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Hawaii County committee forwards three Pahoa zoning and design bills to planning review
Summary
The Hawaii County Council policy committee on Feb. 3 voted to forward a package of three Pahoa measures — creating a Downtown Pahoa Commercial District, rezoning properties, and clarifying village design guidelines — to the Windward Planning Commission and the Planning Department for review.
The Hawaii County Council’s Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use and Economic Development on Feb. 3 voted to send three related measures for Downtown Pahoa to the Windward Planning Commission and the Planning Department for review and recommendation.
Councilmember Ashley Kirkwitz, sponsor of the package, told the committee the suite of bills is designed to expand permitted uses in Downtown Pahoa, recognize cultural enterprises as legitimate property uses and support local small businesses and artists recovering after recent eruptions and economic disruption. "This is not an improvement district. There is no special tax assessment that is going to be levied on property owners," Kirkwitz said, urging members to forward the measures for further vetting.
The bills include: Bill 126, which would create a new Downtown Pahoa Commercial (DPC) special zoning district and add specific permitted uses such as coworking/innovation hubs, creative media space and cultural enterprise; Bill 124, a companion ordinance to rezone certain parcels into the DPC (property owners must opt in to include their TMKs); and Bill 125, which clarifies procedures and duties for the Pahoa Village Design guidelines and the Pahoa Design Review Committee.
Public testimony at the start of the meeting supported the package. Robert Golden, executive director of Puna Rising Ohana, said the bills would "align zoning and lived reality" and help preserve the town’s cultural and economic life. Kevin Kushel, acting president of Main Street Pahoa Association, described Pahoa as "a special, special place" that needs policy tools to help businesses and community recovery.
Planning Department staff signaled support for the new use definitions and said the department is preparing a comprehensive zoning code update. "We're definitely in support of these new types of uses," Jeff Derr of the Planning Department said, and added the update will provide an opportunity to apply those definitions in other zoning districts where appropriate. Deputy Corporation Counsel Jean Campbell told the committee the bill’s language should be read as adding specificity rather than excluding broader commercial definitions.
On procedural questions, Kirkwitz confirmed that real property tax treatment would not change automatically with a rezoning: assessments are based on how a property is used, so taxes would change only if an owner changed the property’s use.
The committee moved and seconded motions to forward each of the three bills to the Windward Planning Commission and the Planning Department for review and recommendation. The committee recorded the following outcomes: Bill 126 was forwarded with an 8–0 recorded voice vote (one member excused); Bill 124 was forwarded with a recorded 7–0 voice vote (members Galimba and Kleinfelder were excused); and Bill 125 was forwarded with a recorded 7–0 voice vote (the clerk noted certain members excused). No final zoning, rezoning or design decisions were made at the committee level; each bill will proceed through the Planning Commission review and return to council with recommendations.
Next steps: the bills go to the Windward Planning Commission and the Planning Department for review, at which point staff reports and any recommended amendments will be available before the measures return to the County Council for further consideration.
