STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1311

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1409

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Housing and Water and Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 1409, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Amend the funding priorities of the Rental Housing Revolving Fund to incentivize development in areas that satisfy transit-supportive density requirements;

(2) Allocate a minimum percentage of Rental Housing Revolving Fund moneys for certain mixed-income rental housings projects;

(3) Require the Transit-Oriented Development Infrastructure Improvement District Board to consider the infrastructure needs of transit-supportive density requirements; and

(4) Require the strategic plan developed by the Hawaii Interagency Council for Transit-Oriented Development to delineate county-designated transit-oriented development areas for each county.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, AARP Hawaiʻi, Holomua Collaborative, Housing Hawaiʻi's Future, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, Hawaiʻi YIMBY, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, and four individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu.

Your Committees find that transit-oriented development allows individuals and families to live close to major transportation hubs, which lowers the overall cost of transportation, reduces traffic congestion, and improves accessibility to local communities and businesses. Additionally, transit-oriented development encourages healthier lifestyle choices such as walking, cycling, and other forms of physical activity. As the State seeks to expand its housing inventory, high-density transit-oriented development offers an opportunity for the creation of walkable communities that prioritize residents, while ensuring that the State can meet its climate and energy goals. Therefore, this measure encourages the creation of vibrant communities statewide while addressing the State's existing housing shortage.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the percentage of moneys in the fund to be prioritized for mixed-income rental projects or units in a mixed-income rental project from at least fifty-one percent to an unspecified percentage;

(2) Specifying that the strategic plan developed by the Hawaii Interagency Council for Transit-Oriented Development shall delineate for each county transit-oriented development areas, rather than county-designated transit-oriented development areas;

(3) Clarifying the definition of "county-designated transit-oriented development area" to specify that actual boundaries may differ under specific circumstances;

(4) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

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

(6) 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 Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1409, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1409, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair

________________________________ STANLEY CHANG, Chair