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SSFM served as the Prime Consultant for the update of the Kauai General Plan. The General Plan is the guiding policy document for the County of Kauai, setting the island wide vision and goals, identifying Kauai’s unique qualities to be protected and preserved, and directing where and how growth should occur to ensure sustainability, resilience, and opportunity for all over the next twenty years. The project team deployed community engagement that sought widespread participation in developing a new General Plan framework consisting of a Vision statement, four overarching Goals, nineteen key Policies, 42 Objectives, and 607 Actions. The Plan was adopted by the Kauai County Council in 2018 and received the APA Hawaii Chapter’s 2018 Outstanding Planning Award.

Read more at: http://plankauai.com/
and https://www.planning.org/awards/2019/kauai/

“We are proud to be recognized as part of the team that developed this plan. The process was particularly groundbreaking in the way that it engaged the community throughout its development. The resulting plan views the entire community as a partner in implementation of the vision for Kaua‘i’s future,” explains Melissa White, Senior Planner and Associate at SSFM. “The County’s leadership was visionary in understanding and addressing long-standing community issues head on, and developing an action-oriented framework to guide Kaua‘i in growing responsibly.” The theme of the plan is Kaua’i Kākou, a Hawaiian concept meaning “we’re all in this together.” The planning process embraced collaboration and partnerships among government agencies, civic leaders, non-profit groups and the community. To address residents’ concerns about transparency in implementation, the plan establishes a regular monitoring cycle with several feedback points, and it calls for the creation of the Kākou Committee, which convenes every two years to review the plan.

The General Plan Update addresses policy directions, ordinances, land use amendments, and prioritization of capital improvement projects in service of four goals:

• A Sustainable Island: Growing responsibly to meet the needs of current and future generations without depleting resources.
• A Unique and Beautiful Place: Stewardship and protection of the natural, cultural, social, and built environment assets that are of value to the community.
• A Healthy and Resilient People: Increasing health, vitality, and resilience of communities through improving the natural, built, and social environment and responding to impacts from climate change.
• An Equitable Place, with Opportunity for All: Fostering diverse and equitable communities with vibrant economies, access to jobs and housing, and a high quality of lift.

The American Planning Association provides leadership in the development of vital communities by advocating excellence in planning, promoting education and citizen empowerment, and providing members with the tools and support necessary to meet the challenges of growth and change and to realize their mission of Creating Better Communities. The organization includes 42,000 members from 100+ countries. APA advances positive planning results through leadership in education, research, advocacy, and ethical practice.

Hurricane Lane approached at the height of the intense response to the volcano. While State and County officials were continuing to cope with the dramatic impacts of the still-active volcano, the island was slammed with massive amounts of rain from the outer bands of the hurricane. The epic storm dropped more than 52 inches in a four-day period – the most rainfall from a cyclonic event in the Island’s history and the second most anywhere in the US since 1950. Homes, schools, and businesses were flooded. Vital highways were made impassible by massive mudslides and flooding. The destruction wrought by either of these natural disasters alone would have had a devastating impact on the Island’s infrastructure. Their combined impact was nearly overwhelming. Together, the volcano and hurricane ruptured the only transportation linkages between the east and west sides of the island and had direct impact on the many communities that lie in between.

Turning to SSFM for Help

Remediating the damage to the State roads fell to the State Department of Transportation (DOT) District Office in Hilo. In the immediate aftermath of the eruption, DOT needed to act quickly but lacked the internal resources to address such massive challenges. SSFM was a logical place to turn to for the necessary supplemental resources and expertise, due to the firm’s multidiscipline capabilities, familiarity with the State procedures and Federal requirements and their readiness to respond. The first call to SSFM came just a few days after the first fissures began spewing lava. Each day brought multiple seismic events as more fissures opened in Leilani Estates and lava flows threatened the homes of hundreds of residents. State highways critical to the Island’s transportation infrastructure and economy were becoming increasingly impassible from Pahoa to Volcano due to cracks or sinkholes forming along the roads.

Commitment

Austen Drake, SSFM’s General Manager for Hawaii Island said there was never any doubt about what the company would do. “This is where we live. It’s our community and it’s the roads we drive on every day. The only thing to do was mobilize our team and help any way we could.” The company’s efforts were led by Senior Project Engineer Robyn Ito and Construction Manager Renee Ishisaka. Ultimately, they were supported by a ten person team, including permit specialist Jennifer Scheffel.

