Officials try to
By Rod Thompson
clarify Hawaii County
zoning code
Star-BulletinHILO -- Hawaii County officials today were to start to clarify the murky zoning picture that has put development in limbo.
The County Council scheduled a 1:30 p.m. workshop on the zoning code, ruled by a judge as improperly adopted, followed by a public hearing at 5 p.m. at the county building.
In December, Kona Judge Ronald Ibarra said the Council violated the state Sunshine Law in 1996 by going through eight drafts of the 165-page law without enough public explanation.
Ibarra ruled that the law was "voidable" but remains in effect until the Council reapproves it. If the work isn't done by September, the old code goes back into effect.
The judge's ruling left open major questions, such as what happens to developer applications now if the Council makes new changes.
Council Planning Chairwoman Bobby Jean Leithead-Todd says the judge didn't find fault with the contents of the law, only the process used to pass it.
If the Council makes new changes, it could throw a cloud over all developments since 1996, she said.
Projects in limbo include Parker Ranch's proposed employee housing and Kaupulehu Developments' 1,120-acre housing, and golf course plans in North Kona, Leithead-Todd said. An additional 67 rezonings have been done since 1996, she said.
"You just don't put that many people in jeopardy," she said. "All those issues go away if we ratify it as is."
Kona activist Jerry Rothstein, who sued the county to block the code, says changes should be made now.
Rothstein objects to provisions such as letting the county planning director decide whether to permit 100-foot-high agricultural structures.
Another provision allows 500-foot-tall telecommunication towers in residential and agricultural areas.
The changes in the code, now grown to 178 pages in the corrected ninth draft, are so numerous that Council staff prepared 37 pages of notes to explain them.
Rothstein says present Council members can't know the details since only two of the nine members were on the Council in 1996.
Leithead-Todd says the Council has been using the code since 1996 and has had a detailed information package for a month.
Leithead-Todd said she objects to some of the code provisions, such as allowing towers in agricultural areas without a permit, but the proper thing to do is pass the code now and amend it later.
