Hilo sawmill project withdrawn by owner after backlash

A proposal to build a sawmill in Hilo has been withdrawn following backlash from the project’s neighbors.

According to documents submitted to the Hawaii County Planning Department, landowner Jeremiah Leonard – doing business through the company Farm Forest Products – planned to build a sawmill on his 2.7-acre agriculturally zoned parcel in 170 Makalika Street in Hilo.

On September 17, the planning department approved the final plan for the project. But on Wednesday, Leonard wrote a letter to the department asking to withdraw or cancel its permit for the project amid concerns from neighbors on his property.

“I would like to allay the concerns of my neighbors before attempting to install this very small portable sawmill that I have requested, because I think it is more important to get along with my neighbors,” Leonard wrote in a letter sent to the town planning department.

Leonard’s letter does not specify any specific neighbors, but Tierney McClary, who lives on an adjacent parcel, has sent several complaints to the planning department regarding Leonard’s plan, alleging numerous inadequacies in both Leonard’s plan and in the approval process of the town planning department.

McClary told the Tribune-Herald that Leonard had previously used Parcel 170 Makalika as unauthorized building land for his company Sun Construction Inc., prompting the McClarys to send a complaint to the planning department.

“Then (Planning Director) Zendo Kern became the owner’s best friend,” Tierney McClary said, alleging that even though Leonard was forced to move the main yard, the sawmill project moved forward despite the violations. zoning.

A complaint the McClarys submitted to the planning department alleged, among other things, that there were no building permits for the structures on the Leonard property, and no permits for ripping and grading. had never been approved for the site.

The complaint repeatedly mentions Hawaii Revised Statutes 46-88, a law allowing certain agricultural buildings to be exempt from the need for a building permit. According to the complaint, Assistant City Planning Director Jeff Darrow told the McClarys that “there was no way my neighbor could run a commercial construction company, commodity yard or industrial lumber mill.” from this structure,” and that only structures used for agricultural purposes would be permitted under HRS 46-99.

“If Mr. Leonard is allowed to continue these non-farm, contracting commercial activities on agricultural land, the (county) contends that HRS 46-88 applies to all commercial activity, not just farmers and ranchers.” , the complaint states. “That any structure can be built by anyone on property zoned agricultural without inspection. »

Leonard’s letter to the planning department stated that the project was not intended to be a large industrial sawmill, but a small portable sawmill that would occasionally be used for agricultural processing.

McClary disputed this claim, saying that although Leonard claimed to run a farming operation on the property, the supposed harvest from Leonard’s sawmill is a grove of young mango plants that are clearly too young to be usable for lumber and are too close to each other. reach a sufficient size.

“Mr. Leonard built this property as a business base for Sun Construction Inc., and he built the industrial sawmill/cabinet shop…to process mango trees purchased from other suppliers into doors, woodwork and customer cabinets for Sun Construction Inc.,” summarized a letter Tierney McClary submitted to the county appeals board “There is no actual agricultural activity on his land.”

Kern told the Tribune-Herald in September that County Code Section 25-5-72 includes “mills” and “feed mills” — but not “sawmills” or “sawmills” among permitted operations on the land zoned agricultural, like that of Leonard. He also cited a 2007 bill establishing that the Planning Department can give final approval to the plan for “major agricultural processing facilities” in the agricultural district if the applicant meets certain conditions.

According to the final approval of the Makalika sawmill plan, these conditions include a stipulation that the project plans cannot be changed without prior written approval, that the applicant complies with state noise control rules and that the facility only operates between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

But McClary said final approval for the plan was issued only two days before Leonard allowed a county inspector access to the property.

McClary alleged that Kern knew about most or all of the sawmill project’s violations, but still personally helped him make it happen. She lamented that other properties in the area had apparently managed to circumvent county zoning restrictions by currying favor with county officials.

Now that the sawmill project appears to be on ice for the moment, McClary said Friday that she and her husband are “waiting for the other shoe to drop” and that she hasn’t heard from Leonard since he had submitted the letter on Wednesday. .

Leonard did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Email Michael Brestovansky at [email protected].