To the County Council: To the Planning Commission: I know an awful lot of time, money and effort has gone into the development of a new General Plan for Kaua’i’s future. I’m just hoping that it includes a procedure that
To the County Council:
To the Planning Commission:
I know an awful lot of time, money and effort has gone into the development of a new General Plan for Kaua’i’s future. I’m just hoping that it includes a procedure that makes it very difficult to make changes . . . and “teeth” to enforce attached conditions and violations . . . or what would be the point?
Has there been discussion of eliminating the County Council from the process? In 1978, during a hearing on the ordinance that allowed the council to add conditions to zoning applications, a Realtor, the late Clint Childs, asked if it wasn’t “adding a Planning Commission on top of a Planning Commission?” He may have had a valid point.
I hope that no more changes will be granted, no more open space given away, because the petitioner “is a good guy.” And I’m tired of seeing applicants pleading for an upzoning, just so they can increase their sale price.
Maybe a “Statement of Rationale” should be required by the commission and/or council, each time it grants approval to changes in the new General Plan.
If there’s a lot of money to be made, the applicant is smart to hire someone who is a “professional salesman,” and if that sales pitch is really good, sometimes it’s hard to recognize it for what it is. Also, if it’s a really complex project, appointed commission members, understandably, may not have the expertise necessary to properly evaluate the project.
Kaua’i cannot afford to hire a citizen’s advocate so planning staff needs to be relied on to provide commissioners with an objective and complete review of the application.
I think it’s important that the mind-set, that economic growth and benefits can come only from land development, needs to be changed . . . and that commissioners and council members should be reminded that it is within their power to “Just Say No.” The plan to include the community in the planning process, sounds like a good one. As to the question of how to get them involved . . I think the greatest stimulant would be some indication that what they have to say matters.
Georgia Mossman, Kapa’a
