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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017_1116_KHPRC_Minutes_ApprovedCOUNTY OF KAUA'I KAUA'I HISTORIC PRESERVATION REVIEW COMMISSION Mo'ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/213 MINUTES A regular meeting of the Kauai Historic Preservation Review Commission (KHPRC) was held on November 16, 2017 in the Mo'ikeha Building, Meeting Room 2A/2B. The following Commissioners were present: Vice -Chair Deatri Nakea; Althea Arinaga; Larry Chaffin Jr; James Guerber; Gerald Ida; Stephen Long; and Anne Schneider. The following Commissioner was absent: Chair Victoria Wichman (excused) The following staff members were present: Planning Department: Deputy Planning Director Ka`aina Hull; Shanlee Jimenez; Alex Wong; Deputy County Attorney Jodi Higuchi- Sayegusa; Boards and Commissions Office Staff. Administrator Paula Morikami; Commission Support Clerk Sandra Muragin. The following staff member was absent: Myles Hironaka (excused) CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 3:03 p.m. ROLL CALL Deputy Planning Director Ka`aina Hull: Good afternoon Chair, members of the Commission. First order of business is the roll call. Commissioner Arinaga. Ms. Arinaga: Here. Mr. Hull: Commissioner Chaffin. Mr. Chaffin: Present. Mr. Hull: Commissioner Guerber is absent. Mr. Guerber: No, I am here. Mr. Hull: Sorry, Commissioner Guerber is here. Commissioner Ida. Mr. Ida: Here. Mr. Hull: Commissioner Long. Mr. Long: Here. Mr. Hull: Commissioner Nakea. Vice -Chair Nakea: Here. Mr. Hull: Commissioner Schneider. Ms. Schneider: Here. Mr. Hull: Chair Wichman is excused. You have a quorum Madame Chair. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Mr. Hull: The next agenda item is approval of the agenda. Mr. Guerber: I move to approve. Ms. Arinaga: Second. Vice -Chair Nakea: All in favor? (Unanimous voice vote) Any opposed? (None) Motion carried 7:0. APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 28, 2017 MINUTES Mr. Hull: The next agenda item is approval of the September 28, 2017 minutes. Vice -Chair Nakea: Can I get a motion to approve. Mr. Chaffin: I make a motion to approve. Ms. Schneider: I second. Vice -Chair Nakea: All those in favor? (Unanimous voice vote) Any opposed? (None) The minutes are approved. Motion carried 7:0. HEARINGS AND PUBLIC COMMENT Mr. Hull: This next agenda item is hearings and public comment. If there are any individuals present in the public that would like to testify on any of the agenda items, now would be the time to do so. Seeing none Madame Chair, we can move on. November 16, 2017 KHPRC Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 9 ANNOUNCEMENTS AND GENERAL BUSINESS MATTERS Mr. Hull: There are no announcements. COMMUNICATIONS Mr. Hull: There are no communications. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1. Discussion on the status of the Certified Local Government (CLG). a. Section 106 Presentation Mr. Hull: We have discussion on the status of the Certified Local Government, and a presentation on (Section) 106. The Department asks that we defer that to the following year when there's potentially another commission member and we can get a presentation in January. We just need a motion for deferral. Mr. Chaffin: I make the motion. Mr. Guerber: Second. Vice -Chair Nakea: All those in favor? (Unanimous voice vote) Motion carried 7:0. Mr. Hull: As far as the discussion for the Certified Local Government, we really only have two points to bring up. As we previously pointed out, (the) State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) is still lacking in several resources and they are still unable to attend this meeting or any series of meetings on the outer -islands. We know they are making some adjustments to have applicants go directly through agencies prior to, or instead of, working with them on a separate track. I think the standard practice before was to have the applicant reach out to SHPD (first and then) go through the process with them. Then when they do an application with the Planning Department and come to you, then you folks would submit to SHPD for comments. They have, as we have been made aware, condensed that process so there is no redundancies in it. They've been actually turning to applicants and saying don't come to us first, go immediately and directly through the Planning Department or whatever respective permitting agency, and the application will be reviewed at that time. So they are making adjustments over there to somewhat streamline it and address the volume of petitions before them. As we're getting there, they're still fairly under resourced and overworked right now, so we don't anticipate (any of) them attending meetings in the near future. On a second note, we have been in touch with our consultant that was hired off of the CLG funds, and that you awarded to have the Hanapepe Bridge nominated to the Historic National Register. You received and reviewed that nomination, and it is now in the hands of our consultant. We anticipate that nomination to go up either in this December's agenda which is on December 1st, or in the January agenda. We haven't gotten confirmation yet but it should be November 16, 2017 KHPRC Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 