heiau is one of the most
important sites in the K61oa/Po`ipu area.
We would like to incorporate the first hand knowledge of Frances Ching in his 1974
archeological report. The Commissioners may not be aware of the existence of the Waiopili
Heiau but Frances Ching described it as one of the most important archeological sites in coastal
K61oa in 1974. We believe that part of the Waiopili Heiau is currently buried under quarry
tailings according to the State and the restoration of this Heiau is a condition of the State Historic
Preservation Division of the DLNR permit. These permit conditions must be monitored by you,
the Planning Commission,not another entity or individual but you guys are clearly charged with
the oversight of the permit conditions. In 1993 so much, since 1993 so much has learned about
native Hawaiian life at Maha`ulepu, about the plants,the animals, and mostly the birds that
evolved and lived in this area before humans arrived. The ponds in these areas drew natural life
and it will be a wonderful restoration. Does the 1993 adequately protect the resources? That is
something that we really want to ensure.
In addition the required Department of Health Environmental Branch lapsed on
December 31,2009 and we want to make sure that that detention basin is closed out at the old
quarry and can be restored back to the beautiful pond. Maybe once the mining activity ceased
we can conduct site visits. It is so much better seeing these things in person and having the maps
with you and being able to compare. So in closing I just would like to ask that the public access
be allowed as good stewards to help clean up the old quarry and take care of the Heiau. We are
asking that the best environmental practices be utilized at this project and that the commitment of
the quarry operator who was the landowner to reclaim the old quarry and to restore Waiopili
Heiau. We would like to see this be accomplished, we would like to see a timeline established
and we look forward to providing volunteer community support as appropriate,thank you very
much.
Mr. Dahilig: Branch Harmony?
Ms. Blaich. Commissioners I am going to ask your permission, Branch was here at 8
o'clock in the morning and he waited until noon and,he wasn't able to be here any longer so I
would be reading his testimony. I am not too familiar with it, I'm sorry. "Aloha
Commissioners, although known as Branch Harmony my legal and hereditary name is Kalani
Kumaionalii Hano Hano. The State Historic Division of DLNR has reviewed and approved my
standing as a cultural lineal descendant of the original inhabitants of K61oa and Maha`ulepu, I
am a living representative of my lineage and that is of Kaua`i's Alii. My concern is Waiopili
Heiau Spring, Kuna Kea Pond,the Wahipana, and important sites to Hawaiian people. Because
of the damage sustained and ongoing at this site I ask for review of conditions and 'inspection
toward mitigation of further damage. During last April's hearing about the old quarry site one
Commissioner said that no one actually knew what had been there other than an artist's
conception of drawings."
And for the Commissioner's review, Branch has provided these scale drawings of the
archeological reports that were done at the golf course and he also will send an E version to you
to Lisa Ellen so Commissioners can review them. But he submits them to demonstrate the type
Planning Commission Minutes
April I2,20I I
62
of construction that Waiopili was and that most of these sites have been destroyed so Waiopili is
kind of a remainder, and it's an essential apex of the K61oa fields system which was the largest
agricultural complex in ancient Hawaii. The Commissioner said that perhaps this time would be
a better time to have a field visit with this next,this present site status report but I see that we
may be able to do that in August. That would be really excellent. "I humbly ask you to follow
up on your imposed conditions and to inspect a preserve and restore the rest of the heritage of
our Kupuna for our grandchildren. The knowledge of ancient ones still bears important today as
to whether ocean currents cyclic events and astronomy and by helping to preserve this sacred site
you will help to preserve information that is applicable to our future. Mahalo Nui Loa, Kalani
Kumai."
Chair: Thank you very much. Anyone else in the public that wishes to speak on this
matter, if not I will call for a motion.
Ms. Matsumoto: Move to accept the status report.
Chair: Lisa Ellen, you wanted to?
Staff: Did you want me to read the recommendation or no?
Chair: Yes.
Staff Planner Lisa Ellen Smith read staff recommendation (on file).
Chair: Thank you.
Ms. Matsumoto: Move to accept the report.
