Implementing visions and goals

LIHUE – The Planning Department will hold two open houses in the coming weeks to highlight the draft South Kauai Community Plan, maps and zoning overlays.

The draft plan, which encompasses Koloa, Poipu, Kalaheo, Omao and Lawai provides a guide for future growth in the area.

Open houses will be:

– From 3 to 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Koloa Neighborhood Center. A formal presentation will run from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

– From 3 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2 at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center on Thursday, Oct. 2 A formal presentation will be given from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

The Planning Department staff will be on hand to answer questions.

The draft South Kauai Community Plan can be accessed online at www.southkauaicop.com.

Highlights of the draft plan include:

– New zoning overlays for Koloa and Kalaheo will implement the community’s desire for village-scaled infill development that respects the existing town character and provides for diverse housing types in a walkable setting.

– The zoning overlays utilize form-based code, which will allow more flexible mixed use standards and a mix of mid-density building types such as “courtyard housing,” while establishing context-sensitive urban form standards.

– A multimodal transportation network map was developed through community input and a transportation analysis that considered “mode shift” from vehicle trips to active transportation trips.

– The land use map identifies a new focused growth area, called the Poipu Gateway Mixed Use Village, as an appropriate place for new development to meet projected workforce housing needs adjacent to the region’s major employment center.

Info: 241-4050.