Bill Text: HI SR197 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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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: (Passed) 2022-06-06 - Certified copies of resolutions sent, 06/06/22. [SR197 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-SR197-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	197
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE 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, 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 Resolution be transmitted to Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu and Director of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

City and County of Honolulu; Department of Planning and Permitting; Waiver; Variance; Construction; Building Code; Land Use