HomeMy WebLinkAbout21015sdcMinKAUAI PLANNING COMMISSION
SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE MEETING
February 10, 2015
The regular meeting of the Planning Commission Subdivision Committee of the County of Kauai
was called to order by Committee Vice Chair Sean Mahoney at 8:41 a.m. at the Lihue Civic
Center, Moikeha Building, in meeting room 2A -2B. The following Commissioners were
present:
Mr. Louis Abrams
Mr. Sean Mahoney
Absent and excused:
Mr. Jan Kimura
The following staff members were present: Planning Department — Kenneth Estes, Duke
Nakamatsu; Deputy County Attorney Ian Jung
CALL TO ORDER
Vice Chair Mahoney called the meeting to order at 8:41 a.m.
ROLL CALL
Staff Planner Kenneth Estes noted there were two committee members present and there
was quorum.
MINUTES of the meetinj!(s) of the Subdivision Committee
Minutes of January 27, 2015
On the motion by Louis Abrams and seconded by Sean Mahoney to approve the
minutes, the motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
RECEIPT OF ITEMS FOR THE RECORD
Communication from Deputy Planning; Director. Dee Crowell, requesting. reconsideration
of Tentative Subdivision Approval for subdivision application:
Subdivision
Application
No.
S- 2015
-07
PropeNty,Development
Centers LLC Proposed I I -
lot Subdivision.
TMK:
(4) 3- 3- 003:046, Lihue,
Puna,
Kauai
a
Mr. Estes stated Deputy Planning Director Dee Crowell is requesting reconsideration to
reinstate condition I.H. of the report.
Laurel Loo representing the applicant stated they have read the proposed conditions. She
noted they were not involved in the negotiations that lead to it being placed on the agenda. They
were notified by Mr. Jung that it would be on the agenda.
Dennis Esaki, surveyor for the project, stated that in looking at Kulcui Grove and Kukui
Grove Village, the whole area is subdivided with flag lots and there are a bunch of parking lots.
There should be no access problems. The remainder lot which is of concern is abutting a
roadway which meets the condition of touching the County road and there will be easements for
access. He did not see access problems. The condition calls for working with the Department so
he didn't see a problem.
GENERAL BUSINESS MATTERS
Tentative Subdivision Action (if Request for Reconsideration is granted)
Subdivision
Application
No S- 2015
-07
Property
Development Centers LLC Proposed 11
lot Subdivision,
TMK:
(4) 3- 3- 003:046
Lihue
Puna
Kauai
Mr. Estes stated that in reevaluating the amendment to condition number I.H. the
Department is requesting reconsideration of approval to amend for the following reasons: It is
good planning practice to review a subdivision as a whole which includes planning and
mitigating future impacts that a subdivision may have on the surrounding area. The commercial
project is being evaluated as a whole despite being developed into two phases. This is to assure
vehicular access to the project is properly addressed by taking into context the impact a
subdivision may have to the surrounding area. The intent of the original condition is to assure
access to phase one of the development from the roundabout. Phase one is considered the
current construction at the project site that involves 1546A- 1546G. It is possible that access
through Iot 1546J onto phase one of the development could be negated once the subdivision is
finalized. The roundabout will not be property utilized to serve the whole development and
could present future traffic impacts along the street. It is the Department's preference to link the
two phases and assure ingress /egress points are properly utilized. There will be a total of four
ingress /egress points serving this development. The Department is recommending
reconsideration of the committee's approval to amend condition number 1.H. and to reinstate the
original condition with the following language to read: "Prior to final subdivision approval, the
applicant shall work with the Planning Department to establish an access easement affecting lot
1546J and it shall resume from lot 1546K and provide a connection to lot 1546A. Furthermore
the access easement shall be wide enough to accommodate two -way vehicular traffic." This
provision shall be incorporated into the deed description of the affected lots of which draft copies
shall be submitted to the P1amling Department for review and approval.
Oa
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Mr.
Jung
noted
that if the
body wants to reconsider, a motion has to
be made first, then
they can go
back
to the
item and
review whether or not to amend condition
1.H.
On the motion by Louis Abrams and seconded by Sean Mahoney to reconsider, the
motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
Mr. Abrams questioned if there were any easements that would allow the public to go
through phase two to get to phase one. He sees the accesses off of Kaumualii Highway, off the
roundabout, and one further by the YWCA. He didn't see anything that would ensure it.
Mr. Jung noted this is a tentative approval. As part of the final approval process they will
have to present easements or work with the Department to identify an area for an easement. The
problem is phase one is owned by one corporation and phase two is owned by another. The goal
of the Department is to facilitate proper ingress and egress from the roundabout, not only to
phase one but to future phase two so people can circulate through that area.
Mr. Abrams stated they approved what was recommended by the applicant's attorney as
commercially reasonable. That is troubling enough to want to ask for reconsideration to work
with the Planning Department. He agreed that it better be worked out because he didn't want to
hear from the public somewhere down the road that they can't go through phase two in order to
get to the other side of the project. He sees the only easement that looks like they could get to
the other side is the one on the eastern side of the property labeled as AU 1 and he doesn't even
know if that is a road.
Mr. Esaki stated he thinks that it is sufficient to work with the Department in resolving
the access conditions.
Mr. Jung noted that the concern with the term "commercially reasonable" is if they
negotiated $100,000 but only wanted to pay $50,000 because they say it wouldn't be
commercially reasonable to pay that amount, it could prohibit future access. Mr. Abrams agreed
that it could be declined and we would be left with no solution.
Mr. Abrams stated he would hope that whatever is agreed that it is freely accessible from
any side because it would benefit everybody; whether they come off Kaumualii Highway to get
to phase two, or come in the other way to get to phase one. An internal system would be fine.
On the motion by Louis Abrams and seconded by Sean Mahoney to accept the
staff's recommendation, the motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
There was no public testimony.
ADJOURNMENT
Vice Chair Mahoney adjourned the Committee meeting at 8:55 a.m.
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Duke Nakamatsu,
Commission Support Clerk
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