Mr. Nishida: Second.
Chair: Any discussion on the motion, all those in favor say aye, those opposed, motion
carried.
On motion made by Camilla Matsumoto and seconded by dames Nishida, to
approve staff recommendation, motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
Quarterly Departmental Status Report on operations.
Information handed out to Commissioners
Informational presentation by the Planning Department regarding the Six-Year Capital
Improvements Program and the Planning Commission's duties and responsibilities related to the
Program.
Deferred
Mr. Dahilig: Commissioners, I know we are going to be deferring the status report but I
am going to pass out the budget presentation that we are providing for the Council on Thursday.
This budget report does have what We are proposing as part of next year's capital improvements
as well as operating budget. And also there are some statistics in there so we can discuss this
individually with Commissioners if they want but I think I would just provide this for
everybody's information.
Request for Reconsideration (3/9/11) from Carl G. Young, Site Acquisition Consultant,
&rint/Nextel of Use Permit U-2011-6, Variance Permit V-2011-1, and Class IV Zoning
Z-IV-2011-6 for a proposed 165' monopine near Halfway Bridge.
Use Permit U-2011-6 Variance Permit V-2011-1 and Class IV Zoning Permit Z-IV-
2011-6 to permit the construction and operation of a telecommunication facility that includes a
165 ft. huh stealth monopine (a monopole designed to look like a,pine tree) and associated
Planning Commission Minutes
April 12,2011
63
equipment at a site located on a cane haul road approx. 90 ft. north of the cane haul road's
intersection with Kaumuali`i Highway intersection, said intersection is located approx. L7 miles
west of the Kaumuali`i Highway and Kipu Road intersection, and approx. .40 miles north of that
area generally referred to as Halfway Bridge, further identified as Tax Map Key 3-4-001:003
and affecting a 600 sq. ft.portion of a 2,668.037 acre parcel=Sprint/Nextel. [Director's Report
received 12/14/10, hearing closed 1/11/11, deferred 2/8/11, application denied 2/22/11,
Reconsideration Granted and Action Deferred 3/22/11.]
Supplemental No. 3 to Director's Report pertaining to this matter.
Letter 3/30/11 from Carl Young,, addressing concerns raised at the previous Planning
Commission meeting.
Deferred to 4/26/11
NEW BUSINESS
For Acceptance into Record—Director's Report(s) for Project(s) Scheduled for
Public Hearing on 4/26/11.
Class IV Zoning Permit Z-IV-2011-09 and Use Permit U-2011-09 to operate a beauty
salon at property located in Waipouli, Kauai, approx. 125 ft. north of the Kuhi`o Highway and
Ala Road intersection, further identified as Tax Map Key 4-3-009:036, and affectingaa portion of
9,410 sq. ft.=Huttger Beauty Shoat
Director's Report pertaining to this matter.
On motion made by Camilla Matsumoto and seconded by Jamey Nishida, to accept
Director's Report into record, motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
For Acceptance and Finalization—Director's Report for Shoreline Setback Activity
Determination.
Shoreline Setback Commission Review SSCR-2011-9 for a shoreline setback
determination, Tax Map Key L4) 4-5-009:004, Kapa`a, Kauai, for acceptance by the
Commission=Alan Fishman.
Director's Report pertaining to this matter.
On motion made by Camilla Matsumoto and seconded by Wayne Katayama,
to approve Director's Report, motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
Shoreline Setback Commission Review SSCR-2011-10 for a shoreline setback
determination, Tax Map Key (4) 4-9-014:003, Moloa`a, Kauai, for acceptance by the
Commission=Norman D. Thompson.
Director's Report pertaining to this matter.
On motion made b f Camilla Matsumoto and ,seconded by Wayne Katayama, to
approve Director's Report, motion carried unanimously by voice vote,
ADJOURNMENT
Commission adjourned the meeting at 4:43 p.m.
Planning Commission Minutes
April 12,2011
64
Respectfully Submitted.
Lanai L. Agoot
Commission Support Clerk
Planning Commission Minutes
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65