Hawaii County committee delays vote on Bill 24 updating rules for telecom antennas and towers

HILO — The Hawaii County policy committee on planning, land use and economic development postponed action on Bill 24, a planning-department-initiated proposal to amend county rules for telecommunications antennas and towers, to its April 1 committee meeting. The committee voted 8-0 to postpone the measure; one member was recorded as excused.

The bill, identified in the agenda as Bill 24 draft 2, would amend Chapter 25 (articles 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7) of the Hawaii County code relating to telecommunications antennas and towers. Planning staff and several community members told the committee the changes were prompted by a change in state law (Hawaii Revised Statutes section 46-89) that imposes a statutory deadline on local reviews of tower applications and could result in automatic approval if the county does not act within the required period.

“That particular law puts a lot of pressure because if it is not approved, denied, or approved with modifications, it's automatically approved without conditions,” said Jeff Darrow of the Planning Department, who described the county’s effort to reconcile its permitting process with the statutory deadline and to add application requirements and operating standards.

Why it matters: The draft…