A panel of land experts from Kaua‘i doesn’t want to see the state Land Use Commission dismantled. But the experts, who attended a meeting at the Radisson Hotel Wednesday, voiced support for and reservations over a proposal by the Hawai‘i
A panel of land experts from Kaua‘i doesn’t want to see the state Land Use Commission dismantled.
But the experts, who attended a meeting at the Radisson Hotel Wednesday, voiced support for and reservations over a proposal by the Hawai‘i chapter of the American Planning Association to redefine the role of the state Land Use Commission.
The commission was created by the state Legislature in the early 1960s to primarily preserve agricultural land in Hawai‘i, to encourage the best use of land and to prevent run-away development.
At the meeting, the land experts voiced these concerns:
- Tom Shigemoto, an executive with Alexander & Baldwin and a former Kaua‘i County planning director, said the counties need funding for school, parks, infrastructure and housing.
But the counties no longer need to rely so heavily on the state LUC in determining their future growth.
“Hello, the (state) Land Use Law is 44 years old,” Shigemoto said. “I think the county (of Kaua‘i) is old enough to take care of its land use needs. How much longer does the state feel that it needs to guide us and protect us from ourselves.”
- Kaua‘i attorney Michael Belles said the law is still valid and needs minor tweaking to address pressing land use issues facing Kaua‘i today — bed and breakfast operations, use of agricultural lands and “preserving -and encouraging them, controlling commercialization along shoreline areas.”
- Keith Nitta, a chief planner for the Kaua‘i County Planning Department, said the law “is still a useful tool,” and that state and county government planning systems need to be updated and improved before the APA proposal is advanced.
A state planning office needs to be beefed up again to provide more information about communities and infrastructure to help the state LUC make the best decisions on land use, Nitta said.
- Barbara Robeson, a former leader of the Kauai County Planning Commission, a former legislative analyst to House Rep. Hermina Morita and an executive assistant to former Mayor JoAnn Yukimura, said there were good and bad things about the proposal.
But she said more research and datagathering have to be done before she could support the APA proposal or not support it.
“I am glad to see that a large audience has had an opportunity to read and comment on it, so that ongoing discussions can be meaningful,” said Robeson of the 130 and more participants at the Wednesday meeting.
In advocating for a change in the law, Robin Foster, a member of the Hawai”i chapter of the American Planning Association, contended that the state and county review processes are over-regulated, complex, duplicative and that the current planning systems limit public participation, a key issue with Robeson.
Foster recommended these key changes in the law:
- Give the state LUC the authority to establish state planning goals and to set standards in the making of county general plans and state “long-range function plans;
- Set policy goals for the rural, agricultural and conservation districts over which the state LUC has jurisdiction, and eliminate certain zoning standards;
- Give county leaders authority to plan and regulate land use in the rural, agricultural and urban districts, based on statewide planning goals;
- Mandate that counties revise zoning and land development regulations to gibe with their general plans;
- Mandate county leaders to work with state agencies in all stages of the general plan process;
- Provide state funding and technical support to all the counties to help them with their planning process.
Foster said one key aspect of the call to modify the state land use law is to “take a new look and see how we can better coordinate the county and state planning without duplicating each other’s efforts.”
Currently, when a developer changes its development plan, it has to go back to the state LUC, Foster said. The developer should be allowed to go back only to the county to approve the change, thus saving time and money, Foster said.
Amending the law will allow for more effective planning by government, he said. “So that we are making public investments at appropriate times, to support development at appropriate locations where the county wants development to happen,” Foster said.
At times, the state Department of Transportation funds the construction of roads, but nobody truly understands the rationale for the project, Foster contends.
“We need to be more focused in how we plan our CIP (capital improvement projects), both state and county, he said.
Foster said he and a committee with APA will be holding similar meetings on the other islands to advocate for a change in the state land use law.
The state LUC is comprised of nine commissioners. Peter Yukimura represents Kaua‘i.
The primary function of the state LUC is to review and to approve or reject petitions to amend state land use district boundaries.
The commission has jurisdiction over the reclassification of land in the conservation district and petitions involving land parcels greater than 15 acres in the urban, agricultural and rural districts.
The meeting was presented by the Hawaii chapter of the American Planning Association, the Kaua‘i Planning & Action Alliance, Urban Land Institute, Hawaii District Council and the Hawaii Economic Association.
Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and lchang@pulitzer.net.
