The Leeward Planning Commission wasn’t ready Thursday to give Parker School a pass on a sidewalk it promised in a lawsuit settlement and instead voted 5-0 to defer the issue for a month to give the applicant a chance to pursue a less costly option.
The 2011 settlement between school developers and community members represented by Waimea attorney Margaret Wille required Parker School to construct a sidewalk on Kapiolani Road and other pedestrian improvements prior to a certificate of occupancy for a gymnasium or middle school. At issue was a special use permit allowing Parker School to build the gym and new middle school facilities.
Parker School is asking the sidewalk and other improvements be delayed until the school building is constructed, rather than the gymnasium, which is scheduled to begin construction in about 18 months. Developers said they’ve received pledges of private funding, but there are time constraints involved.
The Planning Department recommended the commission agree to the sidewalk delay.
Wille, testifying to the commission, said she’s not objecting to the delay, and she’ll work with the school to come to an agreement the community and the school can live with. Still, she said, any actions taken by the commission don’t trump the settlement agreement reached in court.
“I’m not going to object to this change but I’m making it clear it’s … totally ignoring and disregarding that settlement,” Wille said. “I’m just disappointed; it’s the typical way things go with development and this county. … I think it’s shameful the way things are handled this way.”
The coronavirus pandemic has cut enrollment trends at private schools, so there hasn’t been a need to build the middle school facility right away, said land use consultant Gregory Mooers.
He said the 250-seat gymnasium will serve just the current enrollment of 325-330 students, which is well below the enrollment of 450 students anticipated in the original special use permit.
“We’re not saying we won’t do the roadway improvements. … We will do the roadway improvements,” Mooers said. “We are not asking in any way for the Planning Commission to invalidate that condition.”
Mooers said fewer than 10 students walk to school along Kapiolani.
“It’s not a heavily trafficked roadway,” he said.
But commissioners noted that the required pedestrian improvements aren’t just for the students. They’re also to keep the community safe, they said.
“It’s not to accommodate students but to protect the community from additional vehicular traffic by the school,” said Commission Chairman Michael Vitousek.
The agreement negotiated between Parker School and Wille and three residents she represents calls for the school to convey to the county two non-vehicular easements and assist in securing other easements for public trails to Waikoloa Stream, according to the settlement.
The school will also pay $10,000 to the county toward a raised crosswalk on Lindsey Road, build sidewalk entrances separate from vehicle driveways, build a sidewalk on Kapiolani Road extending at least 30 feet beyond the school’s entrance, create northeastern campus access, and construct, or pay the county $10,000 toward a Hele-On bus shelter, according to the settlement.
The agreement also states the school will not allow use of the gym after 9 p.m., unless an event is not concluded; agrees to develop a traffic management plan for events prior to 6 p.m.; will actively manage traffic in drop-off and pick-up zones and deter drop-off and pick-up on Puuki Road; and will encourage parents, staff and students to walk or carpool. The school must also submit an annual report on its progress to Wille and the county.
Mooers said the sidewalk is proving problematic because residents have planted a hedgerow along the south side of Kapiolani and removing that and a structure will increase the sidewalk cost over $2 million. Asked why developers didn’t build on the north side, they responded that the Department of Public Works had directed them to put it on the south side.
The applicants agreed to gather up some of their historical documents, go back to the DPW for more information and return to the Planning Commission in August.