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HomeMy WebLinkAbout 06/05/2013 Planning Committee minutes MINUTES PLANNING COMMITTEE June 5, 2013 A meeting of the Planning Committee of the Council of the County of Kaua`i, State of Hawai`i, was called to order by Councilmember Nadine K. Nakamura, Chair, at the Council Chambers, 4396 Rice Street, Suite 201, Lihu`e, Kaua`i, on i Wednesday, June 5, 2013, at 1:36 p.m., after which the following members answered the call of the roll: Honorable Tim Bynum (present at 1:37 p.m.) Honorable Ross Kagawa Honorable Mel Rapozo Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura Honorable Gary L. Hooser, Ex-Officio Member Excused: Honorable JoAnn A. Yukimura Honorable Jay Furfaro, Ex-Officio Member The Committee proceeded on its agenda items as follows: Bill No. 2461 A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 8, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE COMPREHENSIVE ZONING ORDINANCE (Amendments to the Shoreline Setback Ordinance) [This item was deferred to July 24, 2013 Committee Meeting.] Chair Nakamura: Committee Member Yukimura, members of the Planning Department, representatives of the County Attorney's Office, as well as some citizens have been meeting on the Shoreline Setback Ordinance. I am going to be asking for public testimony today, but I just wanted to let you know that we are still in the thick of discussing it, making amendments, listening to the different points of view, and so we will be asking for a deferral to July 24, 2013, but before we do, I am going to see if there is any discussion from Councilmembers and if not, I am going to open it up for public testimony. Would anyone from the public like to testify on this item? ALLISON S. ARAKAKI, Council Services Assistant: We have one registered speaker, Dave Arakawa. The rules were suspended to take public testimony. Chair Nakamura: Welcome from Honolulu. DAVE ARAKAWA: Thank you, Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Committee Chair Nakamura and members of the Kaua`i County Council Planning PL COMMITTEE MEETING 2 JUNE 5, 2013 Committee. I am here to testify on Bill No. 2461. I am going to at the outset thank Chair Nakamura, the County Staff, and County Council for opening discussions and engaging the community in comments in regards to this Bill. The effort of the County Council and County Councilmembers, I know there is a floor draft that is trying to streamline the Bill and make it better. We do support the proposed amendment to apply the Ordinance to uses rather than properties. We have about six (6) issues that we will just put on the table and let you know we are willing to work with you to continue working on this. The first is that we would respectfully recommend that the Council Committee consider clarifying the Ordinance, and that it applies to structures, which really relate to the protection of life, property, and coastal resources against coastal hazards, instead of landscaping. We believe landscaping is a legitimate issue, but it seems to be better handled in the Special Management Area (SMA) process probably. The second issue is to look at the setback of five hundred (500) feet, and whether that could be amended to coincide with the SMA boundary line which was intended for protection of the shoreline. Third, since the current law appears to apply to properties along the shoreline, at shoreline elevation or ground level so to speak, we would ask for consideration by the Department and the Council of the elevation views. So, some properties on Kaua`i are high, twenty-five (25) feet, twenty (20) feet, and fifteen (15) feet high, and maybe at a certain elevation the experts and County Planning Officials would say they are not affected if it is a hardened cliff not an erodible cliff, and that they may not be affected by tsunamis and things like that, so perhaps that could factor in. Fourth issue, consistency with the SMA process and procedures. Fifth issue, looking at the reasonableness of the shoreline setback determinations, the amount of square footage that could be non-developable/non-usable on a parcel based on the current law. Lastly, what triggers the hazard assessments, coastal erosion study, and shoreline certification? Right now, if you have a huge parcel and there is a change or modification or something inland, like half a mile inland or a mile inland, if it is the same lot that abuts the shoreline, that could trigger all of these shoreline assessments, shoreline certification, coastal erosion study, and hazard assessments where it is nowhere near the ocean. Those are issues that we are willing to continue to work with. We are glad that the Kaua`i County Council is taking an active role in this along with the Planning Department. Thank you very much. Chair Nakamura: Thank you very much. Any