Bill Text: HI SB2419 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating To Housing.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-22 - Referred to WTL, WAM. [SB2419 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2018-SB2419-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2419
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

Relating to housing.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that the department of business, economic development, and tourism report, Measuring Housing Demand in Hawaii, 2015-2025, predicts the demand for additional housing units by county will be 25,847 units for Honolulu, 19,610 for Hawaii, 13,949 for Maui, and 5,287 for Kauai during the 2015-2025 period.  Further, a September 2015 report conducted by the City and County of Honolulu, Housing Oahu: Affordable Housing Strategy – Draft for Review and Discussion, states:

The marketplace is not building enough affordable housing to keep up with demand.  Many people live in overcrowded homes, spend more than 45% of their incomes on combined housing and transportation costs, or are homeless and living on the streets.  Oahu would need more than 24,000 additional housing units to address pent-up demand combined with new household formation by 2016.  Over 18,000 or 75% of the total projected demand is for households earning less than 80% of area median income (AMI), or $76,650 for a family of four.

     While studies show the projected lack of supply of housing over the next ten years, none of the counties have acknowledged the problem or suggested possible solutions of how they will increase the production of housing in Hawaii to meet the projected demand.

     Hawaii's comprehensive land use system and policies coupled with an overlapping county entitlement process are the dominant reasons for the severe housing shortage in the State.  The aggregate land area for all islands is about four million acres with roughly half designated as agriculture and the other half allocated to conservation.  About 200,000 acres, or five per cent, of island lands are designated as urban and available for development.

     In order to address this, the legislature finds that it is in the State's best interest to "streamline" the process of housing development.

     The purpose of this Act is to align state and county processes to ensure that there is sufficient developable land and infrastructure to support the additional housing units required and establish housing production goals for each county, with a streamlined housing approval process to expedite the fulfillment of previously unmet housing production goals.

     SECTION 2.  Section 205-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§205-4  Amendments to district boundaries involving land areas greater than fifteen acres.  (a)  Any department or agency of the State, any department or agency of the county in which the land is situated, or any person with a property interest in the land sought to be reclassified, may petition the land use commission for a change in the boundary of a district.  This section applies to all petitions for changes in district boundaries of lands within conservation districts, lands designated or sought to be designated as important agricultural lands, and lands greater than fifteen acres in the agricultural, rural, and urban districts, except as provided in section 201H-38.  The land use commission shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to implement section 201H-38.

     (b)  Upon proper filing of a petition pursuant to subsection (a) the commission shall, within not less than sixty and not more than one hundred and eighty days, conduct a hearing on the appropriate island in accordance with the provisions of sections 91-9, 91-10, 91-11, 91-12, and 91-13, as applicable.

     (c)  Any other provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, notice of the hearing together with a copy of the petition shall be served on the county planning commission and the county planning department of the county in which the land is located and all persons with a property interest in the land as recorded in the county's real property tax records.  In addition, notice of the hearing shall be mailed to all persons who have made a timely written request for advance notice of boundary amendment proceedings, and public notice shall be given at least once in the county in which the land sought to be redistricted is situated as well as once statewide at least thirty days in advance of the hearing.  The notice shall comply with section 91-9, shall indicate the time and place that maps showing the proposed district boundary may be inspected, and further shall inform all interested persons of their rights under subsection [(e).] (g).

     (d)  Any other provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, boundary amendments reflected in the general plan, development plan, community plan, or sustainable community plan shall be adopted in accordance with the approved plan, without need for further action from the commission, upon:

     (1)  Approval by the appropriate county land use decision-making authority;

     (2)  Concurrence from the land use commission; and

     (3)  Establishment by the State of quantitative annual housing production goals for each of the following income categories:

          (A)  Market (greater than one hundred forty per cent of area median income);

          (B)  Workforce (greater than eighty per cent to one hundred forty per cent of area median income);

          (C)  Moderate income (greater than sixty per cent to eighty per cent of area median income); and

          (D)  Low Income (sixty per cent of area median income or less).

     (e)  Any other provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, all agencies responsible for providing public infrastructure to areas of planned growth requiring boundary amendments adopted pursuant to subsection (d) shall prepare a budget within one year of the effective date of the boundary amendment that will prioritize funding for all infrastructure required to support the planned growth reflected in the adopted general plan, development plan, community plan, or sustainable community plan.

     [(d)] (f)  Any other provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, prior to hearing of a petition the commission and its staff may view and inspect any land which is the subject of the petition.

     [(e)] (g)  Any other provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, agencies and persons may intervene in the proceedings in accordance with this subsection.

     (1)  The petitioner, the office of planning, and the county planning department shall in every case appear as parties and make recommendations relative to the proposed boundary change;

     (2)  All departments and agencies of the State and of the county in which the land is situated shall be admitted as parties upon timely application for intervention;

     (3)  All persons who have some property interest in the land, who lawfully reside on the land, or who otherwise can demonstrate that they will be so directly and immediately affected by the proposed change that their interest in the proceeding is clearly distinguishable from that of the general public shall be admitted as parties upon timely application for intervention;

     (4)  All other persons may apply to the commission for leave to intervene as parties.  Leave to intervene shall be freely granted; provided that the commission or its hearing officer, if one is appointed, may deny an application to intervene when in the commission's or hearing officer's sound discretion it appears that:

          (A)  The position of the applicant for intervention concerning the proposed change is substantially the same as the position of a party already admitted to the proceeding; and

          (B)  The admission of additional parties will render the proceedings inefficient and unmanageable.

