Ka‘ū News Briefs, Tuesday, May 3, 2022

THE COUNTY RECOMMENDATION TO DENY APPROVAL OF THE SATELLITE DISH ARRAY PROPOSED FOR WOOD VALLEY is quoted extensively from the Kaʽū Community Development Plan. According to several Wood Valley residents, who oppose the project, the county Planning Department reported on Monday that the applicants have withdrawn their request and a public hearing set for Thursday is cancelled.

     A document from Hawai'i County Planning Department says its Deputy Planning Director Jeffrey Darrow recommended denial of the project. The document states that the land is designated by state and county for agriculture. The plan, proposed by Taiwan's Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics, would use .5 acres for ten 20-foot in diameter satellite dishes and additional land for storage, access road and open space around the facility. 

Satellite dish array similar to the one that was proposed for Wood Valley. Photo from ASIAA

    The county planning document states: "The subject property is located within the boundaries of the Kaʽū Community Development Plan, which encourages development within town/village centers to give residents better access to public and commercial services while preserving natural and cultural resources by limiting the spread of development. The subject property is not situated within an area designated for development in the Kaʽū CDP, rather it is designated 'Important Agricultural Lands' in the Regional Land Use Policy Map. The closest town, Pāhala, is located approximately 5.6 miles away from the subject property.
    "The Kaʽū CDP steering committee established community objectives based on the community's values and vision, as summarized in Section 1.5.1, Community Objectives. Objective 2 addressed sustainable settlement patterns on agricultural lands: "Preserve prime and other viable agricultural lands and preserve and enhance viewscapes that exemplify Ka'ū's rural character."
     The planning document also points Kaʽū CDP's Objective 10, which addresses building a resilient local economy and advises decision makers to: "Encourage and enhance agriculture, ranching, and related economic infrastructure."
    The document notes that "land use policies were created by the Kaʽū CDP, to implement community objectives." It says the CDP addresses policy controls to limit non-agricultural developments on land designated as Important Agricultural Lands, which includes the property where the satellite dish array was planned.
    The county planners write, "To reinforce existing protections, the official Ka'ū CDP Land Use Policy Map designates agricultural lands in Ka'ū as areas to be preserved for agricultural and open space. Development and construction in 'Important Agricultural Land' and 'Extensive Agriculture' areas shall be limited to agriculture, related economic infrastructure and cottage industries, renewable energy, open area recreational uses, and community facilities unless otherwise permitted by law."
    The document also states: "As the subject property is designated within the 'Important Agricultural Lands' Land Use Policy Map category and the proposed use does not fall within any of the agriculture, related economic infrastructure and cottage industries, renewable energy, open area recreational uses, and community facilities uses identified by the CDP policies, the proposed Special Permit is clearly not consistent with the Kaʽū CDP."
    It concludes that the satellite dish array would "adversely affect the surrounding properties. The subject property is in the Wood Valley Homestead Lots located roughly 4.5 miles north of Pāhala. Most of the surrounding area is zoned Agriculture 20-acres (A-20a), with agricultural land uses and farm dwellings. A large area zoned Forest Reserve (FR) is located to the north and two parcels to the southeast are zoned Agriculture 5-acre (A-5a) and Agriculture 10-acre (A-10a). The nearest dwelling is located approximately 380 feet from the project site to the west across Center Road on TMK: 9-6-008:009."

    The document notes that the Planning Department has received testimony in opposition to the special permit from surrounding property owners "that raise concerns about allowing the proposed project on land that is designated Prime Agricultural Land, in addition to concerns about safety, the potential to attract visitors and vandalism, long term health effects, and the experimental nature of the satellite installation."

     It also says the Planning Department received petitions for contested case hearings, from surrounding property owners. "Based on the preceding considerations, the Deputy Planning Director is recommending that the Planning Commission deny this application for the temporary operation of an array of satellite dishes to conduct research on Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) on an approximately 0.5-acre portion of a larger 21.80-acre property in the State Land Use Agricultural District."

     The document notes that the recommendation was made before the public hearing and that the Planning Department could change its recommendation to deny following further input. The Planning Department's recommendation is made to the Planning Commission which approves or disapproves these types of Special Permits.

      Even with the permit withdrawn and public hearing cancelled, opponents said they will submit testimony for the record, in case the permit is reconsidered in the future.

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