Facing the Challenge

There was no roadmap to follow in responding. “When you’re an engineer on the Island of Hawaii, you’re aware of lots of design solutions related to eruptions, but not 5.5 magnitude earthquakes rattling the earth on a daily basis,” Drake said. The entire SSFM team was on call 24/7 throughout the crisis. Ito recalls “For us, the phone didn’t stop ringing just because it was a Saturday or Sunday, 6 o’clock in the morning, or 9 o’clock at night.” The team collaborated with state officials at all hours of the day and night to inspect new damage and identify quick fix solutions or alternative routes in order to keep the highway system functioning. Each day, the entire roadway system in the vicinity of the volcano was inspected for new cracks and sinkholes with triage the order of the day, every day. The highest priority was maintaining a safe route for emergency vehicles. Due to the extreme topography of the Big Island, there are not many road options. An impassable route is the difference between 20 minutes or 3 hours to the nearest emergency facility. SSFM’s construction management team, led by Ishisaka, remained on call around the clock to ensure provisions were in place to keep traffic moving while road repairs were being performed. Working with contractors, establishing traffic control, and ensuring no invasive species enter the sensitive National Park areas were just a small part of what Ishisaka’s team did each day. Her team also managed the installation of some rather innovative slope stability solutions, such as welded wire frames, not commonly used on the Big Island. In addition to the physical repairs, environmental processing was necessary with numerous County, State and Federal agencies. The State and County relied on SSFM’s Strategic Services Group to assist with obtaining environmental clearances to allow work to continue without unimpeded. After the hurricane, it became critical for DOT to fortify bridge abutments and piers that were undermined by the flood waters. There were also multiple landslides along the Hamakua Coast, an area whose community’s only link to emergency services and other essentials is Mamalahoa Highway. With all of these simultaneous recovery efforts, DOT again turned to SSFM for assistance with the environmental clearances and with managing the multiple on-going emergency repairs needed to keep the critical roads open. Much of this repair work was led by SSFM Construction Inspector, Chris Harris. The Hurricane’s effects were felt island-wide. In addition to the Department of Transportation’s needs, the Department of Education also enlisted SSFM in addressing significant damage incurred by schools including classrooms, cafeterias, kitchens, and band rooms. Over the weekend of the hurricane, SSFM mobilized a team, which included engineers from Oahu, to assess flooding impacts at schools in the Hilo and Keaau communities.

The Road Ahead

Even though Kilauea has quieted and Hurricane Lane is long gone, SSFM continues to work closely with County, State and Federal personnel to ensure the affected communities can maintain their way of life. SSFM, and especially professionals in its Hilo Office, is gratified to have played an important role in assisting in the Island’s return to normalcy.

About the Team

Austen Drake, P.E., LEED AP BD+C is the General Manager of SSFM’s Big Island office. He leads the team tackling the Island’s disaster relief program. Austen joined SSFM in 2008. He holds a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Robyn Ito, PMP, P.E. is a civil engineer and senior associate with SSFM. Robyn has been with the firm since 2004 and is currently a Senior Project Engineer in SSFM’s Hilo Engineering Group. Robyn holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California.

Renee Ishisaka, P.E., S.E., LEED AP is a structural and civil engineer in SSFM’s Hilo office. Renee has been with the firm for over a decade. She holds B.S and M.S degrees in civil engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Q: How is it that you found yourself with a key role in the conference?
MW: I have been involved with PPS for a number of years. Their position at the forefront of the global placemaking movement closely aligns with the work we are doing at SSFM. When invited to lead an “Urban Sustainability Super Session,” I jumped at the opportunity. The session highlighted best practices and case studies around many facets of what makes communities sustainable, including resilience, economic self-sufficiency, social equity, public health, mobility, placemaking, and environmental quality. It was a chance to help shape the current dialogue about how communities should be planning and implementing programs around each of these components.

Q: What is an “Urban Sustainability Super Session?”
MW: It’s a new conference format that Walk Bike Places adopted for 2018, consisting of a three hour session with 8-10 presenters. My session featured eight speakers from the U.S., Canada, and Europe who came from a variety of disciplines and presented on wide-ranging topics including active transportation, parking, air quality, manufacturing, youth leadership, health care, and sustainable street design. To group these diverse speakers and topics, we created two themed segments: “Zoom Out” for those addressing big picture topics of sustainability, and “Zoom In” for those presenting case studies, tools, or methods. Each segment included a panel presentation followed by breakout discussions. The groups then reassembled to share their observations and conclusions.

