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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
66 |
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TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006 |
S.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THAT THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU STUDY AND EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING AN ECONOMIC REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY FOR THE URBAN CORE OF HONOLULU.
WHEREAS, the Joint Legislative Housing and Homeless Task Force found that aging infrastructure in the Honolulu urban core, such as the undersized sewer system, is unable to accommodate an increased density of housing development; and
WHEREAS, the Joint Legislative Housing and Homeless Task Force recommended that an appropriate agency be designated to work with the City and County of Honolulu and stakeholders in the private sector to develop a plan for the redevelopment of the Honolulu urban core for affordable housing; and
WHEREAS, the Hawaii Community Development Authority is a state agency and public corporate entity established to revitalize urban areas in need of timely community redevelopment through coordinated public and private sector efforts; and
WHEREAS, the Hawaii Community Development Authority has recently encountered substantial community resistance to proposals for redevelopment of the Kakaako waterfront with a mix of housing and other uses; and
WHEREAS, the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii can assist private affordable housing developments through interim and permanent financing, expedited processing of governmental approvals, tax exemptions and credits, sales and counseling services, and technical assistance; and
WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu promotes business opportunities through its Office of Economic Development, and provides grants, rehabilitation loans, rental assistance, and programs to assist low-income residents and the homeless through its Department of Community Services; and
WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu no longer has an agency with authority and responsibility for undertaking urban renewal and housing redevelopment projects; and
WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu requires developers of vacant or underutilized urban land parcels to fund offsite infrastructure improvements, the cost of which may render affordable housing projects economically unfeasible; and
WHEREAS, an enabling statute is in place empowering the counties to create tax increment financing districts and issue tax increment bonds to implement community redevelopment plans, but no use has been made of this authority in the City and County of Honolulu; and
WHEREAS, legislation proposing a Honolulu Development Authority, a body corporate and public instrumentality of the State with full powers to acquire land and develop affordable housing in the Honolulu urban core, has been deferred; and
WHEREAS, no one agency of the State or the City and County of Honolulu exists to redevelop the urban core of Honolulu with affordable housing on appropriately sized land parcels serviced by the necessary infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, the Portland Development Commission was established in 1958 as a special purpose government under the City Council, to serve as the urban renewal, housing, and economic development agency for the City of Portland, Oregon; and
WHEREAS, the Portland Development Commission provides an important model of public-private partnerships that assemble underutilized property and finance and develop multi-family housing, funded primarily by tax increment financing, for a variety of income levels; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to evaluate the feasibility of redeveloping certain older neighborhoods for affordable housing through the establishment of an economic redevelopment agency for the urban core of Honolulu; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to consult with appropriate government agencies, including but not limited to the Hawaii Community Development Authority, the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii, the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, the neighborhood boards, and private stakeholder organizations and individuals; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to consider the feasibility of:
(1) Requiring the functions of the redevelopment agency to include:
(a) Identification of suitable parcels of land and buildings;
(b) The necessity of land acquisition and assembly; and
(c) Infrastructure requirements and means of financing improvements; and
(2) Requiring an existing rather than a new agency of state or county government to undertake the redevelopment; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to consider whether the redevelopment agency:
(1) Should be empowered to put development rights out to competitive bid, issue long-term ground leases, and develop infrastructure and multi-family housing projects using tax increment financing; and
(2) Can have appropriate oversight responsibility and
accountability, without being unduly encumbered by
personnel and procurement rules and regulations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2007; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Acting Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Executive Director of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, the Executive Director of the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii, and the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu.
Report Title:
Economic Redevelopment; Urban Core; Honolulu; Study; Feasibility