9 shortly, so we hope to have a win soon for all of us here at this table. Other than that do you have any questions? Seeing none. NEW BUSINESS 1. Lihu`e Town Core Mobility and Revitalization Project Transit Services Center Piikoi Building, Lihu`e Civic Center Lihu`e, Kauai, Hawaii Mr. Hull: The next and only other agenda item we have is agenda item I. New Business 1. Lihu`e Town Core Mobility and Revitalization Project. We have individuals here to present on this project. Transportation Planner Lee Steinmetz: Good afternoon Madame Chair and members of the Commission. My name is Lee Steinmetz and I am the Transportation Planner with the Planning Department. I also wanted to introduce some other people that are here; we have Lyle Tabata who is our Acting County Engineer; Doug Haig who is the Building Division Manager, but more significantly for this project, the Project Manager for the TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) Project; and we have Michael Moule who is Chief of the Engineering Division. So they are all responsible for the actual implementation of the TIGER Project. I was going to do a power point presentation but we're going old school due to some technical difficulties. I printed out the presentation for you, and you have a lot of this in here so while those are being distributed... and there's some extra copies for members of the public if they would like that. As you know, your authority over the TIGER project is really to (give) advice on the Section 106 process. We already went through that last year and we have completed the Section 106 process. The final step in that is for the State Historical (sic) Preservation Division to provide concurrence if they agree that there's no adverse effect historically for the TIGER project. So to back up, we've already completed that. But to back up a little more, when we originally did the TIGER application we had 7 (seven) project components but only 6 (six) were funded when we got our original funding. That was the topic of the Section 106 where the 6 (six) parts of the project were already funded. Since then some good news is (the) Federal Highways Administration has given us some additional funding to add the 7th project that wasn't originally part of the TIGER project back into the project. They gave us a little bit over $1 million dollars and that is to construct a Transit Services Center at the Piikoi Building on the other side, over by where the Big Save is. In our Section 106 process we didn't include that in the project. So now what we plan to do is go back to SHPD, to the State Historic Preservation Division, and describe this new project component, but our finding is that the no adverse effect finding that we found previously still stands. What I wanted to do was explain this new project component to you and if you agree with that, get your concurrence on that. Then when we write SHPD this new letter, we'll include that KHPRC agrees with this or whatever you decide is what we will include in our correspondence to SHPD. To back up a little bit or to now go into the presentation of why we're here today ... I included earlier in your agenda packet these (documents, which contain) some larger pictures of the historical photos that are relevant. This first photo is the construction of what is now the Civic Center, but at the time (it) was the Lihu`e Shopping Center. This was completed in 1964 which from a Hawaii prospective November 16, 2017 KHPRC Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 9 now puts it into being eligible and historic. That's really why we are talking about this, because it's over 50 (fifty) years old and we have to consider the historic qualities of this building and this project. This photo (is) just for reference, and this side over here is the Hardy Street side; this on the bottom of the photo is the side facing Eiwa Street; and over here is the side facing Rice Street. What I want to bring up is first of all the roof profile. You can see that it's pretty simple and it was just a basic roof that went around and there's overhangs. The roof overhangs on all the sides of the building. The side that is most representative of this still today is the side facing Rice Street where the porte cochere is, and you can actually see the porte cochere here. The Rice Street facing side is pretty authentic to what was (there) at the time of the original construction. If you go to the next photo, this intersection is the intersection of Hardy and Eiwa Street. What you're seeing here is the Hardy Street side and here is the Eiwa Street side, and I just wanted to point that out for relationships. If you go to the next picture you'll see a more detailed view of the Hardy Street side, and the reason I bring this up is the fagade of the Hardy Street side when it was originally built is significantly different than it is today. This original fagade which is kind of that block fagade that's similar to the Rice Street side has been demolished and that wall has been pushed out. There's a new roof fagade on top, which you'll see in one of the modern pictures, but I just wanted to point out that the Hardy Street side has really significantly changed from what it was historically. This next picture