Senate Committee on Housing passes permit-timeline bill with historic-preservation qualification amendments

The Senate Committee on Housing voted Feb. 11 to pass with amendments Senate Bill 66, which would require counties to grant building permits within 60 days if the application is stamped and certified by a licensed engineer and architect and certain other conditions are met.

The committee’s chair said the recommendation was to pass the measure with amendments that are technical and non-substantive, and the committee accepted comments from the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD). The chair read proposed language to require a complete application filing and to insert a requirement that qualified professionals meet SHPD rules governing qualifications for architecture, archaeology, architectural history and physical anthropology at the county level.

"There are technical non substantive amendments and also we'll take DLNR's amendments, on page 4, line 7 to 13 to require a complete application being filed. And on page 5, line 11 to 12, to insert qualified professionals who meet state historic preservation division rules governing professional qualifications for architecture, archaeology, architecture, architectural history and or physical anthropology, at the county," the chair said at decision making.

Testimony on SB 66 was mixed. The transcript records the State Historic Preservation Division with comments and the Department of Planning and Permitting, City and County of Honolulu, in opposition. Multiple organizations and individuals registered support, including Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, RMS Sales, Hawaii Realtors, Hawaii Food Industry Association, the Maui Chamber of Commerce and several individual supporters. Lahaina Strong registered opposition. Individual testifiers listed in the transcript include Joy Dillon, Jacob Wiensek, Zachary Labrad, Victor Brock, Ellen Awai and Tamara Polton (comments).

The committee adopted the chair’s recommendation to pass with amendments by recorded voice vote. The chair voted "aye," followed by the vice chair and senators present: Senator Aquino (aye), Senator Kanuha (aye) and Senator Fevella (aye). No roll-call oppositions were recorded in the transcript excerpt.

The amendments the committee accepted include technical, non-substantive corrections and explicit adoption of SHPD’s qualification standards for professionals whose certifications are relied on to trigger the 60-day permit requirement. The chair described specific page-and-line changes from SHPD that will be incorporated into the committee report.

The bill will proceed with the committee's report; further floor scheduling and any implementation guidance for county permitting departments will depend on subsequent legislative steps and the final bill language.