STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1313-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 2981

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2981 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LAND USE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Prohibit minimum off‑street parking requirements for any new development in an urban district beginning July 1, 2027; and

(2) Remove the requirement that a county's adaptive reuse ordinance must provide an exemption for off-street parking requirements if certain requirements are met.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development; one member of the Maui County Council; one member of the Kauaʻi County Council; Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice; Ulupono Initiative; Hawaiʻi Association of REALTORS; Hawaiʻi YIMBY; Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization; Avalon Development Company, LLC; Chamber of Commerce Hawaii; Hawaiʻi Bicycling League; Grassroot Institute of Hawaii; Housing Hawaiʻi's Future; Aloha Independent Living Hawaii; AARP Hawaiʻi; Holomua Collaborative; Nareit Hawaii; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from UNITE HERE Local 5. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu.

Your Committee finds that pre‑determined parking minimums significantly increase the cost of construction, particularly for housing, while encouraging automobile dependence and suppressing walkability and multimodal transportation options. These requirements often result in unnecessary excess parking, inefficient land use, and higher costs that are ultimately passed on to residents. Allowing projects to tailor parking supply to actual community needs will reduce construction costs and support more sustainable land use patterns.

Your Committee further finds that H.B. No. 1919, H.D. 3 (Regular Session of 2026), was previously passed by your Committee.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting its contents and inserting the contents of H.B. No. 1919, H.D. 3, a measure that:

(A) Beginning July 1, 2027, prohibits counties from imposing minimum parking mandates for certain developments and limits the minimum parking requirements that may be imposed for other developments; and

(B) Contains an effective date of July 1, 3000;

(2) Amending the types of developments subject to the minimum parking mandate prohibition;

(3) Deleting language that would have limited the minimum parking requirements imposed for certain developments; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2981, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2981, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Water & Land.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Housing,

____________________________

LUKE A. EVSLIN, Chair