is again the Hardy Street side, but you can see the corner winding around to the Eiwa Street side and you can see that there are no building additions on the Eiwa Street side as part of the original historic construction. If you go to the next slide, this is what we have today. There's a block building that has been added at the corner of the sides facing Hardy and Eiwa and you can see the edge of this new fagade that's been built or newer fagade. Behind it you can see the tile roof and that tile roof used to just come down and end, and now this other fagade has been added that kind of detracts from the original historic character. The last photo is a block building that's been added at the Eiwa corner near Rice Street. Our plan in terms of building this Transit Services Center is it will be built inside the original wall edge of the Eiwa Street side. If you go to this plan then I can kind of explain what this is. This side over here is facing Eiwa Street and this new Transit Services Center will be built inside the original wall that was the warehouse original wall. Those two block buildings will be demolished, and that's part of this construction. We will be going back close to the original roofline and close to the original wall lines on the Eiwa Street side. Unfortunately, we don't have the funds and it would be real difficult to do anyway, to go back to the original facade on the Hardy Street side because that wall is gone now, it doesn't even exist anymore. We are going to leave the Hardy Street fagade the way it is now. In terms of what's going inside this building there's what we're calling a Transit Services Center. This will be a retail space, quote - unquote, for the Kauai Bus. All of their community service things will be here; so people can come here to buy bus passes; people can come here for loss and found; and they also have to do assessments for people who might qualify for paratransit. They will be able to do all of that here instead of people having to go to where they're currently located, where the bus yard is, which isn't very convenient for someone who's taking the bus because there's no bus access there. That will remain the bus yard and the operations will all remain there, but these administrative services will move to this location. We'll also be constructing a restroom that has exterior access for bus users and bus patrons. We're still working on the security aspects of that, but we anticipate at this time that the restroom will be open during bus hours and closed after bus hours November 16, 2017 KHPRC Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 9 and (will) not (be) open 24/7. The point is that (it) will be accessible from the exterior without having to go inside any of the Civic Center building. That's kind of a general overview of what we're planning now. If we have enough money and we're not sure, that's kind of a basic plan of what we want to do. If we have enough (money) we also want to add locker space for bikes. (These would be) for people who want to commute (to work) on their bikes so they have a safe place to store their bikes and a changing facility, but that's kind of second priority to the Transit Services Center. Anyway, all of that will be placed inside the Big Save building and the original fagade walls will stay at their current location. The only other difference is on that Eiwa Street side which is kind of back of the house, and there will be doors and windows that will be added to that side. But again, the roof profile will remain as is or as it was. The last page here is a layout of the parking area. We're planning some revisions to the parking area on the Eiwa Street side. We'll actually be able to add more parking spaces because we're demolishing those buildings, (so) we will actually end up with more space for parking. We'll also add some trees and landscaping (that are) similar to what's been done on the Rice Street side. Underneath, because the eve of the roof comes out a certain distance, we'll be able to add an exterior plaza space for Civic Center employees to have lunch, and for people who are going to the bus services to have a place. We are recognizing that we do have some homeless issues in this area and we're designing that to not be like a place where a lot of people would be able to congregate, but still work for people to be able to sit and have lunch. We kind of have a shortage of that space for employees of the Civic Center. That's a quick overview and I am happy to answer any questions you might have. But again our determination is because we are removing some these concrete block buildings that we're adding later and we're going back to really more of the original roof line and the original fagade even though we're adding some windows and doors. We feel like the improvements that we've proposed for this building fall into that category of no adverse effect. That's what we're suggesting and we welcome your comments. Ms. Schneider: Do you have an elevation of the facades? Mr. Steinmetz: We don't yet. We are at a very conceptual level with our architect, and we don't have elevations yet. Vice -Chair Nakea: It's my understanding that we concur. We either concur and agree that there's no adverse impact to the historical