STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2318

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 3076

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Housing and Economic Development, Environment, and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 3076 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STATEWIDE COMMUNITY PLAN,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Designate the Office of Planning as the lead agency to coordinate and advance transit-oriented development planning in the State; and

     (2)  Require that the Office of Planning approve all state agencies' development plans for parcels along the rail transit corridor, including any properties that the State may obtain in the future.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Planning, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, and Building Industry Association of Hawaii.

     Your Committees find that with Honolulu's construction of an elevated rail transit system, the State has an opportunity to enhance Oahu's urban environment and increase the quality of life for residents by utilizing sound smart growth and transit-oriented development principles to revitalize neighborhoods and increase affordable housing inventory, among other public benefits.  As the largest landowner of properties along the transit line, with approximately two thousand acres under the jurisdiction of various departments, the State must be proactive and place a priority on planning with a statewide policy perspective, rather than a departmental mission perspective, to maximize the benefits of state lands available for redevelopment.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying that the Office of Planning is intended to coordinate and advance smart growth and transit-oriented development planning within the State;

     (2)  Clarifying that a responsibility of the Office of Planning is to act as the lead agency to coordinate and advance smart growth and transit-oriented development planning within the State;

     (3)  Expanding the responsibility of the Office of Planning in transit-oriented development to include targeting transit-oriented development areas for significant increase in affordable housing and rental units;

     (4)  Inserting an appropriation for an unspecified amount for one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) branch chief position within the Office of Planning; and

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

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Housing and Economic Development, Environment, and Technology that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3076, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3076, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Transportation and Energy and Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Housing and Economic Development, Environment, and Technology,

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

________________________________ BREENE HARIMOTO, Chair