STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2458

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2192

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Housing and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2192 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize a county to reduce the number of housing units that may be built within any geographical area of the county only if the county increases the number of housing units that may be built elsewhere in the county, such that there is no net loss in residential capacity in the county.

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 one individual.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu.

Your Committees find that downzoning is a mechanism through which a county amends existing zoning ordinances to reduce the allowable density in an area. While downzoning can be an important tool for county agencies to control the development of an area, it often has detrimental effects on the State's housing supply. However, a county can offset these effects by strategically upzoning some areas to compensate for downzoning in other areas. This measure will help to ensure that counties appropriately compensate for downzoning to avoid significant reductions in the State's housing supply and to prevent further exacerbating the housing shortage.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Amending section 1 to provide additional findings on the history and effects of downzoning in the State;

(2) Making it effective upon its approval; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Housing and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2192, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2192, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Housing and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs,

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

________________________________ STANLEY CHANG, Chair