significance of the building, or we cannot concur and decide there are adverse effects. At this point can we get a motion to either concur or not concur and a second so that we can have a discussion. Mr. Long: I move that we accept the proposal as presented, and that this Commission finds that there is no adverse effect to the previously compromised historical Piikoi Building in support of the findings of the FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) and the Uhu`e Town Core Mobility and Revitalization Project. Mr. Guerber: I second that. Vice -Chair Nakea: Any discussion? (None) All those in favor? No? Mr. Hull: And this is when you have the discussion. November 16, 2017 KHPRC Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 9 Vice -Chair Nakea: Okay. So is there any discussion about this. Mr. Guerber: I would say these plans are not that clear about which streets are where. There are no street names and the names of the buildings are upside down, but if you spend some time you can read it. Vice -Chair Nakea: I love the idea and hopefully you guys can get the extra money for the lockers and changing area. All those in favor? (Unanimous voice vote) Any opposed? (None) The motion passes. Motion carried 7:0. COMMISSION EDUCATION COMMITTEE KAUA'I HISTORIC RESOURCE INVENTORY UPDATE COMMITTEE HISTORIC PRESERVATION PUBLICITY COMMITTEE HANAPEPE BRIDGE REPLACEMENT PROJECT COMMITTEE SELECTION OF NEXT MEETING DATE AND AGENDA TOPICS Mr. Hull: That is the final agenda item. In discussions with the Chair, the Department is not in receipt of any other projects. I explained to the Chair that without any projects the Department doesn't have a need for a meeting in December, and she concurred there is no pressing issue to have as a presentation. That would really be all I can say. When you do come back in January the Department does anticipate rolling out the program we've been talking about, as far as having an actual staff report for projects that come before you. Alex Wong has been in the back of these meetings for the past few months and he's been monitoring (the meetings). He will be actually drafting reports for each one of these projects which will give our Department the analysis, evaluation, and recommendation so you can review and analyze off of not just what the applicant is testifying to, but as well as what the Department is interjecting. Ms. Schneider: I have this. Mr. Hull: Thank you Anne for reminding me. Ms. Schneider: Looks like the third week (is when) everybody can come. Mr. Hull: Yes. Thank you all for responding to Shan (Jimenez) as far as your best availabilities. The third week, the 3rd Thursday of every month looks like the most available. Shan was able to contact the Boards and Commissions Office to confirm that this room is always available for the November 16, 2017 KHPRC Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 9 following year at this time. We anticipate having these meetings on the 3rd Thursday of every month. Mr. Guerber: Does it look like the Equal Access Commission is... Mr. Hull: Yes. Shan checked it out and they're meeting at a different time; 3:00 p.m. in this room, (and the) third Thursday works out for the New Year. Thank you all and have a wonderful holiday. Mr. Long: We didn't discuss the Historic Inventory PIG (Permitted Interaction Group) and I wanted to bring that up. All I really have to say in order to keep it on the agenda for next time is that we have one more meeting to get together in order to finalize our field observations. While working with Myles (Hironaka), and that's going really well, (but) I have a personal comment. I really believe that the inventory we did is really thorough and very useful for the future. It covered everything from Kalaheo through Lihu`e down to K61oa, and I would like to have a discussion about forming or continuing the existing Historic Survey PIG, and take on another town without paying outside consultants. I felt that our group did a really good job with that and (with) the support of your staff of course, which you would have to think about. I would like to propose to put (it) on the agenda for our next meeting (and have) a discussion about forming an additional PIG, a Historic Survey PIG that would address another community such as Kapa`a, our second largest town. Ms. Schneider: That would be great, I would agree. Mr. Hull: That agenda item has always been held for you. It has been the Kauai Historic Research Inventory but the project has always focused on Lihu`e and (the) south shore. I think looking at and perhaps opening up to do other parts of the island would be definitely in keeping with the purpose of the program. We can work with the Chair when we do the January agenda. ADJOURNMENT Vice -Chair Nakea: Can I get a motion to adjourn the meeting? Ms. Schneider: I move to adjourn. Ms. Schneider: I second. Vice -Chair Nakea: Any discussion? (Hearing none) Motion carried 7:0. The meeting adjourned at 3:27 p.m. November 16, 2017 KHPRC Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 9 Respectfully Submitted & q Q�7� Sandra M. Muragin Commission Support Clerk ( X ) Approved as circulated. 01/18/18 ( ) Approved with amendments. See minutes of meeting. November 16, 2017 KHPRC Meeting Minutes Page 9 of 9