Development plan requirements and approval process

A. Purpose. The purpose of the development plan is to specify the uses of land, and the layout of the project's landscaping, circulation and buildings. This plan may be the final document upon which subdivision, building permits, and other county approvals are issued. B. Processing Requirements. 1. Any district or use which requires a project master plan shall also require a development plan. 2. No certificate of occupancy for a use or subdivision and no permit for the erection, enlargement, extension, or reconstruction of a building or structure occupied, or intended to be occupied by these uses shall be granted by the director of public works unless a development plan for such a use, subdivision or building has been approved by the planning director as being in accordance with the requirements set forth in the approved project master plan and this title. 3. If the proposed project is within the special management area, the final plans reviewed and approved by the appropriate planning commission may be considered in lieu of the development plan; provided, that all requirements of this title which pertain to development plans have been met. 4. The planning director shall approve the development plan if the director finds that the plan is consistent with the applicable district and the project master plan. The planning director shall consult with the appropriate county and state agencies and may seek such additional technical advice the director deems necessary to review the plan. The director may attach conditions to the approval of any development plan which are clearly necessary to ensure conformance to the intent and purpose of the provisions of this title and the provisions of the approved project master plan or applicable conditional zoning. The director shall review and approve or reject the application based on the following: a. Landscaping. i. Appropriate groundcover, trees and other vegetative materials identified by the planting plan adopted by the arborist committee of the county shall be retained or planted to prevent excessive storm runoff, erosion, siltation and dust, buffering and screening, if necessary, and to enhance the general appearance of the site, and ii. The natural landscape of the site shall be preserved by retaining mature, healthy trees and natural topography except where removal or thinning of trees and alteration of topography is necessary to accommodate building sites, recreation areas, required parking and driveway areas, or drainage facilities and utility systems. b. Arrangement of Buildings and Spaces. i. Where a site to be developed for residential use abuts a major thoroughfare, expressway or railroad or where a site is to be developed or is intended to be developed for a use which is potentially incompatible with abutting, existing or proposed residential use, buildings and open spaces shall be so located, designed, and arranged in order to provide reasonable separation of the major thoroughfare, expressway, railroad, or incompatible use from the residential use. Where necessary to achieve this separation, trees or other vegetative materials shall be retained on the site or supplemented by additional plantings or the erection of appropriate walls or fences, and ii. Buildings shall be located on the site or designed in such a manner that the fronts of buildings containing dwelling units do not face into rear yards or service areas of other buildings located either within the site or adjacent to it, except where privacy walls, fences, plant materials or topographic features provide screening therefrom, c. Function of Yards and Spaces. Yards, spaces between buildings, and open space required by the provisions of this title shall be located with respect to buildings and other site improvements and improved so as to reasonably serve the purposes of this title for providing light and air, separation between buildings, separation between incompatible functions, enhancement of privacy, and promotion of public health and safety; d. Parking and Circulation. i. Driveways and areas for the parking and circulation of vehicles shall be located, designed, and improved so as to provide for safe and convenient access from adjoining streets and shall be in accordance with the established traffic engineering standards and driveway policies of the county. Factors to be considered in the location, design, or improvement of driveways and areas for the parking and circulation of vehicles shall be the number and location of access drives from adjacent streets, the location and width of driveways and access aisles to parking spaces, the arrangement of parking areas, and the means of access to buildings for firefighting apparatus and other emergency vehicles, ii. Parking areas and driveways shall be clearly identified and separated from principal pedestrian routes and recreation areas by curbs, pavement markings, planting areas, fences or similar features designed to promote pedestrian safety, and iii. Vehicular access to adjoining minor residential streets shall not be permitted when adequate access is available to collector streets or major thoroughfares and when adequate access for emergency vehicles can otherwise be provided; and e. Design. If required, the planning director shall review and comment on the site design, building scale, and architectural design, lighting, colors and other design features of the proposed project after considering the existing character of the area, requirements of the approved project master plan and, if applicable, the conditions of zoning. 5. Appeal to the Planning Commission. a. If the applicant disagrees with the development plan approved by the planning director, the applicant may request that the director submit the plan to the appropriate planning commission for its review and action. Upon receiving a request, the director shall submit the request and the plan to the commission. Request for the review shall be made in writing to the chairperson of the appropriate planning commission. Upon receipt of a request for review, the chairperson shall schedule the review on the first agenda of the commission meeting which is able to be properly noticed pursuant to Chapters 91 and 92 of the Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes. b. After reviewing the development plan, the appropriate planning commission may either affirm the approval of the development plan by the planning director or may modify the plan if this action complies with the criteria set forth for development plans in this chapter and substantially conforms to the project master plan which relates to the development plan. The commission may attach conditions to its approval or modification which it deems necessary to ensure that the plan conforms with the intent and purpose of the criteria set forth in this chapter or the requirements of the approved project master plan. The action of the commission shall be by formal resolution approved by a majority of its members. 6. Review and Granting of Permits by the Director of Public Works. a. The director of public works shall determine whether the construction or use of premises proposed by an application for a subdivision, a building permit or for a certificate of occupancy conforms to the requirements of the approved development plan. b. Nothing in this title shall be construed to abrogate the authority or duties of the director of public works which pertain to an application for a subdivision, a building permit or for a certificate of occupancy which have been approved by the director of public works. C. Submission of Plans. 1. The applicant shall submit a minimum of two copies of the development plan to the director of planning. The development plan may be submitted concurrently with the subdivision, building permit or occupancy permit applications. 2. The applicant shall submit any other information requested by the planning director to allow the director to properly determine whether the development plan conforms to the project master plan and zoning restrictions, if applicable. (Ord. 2032 § 5 (part), 1991)