          A person whose application to intervene is denied may appeal the denial to the circuit court pursuant to section 91-14; and

     (5)  The commission, pursuant to chapter 91, shall adopt rules governing the intervention of agencies and persons under this subsection.  The rules shall without limitation establish:

          (A)  The information to be set forth in any application for intervention;

          (B)  The limits within which applications shall be filed; and

          (C)  Reasonable filing fees to accompany applications.

     [(f)] (h)  Together with other witnesses that the commission may desire to hear at the hearing, it shall allow a representative of a citizen or a community group to testify who indicates a desire to express the view of such citizen or community group concerning the proposed boundary change.

     [(g)] (i)  Within a period of not more than three hundred sixty-five days after the proper filing of a petition, unless otherwise ordered by a court, or unless a time extension, which shall not exceed ninety days, is established by a two-thirds vote of the members of the commission, the commission, by filing findings of fact and conclusions of law, shall act to approve the petition, deny the petition, or to modify the petition by imposing conditions necessary to uphold the intent and spirit of this chapter or the policies and criteria established pursuant to section 205-17 or to assure substantial compliance with representations made by the petitioner in seeking a boundary change.  The commission may provide by condition that absent substantial commencement of use of the land in accordance with such representations, the commission shall issue and serve upon the party bound by the condition an order to show cause why the property should not revert to its former land use classification or be changed to a more appropriate classification.  Such conditions, if any, shall run with the land and be recorded in the bureau of conveyances.

     [(h)] (j)  No amendment of a land use district boundary shall be approved unless the commission finds upon the clear preponderance of the evidence that the proposed boundary is reasonable, not violative of section 205-2 and part III of this chapter, and consistent with the policies and criteria established pursuant to sections 205-16 and 205-17.  Six affirmative votes of the commission shall be necessary for any boundary amendment under this section.

     [(i)] (k)  Parties to proceedings to amend land use district boundaries may obtain judicial review thereof in the manner set forth in section 91-14, provided that the court may also reverse or modify a finding of the commission if such finding appears to be contrary to the clear preponderance of the evidence.

     [(j)] (l)  At the hearing, all parties may enter into appropriate stipulations as to findings of fact, conclusions of law, and conditions of reclassification concerning the proposed boundary change.  The commission may but shall not be required to approve such stipulations based on the evidence adduced."

     SECTION 3.  (a)  For boundary amendments adopted pursuant to section 205-4(d), Hawaii Revised Statutes, each county shall provide by April 1 of each year an annual report to the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation that includes the following:

     (1)  The number of net new units of housing, including rental housing and for-sale housing, that have been issued a completed entitlement, building permit, or certificate of occupancy thus far in the housing element cycle;

     (2)  For each entitlement, building permit, or certificate of occupancy, a unique site identifier, which must include a tax map key parcel number but may also include a street address or other identifiers;

     (3)  The income category that each unit of housing, including rental housing and housing designated for home ownership, satisfies; and

     (4)  For each income category, the number of rental housing units and the number of for-sale housing units.

     (b)  When a county fails to meet any annual housing production goal established by the State pursuant to section 205-4(d), Hawaii Revised Statutes, for two consecutive years for any income category, the streamlined housing approval process shall apply for each housing development necessary to fulfill the unmet production goal.

     (c)  A developer may submit an application for a housing development that is subject to the streamlined housing approval process described in this section for units priced at income categories for which the county failed to meet a production goal, without need to obtain a conditional use permit, if the development satisfies all of the following planning standards:

     (1)  The development is a multifamily housing development that contains two or more residential units;

     (2)  The development is located on a site that:

          (A)  Is a legal parcel or parcels; and

          (B)  Is designated urban by the land use commission and:

              (i)  Is zoned for residential use;

             (ii)  Is zoned for residential mixed-use development;

            (iii)  Has a general plan designation that allows residential use; or

             (iv)  Is zoned for a mix of residential and nonresidential uses, with at least two-thirds of the square footage of the development designated for residential use;

     (3)  The development of a market rate housing project is subject to one of the following requirements mandating a minimum percentage of below market rate housing:

          (A)  A requirement established through a zoning ordinance adopted by the county that greater than ten per cent of the units shall be dedicated to housing affordable to households earning eighty per cent of the area median income or less, that zoning ordinance applies; or

          (B)  In the absence of the affordable housing requirement described in subparagraph (A), a requirement that ten per cent of the proposed units, on projects with greater than ten units, shall be priced for households earning eighty per cent or below the area median income;

     (4)  The county permitting agency may review the proposed project for compliance with codes and ordinances and for consistency with surrounding existing projects; however, the review shall be completed within ninety days after filing the proposed project to the county permitting agency.  The county is prohibited from imposing any non-code related condition or exaction on projects processed through the streamlined housing approval process; and

     (5)  If the development involves more than ten units and is not entirely a public works project, all construction workers employed in the execution of the development shall be paid at least the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for the type of work and geographic area.

     SECTION 4.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Housing; Streamlined Housing Approval Process; Boundary Amendments; Land Use

 

Description:

Requires boundary amendments to be adopted uniformly among the various housing development plans once an amendment is approved.  Establishes a streamlined housing approval process to expedite the fulfillment of previously unmet housing production goals.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.