Committee forwards Puna rezoning request to council to allow five-lot subdivision

The Committee on Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions voted March 17 to forward Bill 137 to the full Hawaii County Council with a favorable recommendation, clearing the way for a proposed five-lot subdivision on a 5.79-acre parcel at Waiala in Puna.

The proposal, introduced to the committee at the request of Councilmember Kimball, would change the parcel’s zoning from Agricultural 20-acre to Family Agricultural (FA-1, 1-acre minimum) to allow a five-lot subdivision. Planning Director Jeff Darrow told the committee he and the Windward Planning Commission recommended forwarding the request with conditions.

Darrow said the property is identified on county maps as within the Curtis Town area in Puna and falls inside the State Land Use Agricultural District; lands immediately to the east and south are in the State Land Use Urban District and are shown as low-density urban on the county general plan. "This is our state land use boundary map. This is within the State Land Use Agricultural District," Darrow said while showing the presentation map.

Committee members asked whether the subdivision would have sufficient water and whether adding lots would worsen traffic where side roads feed onto State Highway 11. One member, who said he lives in the area, told the panel: "I live in the area, and every morning, I watch people trying to get from onto the highway, and it's brutal." Darrow replied that water availability is central to rezoning decisions and invoked the code's concurrency rules, noting that "subsection m specifically states, you cannot do a change of zone without calming water." He also said traffic impact analyses typically are triggered at about "50 AM/PM peak-hour trips," so a project of this size usually does not require a traffic study, though cumulative impacts from multiple changes are monitored and agencies are asked to comment.

Darrow described access and road conditions near the parcel: the subdivision's access would be on Kua'aina Road; neighboring roads to the north and west are private. He said the planning recommendation includes a condition for a potential future road widening along North Road to secure roughly a 60-foot right-of-way where necessary.

After discussion the committee moved and seconded the recommendation and approved forwarding Bill 137 to the full council with eight ayes and one excused member (Miss Kalimba). The committee’s favorable recommendation does not itself rezone the property; final action lies with the County Council.

The committee adjourned at 1:45 p.m. The council's schedule for first reading or further hearings on Bill 137 was not specified during this meeting.