Q: What were the specific issues addressed by the groups?
MW: We wanted current thinking on how infrastructure, planning, economic development, urban design and even health care delivery can change to meet the challenges posed by climate change, inequality, resource scarcity and heightened social friction, from the very local to the most global perspective.

Q: That’s a lot to bite off. What were the results of the presentations and discussions?
MW: The “Zoom Out” panel focused on understanding and tackling what we called “Wicked Problems of Urban Sustainability.” Presentations included:

• How Parking has Damaged our Cities, Why it Makes People Crazy and How We’re Going to Fix It. Or, How I Learned to Love Parking presented by Martha Roskowski, Further Strategies
• From Air Quality Issues to New Cycling Policy presented by Rick Lindeman, Rijkswaterstaat
• The Urban Generation: How Emerging Leaders are Transforming Their Cities in One Year, presented by Ryan O’Connor, 8 80 Cities
• Drawing Parallels between Europe and North America: How to Build Innovative, Inclusive, and Self-Supporting Communities Leveraging Local DNA presented by Wilco van Bemmel, Dunefield Consulting

Some of the takeaways had to do with how cities can creatively leverage their existing resources to meet sustainability challenges – there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes it just takes a different angle, such as looking to the past to identify economic infrastructure that can be updated for the future, or involving young people in devising innovative solutions and projects. Existing infrastructure such as bikeways and parking lots can also be creatively upgraded or repurposed to better meet objectives for sustainability, health, and quality of life.

The “Zoom In” panel explored Tools, Tricks, and Case Studies for Sustainable Communities with real world examples including:

• Nurses on Bikes: Health Care Outreach in Vancouver’s Downtown Core presented by Arthur Orsini, Vancouver Coastal Health
• A New Paradigm in Sustainable Street Design: Jackson Street, Saint Paul Minnesota presented by Chris Lambka, Toole Design Group
• Reframing Tactical Urbanism Through Resilience, Dana Wall, The Street Plans Collaborative
• Community Wellbeing – A Framework for Sustainable Communities presented by Antonio Gomez-Palacio, DIALOG

Each of these presenters showcased how they overcame physical, regulatory, or institutional barriers to design innovative tools and projects to further health, sustainable street design, resilience, and community well-being. Each presentation described the tools in enough detail to provide attendees with guidance for implementing similar programs in their own community.

Q: How would you sum up the results from the conference?
MW: We wanted to connect the attendees to ideas, resources, expertise, and partners who see placemaking as the key to addressing some of the greatest sustainability challenges facing the cities and environmental we live in. I think everyone that attended the session came away with plenty of specific tools, examples, and ideas to think about and implement within their own communities. The breakout discussions following each panel were particularly lively, and enabled the speakers to interact with participants and discuss specific applications and ideas that could follow on from their work.

About Melissa White, AICP

Melissa White is a senior planner and associate at SSFM, specializing in placemaking, active transportation, community based economic development, renewable energy, and resilience, all key ingredients to creating thriving, sustainable communities. Ms. White’s projects for both public and private sector clients include long-range community planning, resilience planning, economic development, renewable energy, watershed planning, and resource management.

Melissa received her BS in -Environmental Biology from Southern Oregon University and her MA in Anthropology from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She has over a decade of experience solving community and environmental planning challenges in Hawaii. She is exceptionally skilled at facilitating outreach programs that bring together community, government, and technical stakeholders to create shared visions and achieve broad community support, resulting in implementable plans for resilient and sustainable communities. Melissa’s training in anthropology and environmental sciences inform cultural and environmental sensitivity in her work.

BIA Hawaii’s leadership on housing issues includes many initiatives. Dean offers additional insights in this Solving Hawaii’s Housing Crisis article on the challenges facing the homebuilding industry.

One of BIA’s recent successes was Honolulu City Council’s approval of Bill 64 which establishes a 60 day time limit to process residential building permits.

SSFM served as the Prime Consultant for the update of the Kauai General Plan. The General Plan is the guiding policy document for the County of Kauai, setting the island wide vision and goals, identifying Kauai’s unique qualities to be protected and preserved, and directing where and how growth should occur to ensure sustainability, resilience, and opportunity for all over the next twenty years. The project team deployed community engagement that sought widespread participation in developing a new General Plan framework consisting of a Vision statement, four overarching Goals, nineteen key Policies, 42 Objectives, and 607 Actions. The Plan was adopted by the Kauai County Council in 2018 and received the APA Hawaii Chapter’s 2018 Outstanding Planning Award.

