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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/06/2014 Planning Committee minutes MINUTES PLANNING COMMITTEE August 6, 2014 A meeting of the Planning Committee of the Council of the County of Kaua`i, State of Hawaii, was called to order by Tim Bynum, Chair, at the Council Chambers, 4396 Rice Street, Suite 201, Lihu`e, Kauai, on Wednesday, August 6, 2014, at 9:17 a.m., after which the following members answered the call of the roll: Honorable Mason K. Chock, Sr. Honorable Ross Kagawa Honorable JoAnn A. Yukimura Honorable Tim Bynum Honorable Gary L. Hooser, Ex-Officio Member Honorable Jay Furfaro, Ex-Officio Member Excused: Honorable Mel Rapozo The Committee proceeded on its agenda item, as follows: Bill No. 2461, Draft 1 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 September 3, 2014.) Chair Bynum: I was informed prior to the meeting that there may be a request for a deferral but we will definitely take public testimony and does any Councilmember want to speak before then? Councilmember Yukimura. Ms. Yukimura: Thank you, Chair. I just want to say as the person who has been working with a drafting group that we are still working on amendments and do need this extra month that I am going to be asking for in a deferral to September 3, 2014. I believe we will be ready in September to have the Committee act on it and hopefully send it to the Council. Chair Bynum: Is there an intention to reconvene the working group in this interim period? Ms. Yukimura: We have at least one (1) more meeting, possibly two (2) before September. Chair Bynum: Thank you. Any other comments or questions for Councilmember Yukimura? If not, we will move to public testimony for those people in the audience that like to testify on this matter. Seeing none, Councilmember Yukimura. Ms. Yukimura: I just want to reflect that we have received written testimony from Barbara Robeson and certainly I will take that into account especially in our work with the committee. PL COMMITTEE MEETING 2 AUGUST 6, 2014 Chair Bynum: I saw that. That testimony was submitted. I have not read it yet but I will read it as well. If there is no public testimony, Chair will entertain a motion. I am sorry, Mr. Kagawa. Mr. Kagawa: I just have a question for Councilmember Yukimura. Just so the public knows why it is being deferred, basically what is in a nut shell the major sticking points? Ms. Yukimura: At our last meeting which was in July a lot of people were gone so we did not have the complete committee and in terms of sticking points, I think it is the bright line exception. There are some concerns about the applicability section although we have made it much closer now to the original applicability section. Then there are the issues of activities, whether activities should be still governed in the setback law or should be governed in the Special Management Area (SMA) permit process. I did not want to bring amendments to this Committee without the full working group being present and seeing it all and having the final discussion. I did not want to leave anybody out and that is why we are asking for...and we are also trying to get people, some of the experts like Dennis Wong. I think Barbara Robeson's testimony mentioned Sam Lemo but once we have the proposal as a working group, we want to circulate that to some of the experts for their input as well before we come back to committee. Mr. Kagawa: Thank you for the updated. Chair Bynum: One (1) other question came to me...I am sorry. Go ahead Councilmember Chock. Mr. Chock: In reference to the discussion these sticking points have been the sticking points for some time and while I feel like we are making a good effort to come together and try to resolve it, I do see that it could be that we do not get to where we want to across the board. I just wanted to make reference to that. It does seem that we keep coming back to the same three (3) areas. Ms. Yukimura: May I respond? Chair Bynum: Yes please, Councilmember Yukimura. Ms. Yukimura: Councilmember Chock, you are correct and where there are points that do not have a complete consensus that would be the decision for the Council to make after we hear both sides of the issue but I must say that on the activities issue we actually came to a compromise position. It may not be sufficient for certain members of the working group but we have reconciled it in terms of the State statute which has clearly prohibited activities and so we have included that in the Shoreline Setback Law but in terms of activities that require a decision as to whether they would be allowed or how far back they will be those are still thought to be better at least by myself and I think a majority of the committee but we are not even going by majority because it will come here for final decision. We are thinking that the SMA process is far more appropriate then trying to establish a shoreline setback for an activity that moves all around. PL COMMITTEE MEETING 3 AUGUST 6, 2014 Chair Bynum: Okay. Other questions? Let me just ask a couple of questions to put this in perspective. This Bill was first introduced when? Roughly? Ms. Yukimura: I do not know, something like 2004. Chair Bynum: No, I mean this amendment version. Ms. Yukimura: It was about a year and a half (1.5)...two (2) years ago. Chair Bynum: So this working group has been working for two (2) years, right? Ms. Yukimura: About a year and a half(1.5), I think. Chair Bynum: So I said at previous meetings in the role of the Planning Chair that I wanted to defer to all of that working group, of course, that started with Councilmember Nakamura and yourself but that is, and I agree with Councilmember, it is time to...I have not seen the sticking points change. It is time to bring amendments to the floor and make a decision. So I made those comments previously and I will just say that I agree with that so I think that your estimated time of arrival (ETA) on that then is next month that we would move out of Committee to the full Council next month hopefully? Ms. Yukimura: Yes. Chair Bynum: That is the intention at this point? Ms. Yukimura: Barbara Robeson has suggested that we have at least two (2) committee meetings so the public has time to review the amendments and we may choose to do that. There has also been a suggestion that we should just receive the Bill and go back to the beginning which I would oppose because I think there has been a lot of work done on this and there are some critical pieces that need to be acted on in the process of a year and a half we found there...for example, this Bill is delaying a contractor from getting a permit for a shower stall replacement and requires it adds four to six (4—6) weeks to his process of getting a permit. Things like that need to be addressed. Chair Bynum: Councilmember Chock. Mr. Chock: Yes, I just wanted to take the opportunity to...two (2) years in the working, there has been a lot of effort and time spent and to acknowledge the fact that there had been some good movements happening so while there are still some things that we may not come to an agreement on, I think that certainly we are not without the right effort and heart behind it so thank you everyone. Chair Bynum: Any other comments? Sure. Ms. Yukimura: May I just say it is not only the effort and time but actually I think the result is worthy of passage. In some form or the other there PL COMMITTEE MEETING 4 AUGUST 6, 2014 will be like the democratic process, always involves compromise and decision making but I think the Bill that is before us is better than the one that was introduced and addresses critical problems that need to be introduced...I mean need to be addressed, I am sorry. Chair Bynum: And just to be clear, I have been watching this, reading all of the amendments, meeting with the people involved and I want this Bill to pass, personally, this year. There are many good things in it. I am proud of the work our community has done on this and I sure would like to see it move forward in this year. So I am not an advocate for receiving it so I am hearing that that is the intention of everyone in the next month or so. Thank you very much, Councilmember Yukimura. Ms. Yukimura: You are welcome. Upon motion duly made by Councilmember Yukimura, seconded by Councilmember Kagawa, and carried by a vote of 4:0:1 (Councilmember Rapozo was excused), Bill No. 2461, Draft 1, was Deferred to September 3, 2014 Planning Committee meeting. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:27 a.m. Respectfully submitted, r' f' c Lori L. Marugame Council Services Assistant I APPROVED at the Committee Meeting held on August 20, 2014: TIM B -r M CHAIR, PLANNING COMMITTEE