Bill Text: HI SCR204 | 2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Planning And Permitting Of The City And County Of Honolulu To Publish On Its Website All Decisions Regarding Waivers And Variances.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-04-18 - Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on JHA with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Ohno, Woodson excused (2). [SCR204 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2022-SCR204-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
204 |
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THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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S.D.
1 |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND PERMITTING OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU TO PUBLISH ON ITS WEBSITE ALL DECISIONS REGARDING WAIVERS AND VARIANCES.
WHEREAS, the Director of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu has the authority to provide exceptions to building and land use requirements; and
WHEREAS, section 21-2.130, Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, authorizes the Director of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu to waive strict application of the development or design standards of the county land use ordinance chapter under specified circumstances; and
WHEREAS, section 6-1517, Revised Charter of the City and County of Honolulu, authorizes the Director of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu to grant a variance if application of the zoning code would create an unnecessary hardship; and
WHEREAS, the granting or denial of waivers and variances lacks transparency if documents pertaining to those decisions are not easily accessible to members of the public; and
WHEREAS, the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development of the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism produces a semi-monthly publication pursuant to section 343-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, known as "The Environmental Notice," which informs the public of projects undergoing environmental review in Hawaii along with shoreline, coastal zone management, and federal notices; and
WHEREAS, the procedures of the Department of Planning and Permitting have led to ligation in the cases of Citizens Against Reckless Development v. Zoning Board of Appeals of the City and County of Honolulu, 114 Haw. 184, 159 P.3d 143 (2007) and Unite Here! Local 5 v. Department of Planning and Permitting/Zoning Board of Appeals, City and County of Honolulu, 145 Haw. 453, 454 P.3d 394 (2019); and
WHEREAS, in light of the March 2021 indictment of five current or former Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting employees for allegedly accepting bribes to fast track permits and provide other special treatment, public perception of the Department of Planning and Permitting would improve if the public could easily verify that applications for a waiver or variance were granted or denied in a fair and consistent manner; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu is requested to publish on its website all decisions regarding waivers and variances; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Executive Officer of the Public Utilities Commission, Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, and Director of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu.
City and County of Honolulu; Department of Planning and Permitting; Waiver; Variance; Construction; Building Code; Land Use
