STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2215

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2018

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Housing and Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 2018 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit a county from changing the land use designation or zoning of a parcel or parcels of property to a less intensive use or reducing the intensity of land use within an existing zoning district below what was allowed under the general plan or specific land use designation and zoning ordinances in effect on January 1, 2024; and

(2) Allow a county to change a land use designation or zoning ordinance to a less intensive use if the county concurrently enacts measures to ensure that there is no net loss in residential capacity.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Planning of the County of Kauai and one individual.

Your Committees find that Hawaii is experiencing a housing crisis. Currently, counties have the ability to downzone lands to less intensive use, reducing their capacity to house the future population growth, without concurrent requirement or incentive to increase housing capacity on other lands. As a result, fewer and fewer units of housing can be constructed, limiting the ability of the county to increase its housing supply to meet demand. Your Committees further find that a county's ability to downzone should be balanced with a requirement to upzone elsewhere to preserve or increase the total number of homes that can be built in the county. This measure ensures that each county's housing capacity is protected from erosion through future downzoning.

Your Committees heard the concerns raised in testimony relating to Kauai County and its use of downzoning to help combat coastal hazards and the alleged conflicts of this measure with the County's General Plan. Your Committees note, however, that this measure does not conflict with Kauai County General Plan policies, as this measure still allows for downzoning as long as new residential capacity is provided elsewhere.

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 S.B. No. 2018 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair

________________________________ STANLEY CHANG, Chair