STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1288-16

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2016

RE:   S.B. No. 3077

      S.D. 1

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Transportation and Water & Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 3077, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to properly, effectively, and efficiently address the numerous issues facing transit-oriented development statewide through a coordinated, intergovernmental, and interagency approach by establishing the Hawaii Interagency Council for Transit-Oriented Development (Interagency Council) and appropriating funds for the creation and operations of the Interagency Council.

The Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism and Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation testified in support of this measure.  The Office of Planning, Hawaii Public Housing Authority, Department of Education, and Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu testified in support of the intent of this measure.  The Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, Building Industry Association of Hawaii, and Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii provided comments.

     Transit-oriented development can provide significant economic, social, and environmental benefits through the co-location of jobs, workforce housing, and economic opportunities in mixed-use communities at public transportation hubs.  However, the development of transit-oriented development plans encompasses a wide spectrum of issues over multiple jurisdictions.  Your Committees find that establishing the Interagency Council will allow for a more coordinated effort among county, state, and federal governmental agencies, as well as the private and nonprofit sectors, to comprehensively address the issues facing transit-oriented development plans statewide.

     Your Committees note that concerns were raised regarding the lack of professionals with real estate development experience on the Interagency Council and that this issue should be considered further.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying that the responsibility of the Interagency Council is to coordinate and facilitate state agency transit-oriented development planning, and facilitate consultation and collaboration between the State and the counties on transit-oriented development initiatives;

     (2)  Clarifying that the Interagency Council is the State's transit-oriented development planning and policy development entity;

     (3)  Clarifying that the plan formulated by the Interagency Council is a strategic plan rather than a unified ten-year statewide plan;

     (4)  Clarifying that the jurisdiction of the Interagency Council is limited to projects on State lands to avoid conflicts with transit-oriented development planning and policy efforts currently underway at the county level;

     (5)  Clarifying that reviews by the Interagency Council of all capital improvement project requests to the Legislature for transit-oriented development projects on state lands be for projects on state lands within county-designated transit-oriented development zones or within a one-half-mile radius of public transit stations, if a county has not designated transit-oriented development zones;

     (6)  Requiring the Interagency Council to compile an inventory of state, county, and private sector transit-oriented development projects lacking infrastructure, identify the type of infrastructure each project lacks, and approximate the timeframe when additional capacity is needed for each county as part of its strategic plan;

     (7)  Designating the Office of Planning as the lead agency to coordinate and advance smart growth and transit-oriented development planning within the State and specifying mandated activities of the Office of Planning regarding smart growth and transit-oriented development;

     (8)  Authorizing school impact fees collected from transit-oriented development projects to be used by existing schools in the transit-oriented development area; and

     (9)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     Should the Committee on Finance deliberate this measure further, your Committees on Transportation and Water & Land respectfully request that it consider appropriating $50,000 for the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to carry out the purposes of this measure.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation and Water & Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3077, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3077, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Water & Land,

____________________________ RYAN I. YAMANE, Chair

____________________________ HENRY J.C. AQUINO, Chair