questions? Dave, can you hold on? Any questions for Mr. Arakawa? Yes? Mr. Kagawa: Mr. Arakawa I just want to thank you for coming from O`ahu to work on this. I know we have had this deferred for a while, but are you willing to work with people that have been involved like Caren Diamond and Tom Shigemoto to make sure that what we have is a near flawless Bill that coincides with other Ordinances, so that way, we do not have two different sets of rules? PL COMMITTEE MEETING 3 JUNE 5, 2013 Mr. Arakawa: Of course. I just met Ms. Diamond this morning and we would very much be willing to work with everyone. Mr. Kagawa: One of the things that stood out in talking to Mr. Shigemoto, I think this Ordinance is long overdue, and he said that even in its current form, it is better than what we have now. I just thank you for your work and I hope to see a solid shoreline setback plan. Mr. Arakawa: Thank you, Councilmember. Chair Nakamura: I want to add that we are definitely working on the issues of applicability because I know it does not currently leave a lot of room for discretion, and that is something that we are definitely working on, dealing with areas, cliff areas, and areas where there is no erosion rates based on Chip Fletcher's study, that is another area that we are also focusing in on. Then the whole, structures versus landscaping issue is definitely something that we are spending a lot of time discussing and I think we are getting there. We are making progress. We will hope to involve you in future discussions. Mr. Arakawa: Thank you very much. I noted some typos in my testimony so I will be resubmitting. There are a couple typos. Chair Nakamura: Thank you very much. Mr. Arakawa: Thank you. Chair Nakamura: Is there anyone else who would like to testify on this matter? There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Upon motion duly made by Mr. Bynum, seconded by Mr. Kagawa, and unanimously carried, Bill No. 2461 was deferred to July 24, 2013. Bill No. 2465 A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 9, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, TO ALLOW FOR MULTI-MODAL TRANSPORTATION PRINCIPLES FOR SUBDIVISIONS [This item was deferred to June 19, 2013.] Chair Nakamura: I would to ask if anyone from the public would like to testify on this item? Mr. Mickens. The rules were suspended to take public testimony. PL COMMITTEE MEETING 4 JUNE 5, 2013 GLENN MICKENS: You have a copy of my testimony, let me read it for the viewing public, please. This is Bill 2465. Where was the study research or public input done showing that the mass of the commuting public wants to develop a bikeway system to provide so called "alternate means of transportation" as Section 1(B) and Section (C) states in the Bill? Remember how Federal guidelines that are key requirements stated that a bike path shall be primarily for transportation, not recreation unless the Secretary said otherwise and yet that requirement has been disregarded in this path as Joan Conrow said has not taken a single car off the roads. Are the contractors building these subdivisions or the people buying the homes in them really asking for the multi-modal transportation principles for them? Again, where is the study showing this or are the majority of them asking for more and better roads to alleviate traffic. It frustrated them day after day. Remember that Joe Rosa helped to build the bike lanes that parallel our highway thirty (30) years ago as well as the path that goes from Pono Kai to Otsukas, but for lack of use, these so-called "alternate means of transportation" have basically been abandoned except for an occasional biker and a few bike events, as you know. Why spend millions of dollars duplicating a project that was a failure when done before? Why can we not live in the real world and give the public what they need and want, not push multi-modal systems down their throats? Why should we require the developer of a new subdivision to create a sidewalk shared use path without finding out the cost and use factor, which most everything you do is going to go on a cost factor or at least it should be, whether it is a road or path or what it happens to be? The costs are being passed along to the homebuyer. The major point here is that we seem to spend more time and money on issues that the minority may want, but these issues are basically on a wish list that will be unattainable due to financial shortcomings. You are going to have to have money to finance whatever you are trying to do. Some members of this Council seem to be in a mindset, believing that the majority of people on this island will continue to use their vehicle for transportation and not use a bus, bike or walk. That vehicle is a major part of their lives which they have used and will continue to use no matter how many buses or bike