While some members support efforts to establish consequences for not attending the meetings, others underscore that they are all just volunteers and encounter unexpected conflicts of time.<\/p>\n
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The Windward Planning Commission was unable to make quorum in May so had to cancel the meeting at the last minute. The Windward commission had to cancel at least three meetings last year, and the Leeward commission canceled half of its meetings in 2025. (Screenshot\/Hawai\u2018i County\/2025)<\/p>\n
The planning commissions are in charge of making decisions on land use, granting special management area permits including for sensitive shoreline areas, vetting major bills for the County Council and making recommendations on the island\u2019s general plans \u2014 the guiding documents for development.<\/p>\n
In the past year, the commissions have taken up everything from applications to build homes along the Kona coast and allowing bed-and-breakfast operations on agricultural land in Hilo to recommending the approval of special permits for commercial parking lots and hearing a petition for a contested case over a permit to allow a multi-day festival<\/a> with overnight camping for up to 500 attendees.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ensuring attendance is necessary, outgoing Windward Commissioner Wayne De Luz said, because the commissions must decide on an agenda item within a given timeframe or else applications are automatically approved, according to commission rules. De Luz\u2019 five-year term ended last month, but he\u2019s allowed to attend up to three more meetings while a replacement is sought.<\/p>\n So far, projects seem to have only been delayed by the absences. Scott Church and John Totah, for example, were on the Leeward commission\u2019s August agenda to build a two-story home with a pool on a 15,000-square-foot shoreline property in a special management area in North Kona. The commission, however, had gotten backed up with agenda items over the summer after canceling two meetings in a row. Church and Totah\u2019s request was finally approved in November. <\/p>\n The Leeward commission failed to meet quorum for six of its 12 regular meetings in 2025. It has already canceled its January and February meetings this year. Most meetings had at least one member absent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Leeward Commissioner Clement \u201cCJ\u201d Kanuha III, who represents North Kona, missed six meetings last year, which he said was due to medical complications from Covid-19. But he told Civil Beat he\u2019s in favor of attendance standards and has seen commissioners fail to show up with little excuse.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you sign up for this, you should be there, plain and simple, unless you have something really bad going on,\u201d Kanuha said.<\/p>\n Leeward Planning Commission Chair Dean Au, who also served two terms on the Windward commission, said in a joint meeting last month that canceled meetings were unfair to the community. Other members lamented how this can make agendas too hefty when they do finally meet.\u00a0<\/p>\n Windward Planning Commissioner JoNelle Fukushima said she supported encouragement over punishment to boost attendance, saying at the meeting that positive reinforcement, such as thanking members for their attendance, is more effective than threats of removal, according to the Dec. 9 meeting minutes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating, not only for (applicants) but also for the department,\u201d De Luz told Civil Beat. Canceled meetings cause delays, he said, in an already lengthy approval process.\u00a0<\/p>\n Filling The Seats<\/p>\n
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Common Cause Hawai\u02bbi Director Camron Hurt says the public\u2019s first touch point to weigh in on pending policy issues is often with county boards and commissions. (Kevin Fujii\/Civil Beat\/2025)<\/p>\n![\"Civil](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753322412_339_logo10.png\"){kind=logo}
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