HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

223

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

URGING THE RESPECTIVE MAYORS TO IMPLEMENT AN EXPEDITED PERMIT PROCESS FOR LARGE QUALIFIED PROJECTS.

 

 

WHEREAS, in the State of Hawaii, the land use and entitlement process can be an extremely time consuming, drawn out, and expensive process; and

WHEREAS, even upon obtaining all discretionary permits and approval for a project, such as land use commission designation, county zoning, conservation district use permits and special management area permits, there remain a myriad of ministerial approvals and permit requirements, primarily at the county level, including subdivision approvals, building permits, special design approvals (such as in the Waikiki special design district), traffic plan reviews, and water and wastewater requirements; and

WHEREAS, in light of these threatening times and our strained economic situation, it is in the public interest to expedite the permit review process for certain large development projects that could have a major and immediate beneficial impact on the State's economy; and

WHEREAS, in order to qualify for the expedited permit review process, these large development projects would have to meet certain minimum conditions, such as:

(1) Having received all required discretionary permits and approvals;

(2) Having a projected cost in excess of $10,000,000;

(3) Requiring construction to commence within one hundred twenty days of receiving all necessary permits to begin construction;

(4) Contracting to pay all workers prevailing wages and not having more than ten per cent of all workers from out of state;

(5) Requiring a State of Hawaii tax clearance; and

(6) Retaining local design and engineering consultants to assist in expediting the design process;

and

WHEREAS, expediting these large qualified projects through the county ministerial permit process would include a prioritization of and special coordinated process for the review of these large qualified projects; and

WHEREAS, each county would designate a special coordinator to determine whether a project qualifies as a large qualified project entitling it to an immediate and expedited permit review process; and

WHEREAS, each county special coordinator would implement and oversee the large qualified project permit review process, which would include the following:

(1) Within ten days of determining that a project qualifies as a large qualified project, the special coordinator will convene an initial meeting of representatives of all governmental, state and county reviewing agencies, the large qualified project's owner or designated representative with decision making authority, and the large qualified project's design and engineering consultants, during which meeting all participants would discuss the requirements of the large qualified project and the various reviewing agencies;

(2) Within ten days of the initial meeting, all reviewing agencies would issue to the special coordinator a report identifying the status of the project, all information required of the large qualified project, and any issues or concerns that need to be resolved for approval, which reports the special coordinator would forward to the large qualified project within five days of receipt;

(3) Within ten days of forwarding the reports, the special coordinator would convene another follow up meeting attended by the same participants of the initial meeting to discuss the contents of the various reports from the reviewing agencies and, within ten days of the conclusion of which, the special coordinator would issue a report of the follow up meeting, setting forth the comments of all the reviewing agencies along with the responses and comments of the large qualified project and its consultants. The report would also contain the special coordinator's own summary of its conclusions, identifying specifically those things that remain to be done by both the large qualified project and the reviewing agencies, or in the case where the special coordinator determines that a reviewing agency's comments are not reasonable or not required, the special coordinator could overrule the reviewing agency and could then approve the requirements of that reviewing agency;

and

WHEREAS, with this review process, the large qualified project would always be aware of what information and determinations are required of the large qualified project to obtain its required approvals and permits, and the special coordinator would be able to expedite the permit process and overrule and grant any approval or permit that it determines are reasonable and in the public interest under the circumstances; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, the Senate concurring, that the Mayors of the respective counties are urged to implement in their respective counties the proposed large qualified projects permit review process set forth in this Concurrent Resolution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor of the State of Hawaii and the Mayor of each county.

 

 
 

OFFERED BY:

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