paths are given to them. Henry Ford was right when he said he wanted to put a car in every garage. Today, there are over two cars in every family and the love affair with the car will not stop no matter how many multimodal systems you work on, the vehicle will trump all of them. Again, not trying to be facetious, I ask any of you the same question I have asked many times with no one giving me an answer, will any one of you lead by example? Get rid of your vehicle and use the bus or bike as your sole means of transportation? Again, I say that not to be facetious, I say it realistically. Any one of you that has a vehicle out there you are going to go out and leave this place, you are going to get in your vehicle. You are not going to get on a bus or bike as your means of your transportation. The roads have to be improved on this island. We have to have more places to move. You have to make room for the cars. The vehicle is your major, major means of transportation on this island. If you want to put more buses on, you gave free bus rides, that was a failure. Fifty (50) people use the free bus, so PL COMMITTEE MEETING 5 JUNE 5, 2013 the buses are not the answer. Anyway, this is my testimony. If you have any questions, I would be to happy to answer them for you. Chair Nakamura: Any questions for Glenn? If not, thank you very much. Would anyone else like to testify on this? JOE ROSA: Good afternoon members of the Council. Once again the so-called bike paths, this thing has been going on and on. Money has been spent again and again for something that is out there and the State at that time, spent how many thousands of dollars or millions of dollars to put bike paths all over the island? Then you have a few select people that come in out of nowhere demanding bike paths in special domination sizes, widths, and all of that. There is no use, only in special events that they have that it is used by the people of Kaua`i. Then when they have outside island bicyclists come in to the island, what do they use? They use the bike path along the State highway that was put in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s and yet, they compliment and thank the people of Kaua`i for their courtesy in observing the bicyclists on the State highway and who used to be leading them in the group at times was Mr. Thomas Noyes, one of the proponents of the so called shoreline bike path. How can he say that it is unsafe and yet he rides along with them and the people in those groups say it is safe and the drivers are courteous here on Kaua`i. They are very courteous as far as for the cyclists biking along the highway. There are a lot of hypocritical things that go on and it has been said. I have been questioned about what happened to the Coco Palms? What happened to the slabs that Doug Haigh and Lenny Rapozo came to you people saying that they were going to put in those slabs and when times of tsunami or hurricanes, they were going to remove them, and this and that? What happened to all of that? Again, it tells you that you do not plan things and then they do something different. That is all money going down the drain. What happened to all of the consultants that were paid for the work that was said to be done and did not do? Something is fishy and phony. To me, it needs to be investigated. How is the money being spent? That is Federal funding and I am surprised that the FED's are not even investigating because when I was with State Department of Transportation (DOT) and we had Federal aid projects, we had to be accountable for every dollar and cent to the Federal inspectors that come down and yet, I have not heard of an audit being donen yet for that bike highway/project. Chair Nakamura: Mr. Rosa, that is your first three minutes. Mr. Rosa: Thank you. There is a lot of things going on about those bike paths and something is wrong. It needs to be looked into, spending more money for something that is not going to be totally used. I have never seen a lady riding along the highway, and shop in Lihu`e with a bicycle. Nobody. One of the proponents for the bike path was our Councilwoman JoAnn when she came back from college. A girl with eyeglasses like Yoko Ono pushing for the bike path and PL COMMITTEE MEETING 6 JUNE 5, 2013 everything, what happened? When she became a Councilwoman, she had bike stands built in the front here over here. Where are those bike stands? She talks about the thing of reality that is coming in the future. Where are the bike stands? If she was here, I would like to find out from her where are those bike stands? She talks about bicycling, bicycling, what happens? She buys an electrical car. Is the cars going out of style or out of fashion. I do not think so when she buys an electrical car, she is giving up on her bicycle. Those things are something to think about. Nobody