With a deadline for its input looming Saturday, the Hawaii County Council, the policy-making body for the county, has not yet had any discussion about one of the county’s main policy documents, the General Plan.
Planning Committee Chairman Greggor Ilagan, a Puna councilman, on Tuesday asked the Planning Department for three more months to give the council time to create recommended changes in a process that is expected to last until February, 2018. Last updated in 2005, the plan was supposed to have been updated earlier this year.
“I did not put enough spotlight (on the General Plan update) as the chair of this committee,” Ilagan said.
He added he wants to create a paper trial of resolutions defining council recommendations for the plan, as a new council and administration will be in place by the conclusion of the process.
The General Plan governs population density, urban design, infrastructure improvements, public access and preservation of natural resources and open spaces. It’s the policy document for the long-range comprehensive development of Hawaii Island.
The council input part of the schedule will now continue until Sept. 6, after Planning Director Duane Kanuha agreed to Ilagan’s request. Next comes the Planning Department review and amendments, followed by public workshops, Planning Commission reviews, council review and adoption.
“I’d rather you folks spend the time you need for something that’s well thought out and comprehensive,” Kanuha said.
Kanuha said public input continues through the entire process. The 396-page plan can be viewed at https://www.cohplanningdept.com/general-plan/. The public, the action committees for the Community Development Plans and the Windward and Leeward planning commissions can submit comments and suggestions to the Planning Department, County of Hawaii, 101 Pauahi St., Suite 3, Hilo, HI 96720 or generalplan@hawaiicounty.gov.
Kanuha said a combination of factors caused the plan amendment process to get delayed. First, the department was busy creating Community Development Plans to allow more community input into the planning process. That pulled staff off the General Plan during the recessionary years when furloughs and position freezes led to staff shortages, he said.
The purpose of the General Plan is to guide the pattern of future development, identify the visions, values and priorities important to the people of the county, provide the framework for regulatory decisions, capital improvement priorities, acquisition strategies and other government programs, improve the physical environment of the county and “inject long-range considerations into the determination of short-range actions and implementation,” according to the preface of the document.
