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+--- Thread: Sustainable Land Water Oct. 11 minutes (/showthread.php?tid=4320)
Sustainable Land Water Oct. 11 minutes - Rob Tucker - 10-30-2006
Minutes of Oct. 11, 2006
Subcommittee on Open Space, and Sustainable Land Water and Air
chairman Bettie Van Overbeke
attendance:
Athena Peanut 965-8183
Dawn Burke 965-1159
Eric Steffey 640-8292
Lorriene West 965-0930
Herb Dorsey 965-6673
Bettie Van Overbeke 965-6673
Our meeting focused on these issues along Hwy 137 corridor. Retaining trees is the single action that would go furthest to meeting sustainable goals.
I. Strategies for Retaining Open Space on Highway 137 ocean side corridor.
A.. Establish 15 foot planting easements on road frontage of private lots.
B. Encourage the retention of native trees and large standing trees through tax credits and commendation awards..
1. Tax credits can be in square footage in planting easement deducted from the lot size.
2. Recognition through landscape commendation awards given to owners who retain trees. This could be useful when advertizing a future property sale.
3. These incentives could also be given to property owners who replant easements already cleared.
4. Planting lists of recommended native trees and food trees suitable for a roadside planting easement need to be available to property owners .at the county planning and building dept. offices.
D. Historical sites need markers and a small parking area for visitors. Two sites are located in the Kehena area on the General Plan . Neither site is marked and a neighboring property owner in Kehena has intruded into one area using it as an extension of his lawn.
E. Vista pullouts are needed along Hwy 137 for tourists and residents to enjoy.
F. Easement paths to the ocean from Hwy 137 need to be marked and retained.
G. Trees do not need to be cutback 50 feet from the road to accommodate power lines.
1. HELCO cut trees 50 feet back from power lines in coastal Hawaiian Homelands development which is unnecessary
2. Power lines along hwy 137 should be buried for safety reasons to avoid dangerous salt build up, storms or mauka property lines and not on the coastal road which destroys the scenic beauty so valuable to residents and developing eco-tourism.
H. Mangos , Kamani groves and Moneypod tree tunnels should be preserved.
I . No streetlights. We wish to have night sky protection to enjoy the magnificent star vista.
II. Sustainable Land Water Air
A. Limit subdividing AG lands in lava zones 1 and 2
1. No subdiving Ag lands into parcels smaller than 5 acres.
2.Limit the percentage of a land parcel that can be clear cut
3. A’apuaha based planning to coordinate water flow and sheet flow during heavy rains common to the area
4. Easing building codes to allow for “ lighter “ buildings in lava zone 1&2
B. Green infrastructure of trees must be incorporated into any land use plan for oxygen production.
1. Parks should have trees , not just grassy areas.
2. Trees in parks and county lands should not be over trimmed
3. Property tax credits to reward reforestation efforts on private and commercial lands.
C. Honor the intention of the original CZM and SMA legislation to protect the natural beauty of the land.
D. Prohibit expansion of military bases on the island.
1. Prohibit use of depleted uranium in any form on the island
2. Nuclear free zone on Hawaii island
E. Air quality testing with oxygen readings at grade schools ,locations chosen because they are scattered throughout Puna.
F. Retain unique geological features such as spatter cones, pit craters and lava tubes and collapsed lava tubes.
1.Permits should not be given to parties seeking to level these features even on private land
2. A tax credit could be giving for the footage of these features which cannot be developed
RE: Sustainable Land Water Oct. 11 minutes - Barbara - 10-30-2006
Some good thinking is going on.
Here, in HPP, are perfect examples of rip and run. While some lots thick with Albezias are cleared, ripped, graded (?) (are there codes in place addressing grading in subdivisions like HPP ?) No provision is made to replace some of the forest cover with welcome fast growing trees. Developers bulldoze the Albezias, dig pits, bury them, and build kit houses over them. Guaranteed, the the trees will rot, the property sink, etc. I think II. B. is a step in the right direction.