is going to give up on the automobile, even myself. I told the Traffic Committee that I would rather take my car to go from my house to Home Depot which takes me five minutes, get there, get what I need, and come back home instead of waiting another fifteen minutes for the bus to come back to my house. It is not feasible for me. We need better alternate routes here on Kaua`i around Lihu`e town with great roads leading to those alternate routes like a mauka arterial that was planned in the future twenty (20), forty (40), sixty (60) years ago during my working time. Those twenty (20) year plans that are coming up with Department of Transportation (DOT) that JoAnn mentioned, that is another plan, it is another dream, but nothing has been done. You have to work with the State legislature people and get us better alternate routes. Mention the word "alternate routes" not "bypass." "Bypass" is a scary word. It scares the businessman when you say it is going to bypass his businesses and his town. So, use the right terminology. It is "alternate routes" where it gives you, Councilwoman Nakamura, a choice, and any one of you members on this Council a choice. That is what "alternate" is. A "bypass" is a scary word so think about it. I do not think the bikeways are something of the future because it has not been proven and we do not have cyclists like they do in Taipei or like I have seen in Japan. Chair Nakamura: Mr. Rosa, that is your six minutes. Thank you for your clarification on the terminology, that is a good distinction to be made. Mr. Rosa: Because I know what I am saying. Chair Nakamura: Any questions for Mr. Rosa? Any members have questions for Mr. Rosa. Thank you very much for being here. Mr. Rosa: I thank you, anyway. Chair Nakamura: Anyone else from the public who would like to testify on this item? There being no further testimony, the meeting was called back to order, and proceeded as follows: Chair Nakamura: Let us bring it back to the Committee. Yes? PL COMMITTEE MEETING 7 JUNE 5, 2013 Mr. Kagawa: Just a quick discussion and I just wanted to defend Councilmember Yukimura. I think one of the great things about having seven (7) people on the body is that we have people who are going to disagree and we are going to work out what we think is best for the community. I respect Councilmember Yukimura's passion and I do not agree with her all the time. However, she is always speaking from the heart and what she believes in and she is entitled to that and she has been elected to do that. I just wanted to note that. Thank you. Chair Nakamura: Thank you, Councilmember Kagawa. Councilmember Hooser. Mr. Hooser: Just brief comments if I could. Just for the record, my wife and I actually had a long conversation about this the other day. We would love to give up one of our cars. We have two cars and we realize we need one car to go around the island, but we do not need two. If a bus was convenient where I could walk out and get on the bus and come to the Office, I am here all day long and when I am done, go home. I think a comprehensive public transportation system would be a valuable, valuable asset to our community. Thank you. Chair Nakamura: Thank you. Councilmember Bynum, the intent here is to defer this to June 19, 2013, with some feedback from the Planning Department. Mr. Bynum: I would like to make a few short comments. Chair Nakamura: Sure. Mr. Bynum: Despite some of the testimony we heard today, the bus is a rising success on Kaua`i. We are trying to address during budget, that our commuter routes and these are people that either are required, need to have the bus to get to work, or they choose to use the bus. Those commuter routes are jam packed and we are trying to add new ones quickly. I also want people to be aware that the Kapa`a Relief Route, that the State told us about for twenty-two (22) years and spent money on, they officially canceled it. There are no plans for them to build an alternative highway on Kaua`i right now as we stand here. We have to address these alternatives because we have no choice. With that, I just wanted to make that comment. Thank you, and let us get back to the topic of Chair Nakamura: y g p the subdivision changes that are being proposed. Is there anyone else who would like to add to this? PL COMMITTEE MEETING 8 JUNE 5, 2013 Mr. Rapozo: I will save my comments for the Committee Meeting. Chair Nakamura: Thank you very much. Did someone make a motion? Upon motion duly made by Mr. Bynum, seconded by Mr. Kagawa, and unanimously carried, Bill No. 2465 was deferred to June 19, 2013. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:58 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Allison S. Arakaki Council Services Assistant I APPROVED at the Committee Meeting held on June 19, 2013: NADINE K. NAKAMURA CHAIR, PLANNING COMMITTEE