LIHU‘E — After a whole morning ironing out details on the Kaua‘i Multimodal Land Transportation Plan, the Kaua‘i County Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a resolution to adopt the plan as a policy guideline for the island. “The MLTP is
LIHU‘E — After a whole morning ironing out details on the Kaua‘i Multimodal Land Transportation Plan, the Kaua‘i County Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a resolution to adopt the plan as a policy guideline for the island.
“The MLTP is intended to serve as a guide for the development of county roads and streets, public transit, bicycle facilities, pedestrian facilities, agriculture-related transportation, and to promote the integration of land use planning with transportation system development,” the resolution states.
The plan was initiated in May 2011, under the guidance of the county Executive on Transportation Celia Mahikoa, and with funds from a federal grant passed on to the state Department of Transportation. After a string of public meetings, workshops and surveys, the plan’s final draft is ready, though pending changes will be made.
“This plan will serve as a really strong foundation for our General Plan update,” county Long-range Planner Marie Williams said.
Mahikoa, Williams and eight additional individuals, including representatives from county and state agencies and two mayoral-appointed citizens, comprise a Transportation Coordinating Committee tasked with many aspects of the plan’s implementation.
Mahikoa said all government agencies are fully committed to working together for the success of the plan’s implementation.
“This is a plan that isn’t just going to sit on a shelf,” committee member and county Transportation Planner Lee Steinmetz said.
Deputy County Engineer Lyle Tabata, also a committee member, said the county Public Works Department is particularly committed to support the plan’s Complete Streets segment, which is also tied up to Safe Routes to School.
Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura, a committee member in her capacity as chair of the council’s Transportation Committee, said the plan transitions Kaua‘i officials into a new way of thinking in terms of transportation and will help the county attain its goal of preserving the island’s rural character.
Williams said that to maintain Kaua‘i’s rural character, the county has to ensure that the transportation plan works.
The idea of preserving the rural character, Steinmetz said, is a “huge issue” in planning, down to detailed designing. He said it’s not the intent of the plan to pave the whole island. Rather, it is to make communities more walkable and bicycle friendly, but taking into consideration different aspects of each community.
The original committee had only one citizen representative. Council Vice Chair Nadine Nakamura had previously suggested to increase the number of citizens in the committee.
“I guess I can live with two (citizens); would be happier with three,” she said.
Nakamura also brought up that a representative of the visitor industry should be considered in the committee.
Financial aspects
Council Chair Jay Furfaro said there was 14 submitted written testimonies, all in favor of the plan. The first public speakers also praised the county for the plan.
Tommy Noyes, who was instrumental in pushing for the county multi-use path, said people of all ages deserve to feel safe while walking. Neil Clendennin said the county has been courageous for developing the plan, which will keep people healthier and avoid medical expenses for the citizens and the government.
But then Kapa‘a resident and self-described “nitpicker” Glenn Mickens questioned the council where the millions of dollars to implement the plan will come from.
“You’ve got to live in a real world here,” said Mickens, adding the plan sounds great, but it will cost a lot of money. “If you don’t have the money, it can’t be done.”
Yukimura said the population has grown but the vehicle-miles traveled has leveled off, and maybe changing modes of transportation, such as taking the bus and car-pooling, is what it takes.
“Would you do the same thing JoAnn? Would you get rid of your car?” Mickens asked Yukimura, who smiled and said yes.
Furfaro and Councilman Mel Rapozo also had some concerns regarding financial aspects of the plan.
Furfaro said he was fine with the plan, but didn’t want to find the council to find themselves over-promising and under-delivering.
“I would like to see some strategic thinking on the finance portion,” said Furfaro, adding there needs to be someone with a financial background in the committee.
Rapozo said there are a lot of things going on in the county, and yet the revenues keep declining. He asked the committee members to keep in mind that the plan’s implementation will cost a lot of money and the county doesn’t have unlimited funds.
Native Hawaiians
“We want Hawai‘i to be Hawai‘i,” said Lihu‘e resident Joe Rosa, adding that Lihu‘e can still be a walking town.
Rosa described Lihu‘e in a time when, as a child, he used to buy Japanese rice paper candy for a penny from Yukimura’s grandmother. At that time, there was already a push to make Lihu‘e more walkable, he said.
“I know the history of Lihu‘e, and not many of (elderly residents) are around to testify here today,” he said.
And then there were concerns with Native Hawaiian representation.
North Shore resident Felicia Cowden talked about the merits of the plan and said younger people are prone to take the bus. But she said she would like to see a Hawaiian cultural practitioner in the committee. People like her, she said, get all excited about plans like this, only to learn in the 11th hour that it’s culturally insensitive. She also asked for a simpler language in the plan to make it more understandable to the larger community.
Sherry Cummings Yokotake said the non-presence of any Native Hawaiian organization in the committee was evident.
“Unfortunately for us, we come behind the eight-ball when Section 106 happens,” said Cummings Yokotake, in reference to the federally mandated cultural and archaeological survey.
But she said the plan can still be a win-win situation provided it is done correctly. She suggested consulting with Native Hawaiians and considering naming places accordingly with their original Hawaiian names.
As far as finding a Native Hawaiian representative in the committee, Jim Charlier, whose consultant company was contracted to develop the plan, said “the difficulty is who represents who.”
Tabata said to include more people in the committee, already with 10 members, would make the process more cumbersome.
Mahikoa said it would better to have a Native Hawaiian representative to provide input on a given project.
Amendments
The main criticism to the plan, and perhaps the most specific one, came from North Shore resident Carl Imparato. He said the plan is a threat to Kaua‘i’s rural character, as its goal was to install sidewalks in every community.
“The resolution that is before you today is not just a feel-good document; it has real consequences,” Imparato said.
By the council adopting the resolution, he said, the county would adopt the plan as it is written.
“In the end, words matter; you have to say what you mean and mean what you say,” he said.
The language in the plan reflected a policy to include sidewalks in reconstructed streets and to add sidewalks over time on existing streets. According to the plan, sidewalks should be no less than 5-foot wide in residential areas and no less than 8-foot wide in commercial areas.
“This language speaks for itself; it’s black and white,” said Imparato, adding that the “absolute nature” of the plan is striking and clear: Its policy is to impose sidewalks in Kaua‘i’s rural communities.
Charlier said the intent was not to put sidewalks everywhere.
“No, I don’t think we want to do that,” said Charlier, adding that the language could be softened. His concern when putting such strict language in the plan was not with the existing communities, he said, but with stopping developers from finding loopholes to circumvent the policy in new constructions.
Imparato suggested a few modifications that were later amended to the final resolution approved by the council, and will be added to the plan’s final version.
Imparato asked for modification in the language related to sidewalks and bicycle lanes to allow flexibility in different island communities, and to acknowledge that policies regarding pedestrian facilities and bicycle paths should cater to each affected community’s desires.
Additionally, following Imparato’s suggestion, the resolution was amended to make it explicit that the input of local communities should be solicited and given strong consideration.
Visit www.movekauai.net to download the plan’s final draft.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
