Creating town or neighborhood centers, adding recreation facilities and paving roads are among the goals listed in a new Hawaiian Paradise Park Community Master Plan.
Developed by a committee of HPP residents, the planning document is intended to improve services in the massive Puna subdivision and address issues that long have plagued its residents, including substandard roads.
It updates the private community’s first plan Hawaii County adopted in 1997.
The Hawaiian Paradise Park Owners Association approved the new plan in May. The County Council’s Committee on Planning will review the document today during its meeting in Hilo.
Once approved by the full council, the HPP Community Action Committee will form groups to implement the plan’s main objectives, the document says. It will be reviewed annually for amendments.
The subdivision had a population of 11,404 residents in 2010, according to the plan, which estimates a 10 percent annual population growth.
The 15-member HPP planning committee drafted the document with feedback from surveys and community meetings, the document says. It received 457 completed surveys from association members.
The top priorities from those residents were for regional town or community village centers to provide commercial services for the nearly 10,000-acre neighborhood. Recreation and infrastructure also were listed.
HPP is the second largest private subdivision in the United States and its 131-mile road network is only partially paved.
The top requests from surveyed residents were for a minimarket, post office, urgent care facility, gas station, coffee shop, hardware store and beauty shop.
A regional town center would serve 20,000 to 50,000 residents and cover more than 30 acres, according to the plan. A community village center would serve 7,000 to 15,000 residents, covering 10 to 30 acres, and a neighborhood village center would support 3,000 to 6,000 residents on up to 10 acres.
The neighborhood’s 8,835 lots could accommodate a maximum population of about 30,000 residents, according to the document.
The council committee meeting begins at 10:15 a.m. in the council chambers at 25 Aupuni St.
The plan can be viewed by visiting http://tinyurl.com/hppcommunityplan.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
