HHFDC and Kapolei residents press committee as lawmakers move HB 157 forward to facilitate transfer of privately built roads

The House committees on Housing and Transportation voted Jan. 30 to advance HB 157, a bill aimed at easing transfer of state-maintained roadways in the Villages of Kapolei to the City and County of Honolulu once they meet city standards.

The Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, which traces maintenance responsibility for Kapolei roadways back to predecessor agencies that self-permitted the subdivision, told lawmakers the agency supports the measure’s intent but noted large costs and a long timeline to upgrade the streets to city standards. "We turned over the first phase of roadways about a year ago, and that was at a cost of about $15,000,000," HHFDC representative Dean Minakami said. "To redo all the rest of the roadways, it'll probably be close to a $100,000,000, and we're just doing it slowly as we can. We anticipate it'll take us maybe 10 years to get through all the roads in Kapolei." Minakami said the city has proposed a lump-sum acceptance option but that the parties have not agreed on an amount; he said city officials had "thrown out a sum of $60,000,000."

A long-time Kapolei resident and testifier, Sandra Jamora of the Villages of Kapolei Association, described persistent problems with nonemergency police response and illegal parking that she says result from the roads’ unclear status. She cited the City and County of Honolulu traffic code, RoH section 15-1.1, which governs private streets that have been used by the public and are intended for dedication but not yet accepted by the city. "We consistently have problems getting non emergency services here from HPD, such as ticketing and towing," Jamora said, and urged lawmakers to take action so residents can access the same city services as other taxpaying citizens.

Members pressed HHFDC on the nature of the holdup and whether roads could be transferred in segments. Minakami said the existing memorandum of agreement with the city requires HHFDC to reconstruct roadways to city standards before the city will accept dedication; once a roadway is reconstructed to the city's satisfaction, maintenance responsibility has in some cases been transferred, but full dedication requires legal subdivision work and land-court complexities. "We have transferred maintenance responsibility, which is a huge burden," he said, "The actual dedication will follow once we subdivide out the roadway."

Chair recommendations and committee action: the committees advanced HB 157 with amendments and noted in the committee report that they are awaiting a formal written opinion from the attorney general about the legislature’s authority to require transfer in some circumstances. Committees also signaled intent to keep a separate provision regarding police authority on the streets moving forward.

Ending: The bill remains alive for further drafting and for consideration of the AG opinion; HHFDC and city staff were directed to continue discussions and to refine implementation language for committee reports.