BY DONNA WONG – The Dirty Dozen’s two worst bills – SB 2927 and SB 755 – are being voted on by both the full House and Senate (floor votes) on Tuesday 4/10.
SB 2927 introduced by Senator Dela Cruz:
Please phone your Senator and Representative and ask them to protect the integrity of county zoning, prevent unplanned development and increased density and support continued public involvement in the community planning and zoning process by voting NO on SB 2927.
Senator’s contact information by county HERE.
Representative’s contact information by county HERE.
SB 2927:
– exempts high-density Transit Oriented Development (TOD) within a undefined radius around rail & bus transit stations and centers state wide from county zone change processes.
– allows a transit-rail or bus related TOD to exceed existing planning and zoning height and density limits without going through the counties planning and zone change process.
– exempts transit related TODs from compliance with zoning standards.
– exempts transit related TODs from all state fees associated with land development.
– authorizes all counties to create “exceptional planning projects” within “planning districts” for transit – rail and bus related projects outside of existing county planning and zoning requirements and processes.
– indemnifies any county, its officials, or employees from any action taken on reviewing, approving, modifying or disapproving an application or plans for an exceptional planning project.
– authorizes all counties to establish a discretionary review process to transfer floor area allowances from separate parcels to create high densities on other parcels within a “planning district” for an “exceptional planning project”.
– Unplanned high-density Transit Oriented Development could impact and adversely affect conservation land, open shoreline recreational areas, historic sites and agricultural lands.
FYI, to their great credit, the following voted NO in committee:
– Senator Slom
– Representative Thielen
– Representative Belatti
– Representative Hanohano
– Representative Luke
– Representative Riviere
– Representative Saiki
FYI, the following voted with Aye with Reservations in committee:
– Senator Fukunaga
– Senator Ryan
– Senator Tokuda
– Senator Ihara
– Senator Kim
– Representative Awana
– Representative Brower
– Representative Ching
– Representative Fontaine
– Representative Johanson
– Representative Chris Lee
– Representative Marumoto
– Representative Wooley
– Representative Ward
SB 755 the “gut and replace” bill:
– exempts state projects from Chapter 343 environmental review (Environmental Assessment and Impact Statement process).
– exempts state projects from shoreline setback variance requirements.
– exempts airport structures and improvements from the county coastal Special Management Area Permit (SMA) process.
– exempts commercial harbors submerged lands from conservation district permitting and site plan review requirements.
– allows the Governor to independently develop a list of state projects that will be exempted from environmental review requirements, oversight and approval by the Environmental Council, compliance with the Office of Environmental Quality Control rules and the county SMA process.
It is crucial that you phone your own Representative and Senator now and ask them to protect our islands environment, coastal resources, respect Hawaii’s environmental laws, and support public involvement in the decision making process by voting NO on SB 755.
Senator’s contact information by county HERE.
Representative’s contact information by county HERE.
To their great credit, the following voted NO in committee:
– Representative Thielen
– Representative Riviere
– Representative Ward
– Representative Belatti
– Representative Fontaine
– Representative Hanohano
– Representative Luke
– Representative Saiki
– Representative Wooley
The following voted “Aye with Reservations” in committee:
– Representative Carroll
– Representative Johanson
– Representative Keith-Agaran
– Representative Marilyn Lee (yes in FIN 4/3 committee meeting)
– Representative Marumoto (no in FIn 4/3 committee meeting)
– Representative McKelvey (
– Representative Morikawa
– Representative Pine
– Representative Rhoads
– Representative Takai
– Representative Takumi
– Representative Chris Lee
NOTE: Senators did not vote on SB 755 because all the Senate votes were taken on the original language in the 2011 legislative session; the original bill that was gutted and replaced with the current bad language.
Again, it would be very helpful if you contacted Governor Abercrombie’s office and tell him you are against SB 755 and SB 2927.
CONTACT:
The Honorable Neil Abercrombie
Phone: 808-586-0034
Fax: 808-586-0006
P.S. Please forward this em to your interested friends and associates, and if you use any of the social networks, that’s easily done with one click using the tabs at the top of this email. Mahalo!
“If the people lead, the leaders will follow.” – Mahatma Gandhi –
Donna Wong is the Executive Director of Hawaii’s Thousand Friends.