This meeting of the Honolulu City Council's Zoning and Planning Committee covered four agenda items: a special management area permit for a Kailua residential project, a bill to expand the downtown Fort Street Mall Business Improvement District, a state land use boundary amendment for a proposed Haleiwa development, and an informational briefing on a new permitting software. The committee heard extensive public testimony, deliberated, and took action on three items, with the fourth being informational only.
Aloha and uh good morning, everyone. It is Monday, July 28, 2025, and the time is now 9 05 a.m. With a committee on zoning and planning meeting, please come to order. I would like to welcome the following committee members, committee vice chair waters, councilmember Cordero, Councilmember Okimoto, and Councilmember Tupola. I understand via Zoom. We also have Councilmember Dosantas TAM. Good morning, Councilmember DeSantis TAM. Do we have any other council members online? Although remote verbal testimonies being permitted, this is a regular in-person meeting and not a remote meeting by interactive conference technology under HRS Section 92 3.7. Therefore, the meeting will continue, notwithstanding loss of audio visual communication with remote testifiers or loss of the public broadcast of the meeting. Members of the public will be allowed to provide verbal testimony on all items on the agenda when each item is taken up in two ways in person in the council chamber and remotely via teleconference via video conference or phone. Before testifying, each person shall state their name for the record. Each speaker will be limited to a one-minute presentation per item. All persons who register to testify in person will be called upon first. Persons who did not register will be given an opportunity to offer testimony after the registered testifiers. Once in-person testimony has concluded, I will proceed to the remote testifiers. When I call your name or the last three digits of your phone number, please follow the prompts to unmute. As both English and Hawaiian are official languages of the state of Hawaii, pursuant to Article 15, Section 4 of the Hawaii State Constitution and Section 113 of the Hawaii revised statutes. Members of the public may testify in either language. For verbal testimonies offered in Olelo, Hawaii, additional time as may be necessary will be allowed for the testifier to provide an English translation of their testimony. Written testimonies, including the testifier's address, email address, and phone number will be available to the public as described on the posted agenda. As a courtesy, please turn off or silence all cell phones for the duration of this meeting. Thank you. Moving on to agenda item number one. This resolution grants a special resolution 25-184. This resolution grants a special management area major permit to Kaopuni LLC to allow the construction of a two-story single unit main dwelling with attached three-car garage, one-story single unit guest dwelling, central courtyard in ground swimming pool, spa area, and open work fencing on an approximately 44,356 square foot shoreline lot, split zone R10 residential district, and P1 restricted preservation district, located at 144 Kaopuni Drive in Kailua and identified as tax map key 43013 039. Members, we have posted on the agenda a proposed CD1 version of the resolution, which I submitted. For your information, a summary of the amendments is listed on the agenda. A small portion of the project zoning lot closest to the shoreline is zone P1 restricted preservation district, but no development is proposed in this area. The proposed site, the project site is not anticipated to be impacted by coastal erosion or sea level rise, and the shoreline setback is 60 feet. The project's main dwelling, which is closest to the shoreline, will be located approximately 69 feet from the shoreline. The project zoning lot size is listed as 44,356 square feet, but over decades, 2,067 square feet of the lot has been lost to erosion and is now within the state land use conservation district. Several calculations to determine compliance with land use ordinance development standards are based on the zoning lot size. The proposed CD1 adds a new condition B to require the applicant to use 42,289 square feet as the project's zoning lot size, which reflects a reduction of 2,067 square feet that has been lost to erosion when calculating building area, floor area, and impervious surface area for purposes of the project's building permit application. Since the applicant is aware that it has to revise these calculations before submitting a building permit application, hopefully this will facilitate the project's building permit process. The applicant proposes new open work fencing with the 60 foot shoreline setback area, which will require a minor shoreline structure permit. Condition C of the proposed CD1 requires the applicant to obtain a mark minor shoreline structure permit prior to the issuance of any building permit for the installation of the project's proposed fencing within the 60-foot shoreline setback area. An archaeological inventory survey of the project site was conducted by ASM affiliates. A total of 12 test trenches were excavated, and two native Hawaiian historical sites were discovered. One site is a subsurface occupational layer containing two pits and a septic vault. The other site is a subsurface occupational layer containing a pit. No EV Kupuna or native Hawaiian accessual rains were discovered. But the project site is located within the Kailua Acretion Berm, where many EV Kupuna have been discovered. And the project site also consists of Jacques Sands, which have a higher likelihood of containing subsurface archaeological sites in EV Kupuna. The proposed CD1, therefore, includes conditions to minimize impacts to archaeological, historical, and cultural resources. Condition D2 provides that prior to the issuance of a construction permit or building permit for the project. The applicant is required to submit to the Department of Planning and Permitting a copy of the State Historic Preservation Division's written acceptance of the project's archaeological inventory survey and any required mitigation protocols. Condition 3D3 provides that prior to the issuance of a construction permit or building permit for the project. The applicant is required to prepare and submit an archaeological monitoring plan to the State Historic Preservation Division and provide the department with a copy of the division's written acceptance and any required mitigation protocols. Finally, condition D4 requires the applicant to implement all mitigation protocols approved by the division and conduct a coordination meeting with project archaeological consultants and construction contractors prior to the start of construction to ensure that everyone is informed of all required mitigation protocols.