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Manoa Neighborhood Board No. 7 Summary of the June 25, 2005 Meeting of the Planning Committee Manoa Neighborhood Board # 7 Location The meeting convened on Saturday, June 25, at 11:00 a.m. at the proposed Visitor Center of the Manoa Heritage Center, located at 2829 Manoa Road. Attending Neighborhood Board members: Gary Anderson, Nadine Nishioka, Chuck Pearson, Jim Harwood, Hank Chapin, Brian Kessler Neighbors and other interested Manoa residents: Clara Y. Ching, Shirley Parola, Lilian Adams, Tom Heinrich, Pat Avery, Kazu Vossbrink, Tony Vossbrink, Wendy Romanchak, Ethan Romanchak, Rep. Kirk Caldwell Purpose To brief Neighborhood Board members and other community members about the proposed program of the Manoa Heritage Center, for which the Center will submit a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) Minor application. Summary 1. Guided Tour. Manoa Heritage Center representatives gave participants a guided tour of the site, including the heiau and the native Hawaiian garden. 2. Briefing in the Visitor Center. Following the tour, participants reconvened at the proposed Visitor Center, where John Whalen of PlanPacific, the CUP consultant, presented a briefing. He discussed the reasons for revising the plan for the Manoa Heritage Center, for which the City had approved a CUP in 2000. In the revised plan, the MHC will remodel the existing 2829 Manoa Road residence to incorporate the Visitor Center, rather than building a new visitor facility on the property adjoining Oahu Avenue (as was originally proposed). Mr. Whalen described how small buses could enter and exit safely from Manoa Road, and how parking would be provided. 3. Responses to questions: Manoa Heritage Center representatives and Mr. Whalen made the following responses to questions raised by the Neighborhood Board members and other participants: The Center’s ADA consultant recommended that provision be made for visual access (e.g., video) to the garden and heiau for those in wheelchairs. It is impractical to provide an accessible trail around the heiau due to grade changes and vegetation. Construction of a pathway designed to ADA standards would destroy the historic value of the site and threaten or destroy rare plants in the garden. Two restrooms will be available for visitors at the visitor center. Beyond establishing a maximum capacity of 30 people on-site at a given time, the Center has not determined the maximum number of visitors it will handle during a week, but will clarify that before the CUP application is submitted. In general, the Center wants to limit visitation because of the fragility of the site and the type of experience and program that will be offered. School groups will be admitted free of charge. Adult groups will be no larger than 10 persons and, at least initially, no more than three days per week. There will be a charge for adult groups. The fee has not yet been determined, but will be comparable that charged by museums or similar sites. The Center has not set a policy regarding requests from non-resident adult visitors (e.g., organized tour groups.) The Center’s board will address this issue prior to the CUP application. No one at the meeting expressed opposition to the proposed CUP. Several mentioned that the proposal was potentially very beneficial to the community. Follow-up The NB Planning Committee Chair requested the following items: Names of the people on the boards of directors of Kuali'i Foundation and Mänoa Heritage Center; Copy of ADA consultant’s opinion; Copy of Revised Environmental Assessment to Board and Gary Anderson; Notice of CUP application directly to NB members. Manoa Heritage Center and PlanPacific will provide this information. Action The Planning Committee will report at the next regular Neighborhood Board meeting, August 3, 2005. The CUP application does not require a Board motion or vote, although the Board may do so if it chooses.
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| Monday, August 29, 2005 |