HILO — Developers of a 58-home subdivision planned for Alii Drive are asking for a pass on some of the conditions that were set when they first applied for rezoning.
The Leeward Planning Commission was agreeable to requests for time extensions and modifications, but it wasn’t ready to give the developers a break on their fair share contribution. A fair share assessment is levied against new development to help pay for infrastructure to support the additional population that development brings.
The applicant, Alii Palms LLC., wanted to pay the fair share assessment only as it sold homes, Planning Director Duane Kanuha said Tuesday. That was unacceptable to the Planning Department because it added uncertainty about how much money would be available to make the necessary upgrades to keep up with growth.
“They wanted to pay it out of the proceeds of each sale. That’s a bookkeeping nightmare,” Kanuha said. “Fair share, in comparison to the county budget, it’s not much, but it’s some number we can count on.”
The development will be on the hook for as much as $793,000 — $13,672 per lot — in fair share contributions; money that will go toward roads, parks, police, fire protection and solid waste. It also is required to update its March traffic survey and, if level-of-service at key intersections drops below “D,” delay occupancy until mitigation is provided.
Alii Palms is slated for an approximately 10-acre parcel on the mauka side of Alii Drive, between the Alii Lani Condominium and the Alii Garden Marketplace and across from the Kona By the Sea and Kona Riviera Villas condominium complexes. The developers plan single-family homes for the subdivision.
The County Council’s Planning Committee is scheduled to take up the request as Bill 216 at 11:15 a.m. Thursday at council chambers in Hilo. The public can testify there or by videoconference from the West Hawaii Civic Center, Waimea council office, old Kohala courthouse, Naalehu state office building and the Pahoa neighborhood facility.
Only one member of the public addressed the Leeward Planning Commission at its April 21 meeting about the subdivision plan, according to minutes of the meeting. Joy Mills spoke to the commission about her concerns about wildlife and its habitat. She could not be located for comment.
A message left with a woman answering the phone at Alii Palms was not returned by press time Tuesday.