Read more at: http://plankauai.com/
and https://www.planning.org/awards/2019/kauai/

“We are proud to be recognized as part of the team that developed this plan. The process was particularly groundbreaking in the way that it engaged the community throughout its development. The resulting plan views the entire community as a partner in implementation of the vision for Kaua‘i’s future,” explains Melissa White, Senior Planner and Associate at SSFM. “The County’s leadership was visionary in understanding and addressing long-standing community issues head on, and developing an action-oriented framework to guide Kaua‘i in growing responsibly.” The theme of the plan is Kaua’i Kākou, a Hawaiian concept meaning “we’re all in this together.” The planning process embraced collaboration and partnerships among government agencies, civic leaders, non-profit groups and the community. To address residents’ concerns about transparency in implementation, the plan establishes a regular monitoring cycle with several feedback points, and it calls for the creation of the Kākou Committee, which convenes every two years to review the plan.

The General Plan Update addresses policy directions, ordinances, land use amendments, and prioritization of capital improvement projects in service of four goals:

• A Sustainable Island: Growing responsibly to meet the needs of current and future generations without depleting resources.
• A Unique and Beautiful Place: Stewardship and protection of the natural, cultural, social, and built environment assets that are of value to the community.
• A Healthy and Resilient People: Increasing health, vitality, and resilience of communities through improving the natural, built, and social environment and responding to impacts from climate change.
• An Equitable Place, with Opportunity for All: Fostering diverse and equitable communities with vibrant economies, access to jobs and housing, and a high quality of lift.

The American Planning Association provides leadership in the development of vital communities by advocating excellence in planning, promoting education and citizen empowerment, and providing members with the tools and support necessary to meet the challenges of growth and change and to realize their mission of Creating Better Communities. The organization includes 42,000 members from 100+ countries. APA advances positive planning results through leadership in education, research, advocacy, and ethical practice.

SSFM served as the Prime Consultant for the update of the Kauai General Plan. The General Plan is the guiding policy document for the County of Kauai, setting the island wide vision and goals, identifying Kauai’s unique qualities to be protected and preserved, and directing where and how growth should occur to ensure sustainability, resilience, and opportunity for all over the next twenty years. The project team deployed community engagement that sought widespread participation in developing a new General Plan framework consisting of a Vision statement, four overarching Goals, nineteen key Policies, 42 Objectives, and 607 Actions. The Plan was adopted by the Kauai County Council in 2018 and received the APA Hawaii Chapter’s 2018 Outstanding Planning Award.

Read more at: http://plankauai.com/
and https://www.planning.org/awards/2019/kauai/

“We are proud to be recognized as part of the team that developed this plan. The process was particularly groundbreaking in the way that it engaged the community throughout its development. The resulting plan views the entire community as a partner in implementation of the vision for Kaua‘i’s future,” explains Melissa White, Senior Planner and Associate at SSFM. “The County’s leadership was visionary in understanding and addressing long-standing community issues head on, and developing an action-oriented framework to guide Kaua‘i in growing responsibly.” The theme of the plan is Kaua’i Kākou, a Hawaiian concept meaning “we’re all in this together.” The planning process embraced collaboration and partnerships among government agencies, civic leaders, non-profit groups and the community. To address residents’ concerns about transparency in implementation, the plan establishes a regular monitoring cycle with several feedback points, and it calls for the creation of the Kākou Committee, which convenes every two years to review the plan.

The General Plan Update addresses policy directions, ordinances, land use amendments, and prioritization of capital improvement projects in service of four goals:

• A Sustainable Island: Growing responsibly to meet the needs of current and future generations without depleting resources.
• A Unique and Beautiful Place: Stewardship and protection of the natural, cultural, social, and built environment assets that are of value to the community.
• A Healthy and Resilient People: Increasing health, vitality, and resilience of communities through improving the natural, built, and social environment and responding to impacts from climate change.
• An Equitable Place, with Opportunity for All: Fostering diverse and equitable communities with vibrant economies, access to jobs and housing, and a high quality of lift.

The American Planning Association provides leadership in the development of vital communities by advocating excellence in planning, promoting education and citizen empowerment, and providing members with the tools and support necessary to meet the challenges of growth and change and to realize their mission of Creating Better Communities. The organization includes 42,000 members from 100+ countries. APA advances positive planning results through leadership in education, research, advocacy, and ethical practice.