STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2428

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2696

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2696 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE KAKAAKO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Establish development restrictions for the Kakaako Community Development District; and

     (2)  Prohibit the Hawaii Community Development Authority from approving a development permit without first conducting a project eligibility review for adequacy of infrastructure facilities and from granting any variance, exemption, or modification with respect to maximum floor area ratio.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Malu Aina, Malama Makaha, and forty-nine individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawai‘i Construction Alliance, Plumbers and Fitters UA Local 675, The Howard Hughes Corporation, Laborers' International Union of North American Local 368, and one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General; Kamehameha Schools; The Pacific Resource Partnership; Hawaii's Thousand Friends; Alexander & Baldwin, Inc.; Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters; and three individuals.

     Your Committee finds that the Legislature established the Hawaii Community Development Authority in 1976 as a public entity to plan new and innovative forms of urban redevelopment and renewal to meet certain community needs, especially the provision of low- and moderate-income housing located in residential and mixed-use areas with sufficient public facilities and services.  To ensure that comprehensive and coordinated development plans were executed by and for the community, the Authority was explicitly required to engage affected communities in area development plans and projects.

     Your Committee further finds that community development plans should be implemented in recognition of existing uses and according to minimum requirements for good planning and design to preserve public health and safety, ensure access to sufficient public services, and avoid unintended effects on public resources and the human environment.  Community development plans are intended to be adopted in consideration of community engagement and, once adopted, are intended to be strictly followed, particularly in regard to density, infrastructure, and affordable housing requirements.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting language to require an applicant seeking a development permit to contact any relevant county and state agencies to determine infrastructure needs and solicit the agencies' findings and recommendations;

     (2)  Inserting language to allow machine rooms, rooftop utilities, and architectural features of a building or structure to exceed the 400-foot height restriction;

     (3)  Inserting a savings clause;

     (4)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

     (5)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2696, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2696, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing,

____________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair