LIHU’E – Planners attempted an end-run yesterday, only to get stopped at the
line of scrimmage by an alert defense.
The plan floated by the county
Planning Department at a Citizens Advisory Committee meeting yesterday was to
solicit public input on the Kaua’i General Plan Discussion Draft, then hand off
the final draft to the Planning Commission.
Under that scenario, CAC
members would not have had an opportunity to review possible revisions to the
discussion draft.
The idea did not sit well with CAC members. Fred Jager
and Tom Shigemoto voiced the majority opinion saying that CAC members should
see any revisions to the General Plan before it goes to the Planning
Commission.
In the end, the planners acquiesced to the sentiments of the
advisory committee and agreed to provide CAC members the final draft before it
goes to the Commission.
The fact that the process will further delay
adoption of the General Plan and add one or two CAC meetings didn’t concern CAC
members nearly as much as the possibility that citizen involvement in the plan
might get short-circuited by the oversight.
“The communities want control,”
said CAC member Barbara Robeson.
Rob Culbertson, another CAC member, said
he views the Discussion Draft as a defensive document aimed at preventing
further and future damage, and feels it should include at least some language
about restorative efforts similar to the language area watershed councils are
proposing.
Robeson feels the plan needs to at least address the island’s
social needs.
CAC member Cheryl Lovell-Obatake said the Office of Hawaiian
Affairs needs to review the document (a copy has been sent to OHA), and
heritage maps should include an updated inventory of ceded lands, including
submerged lands.
The meeting last night was the CAC’s first opportunity to
review the Discussion Draft as a body, and over 20 members showed up, along
with nearly 30 members of the public including a majority of the members of the
County Council: Chair Ron Kouchi, Vice Chair Bryan Baptiste, and Gary Hooser,
Daryl Kaneshiro and Jimmy Tokioka.
After the Planning Commission holds its
own round of public hearings, makes changes it feels are necessary and approves
the General Plan, it will be forwarded to the council.
It will be the
council’s duty later this year to hold its own public hearings on the draft
General Plan, include any changes it deems necessary, and approve the document
in ordinance form to send to Mayor Maryanne Kusaka for her approval or
veto.
Hooser agreed with the idea of having the CAC look at the final draft
General Plan before it goes to the Planning Commission, so all will know what
version of the plan the CAC approved.
Additional CAC meetings set so far
include the next planned session, Saturday, Jan. 29, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.,
and another Tuesday, Feb. 1, from 4 to 7 p.m., both at the Lihu’e Civic
Center.
Community meetings on the plan also are scheduled.
Roxanne
MacDougall, a consultant hired to facilitate the GPU process, reiterated that
Monday, Feb. 7, remains the deadline for written public comments regarding the
Discussion Draft.
Registered nonprofit organizations can pick up free
copies of the General Plan Discussion Draft at the Planning Department office
in the Lihu’e Civic Center.
