Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Bill 127 Timing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Hawaii County committee postpones change-of-zone timing bill after debate over tolling, matrix and sunset rules
Summary
The policy committee delayed action on Bill 127, which would add time constraints to change-of-zone ordinances, asking staff to draft clearer 'tolling' language, a project timing matrix and exemptions; the postponement to July 23 carried with nine aye votes.
The Hawaii County Council policy committee on planning, land use and development on Tuesday postponed consideration of Bill 127 — a proposal to add time constraints to change-of-zone ordinances — after members pressed staff for clearer "tolling" language, a timing matrix and rules on exemptions and sunset reversion.
Chair Ashley Kirk Woods presided as Council member Halaka Inaba, the bill's maker, said the Windward and Leeward Planning Commissions recommended creating an "informed time matrix" to estimate how long different application types typically take, and allowing certain exemptions and tolling for agency review delays. "So number 3 is creating... an informed time matrix," Inaba said, summarizing the commissions' letters.
Planning Director Zendo Kern told the committee that tolling would "stop the clock" on a time-limited approval while an application was under active review by other agencies, giving applicants extra calendar time to satisfy conditions. "Tolling we'd have to establish... language that when an application was under review for a various department or agency... that the time would stop on the clock," Kern said, offering an example in which cumulative review time is added to a 10-year condition.
Council members sought specifics about when tolling would begin and how to guard against misuse. "What would tolling look like? What would that look like?" Council member Cindy Evans asked. Kern said tolling can be structured in several ways — for example, triggered after a set delay from a particular department's nonresponse, or capped so it cannot be extended indefinitely.
Members also debated a timing matrix that would scale expectations by project type and size. Council member Leroy described a decision-sequencing concept and called for a framework that would tell applicants and the public whether a given project is likely to take years or decades to complete. "A project of this size is definitely a 5 to 7 year project whereas a project of this size, we're looking at closer to 15 to 20 years for a full build up," he said.
The committee pressed legal questions about a proposed sunset provision that would revert land to its prior zoning if timing conditions lapse. Kern said reverting zoning would generally require a formal process and recommended seeking an opinion from corporation counsel on whether automatic reversion could be enacted by ordinance. "I think that should be looked at a bit more," he said, warning that automatic reversion could leave parcels temporarily unusable and raise vesting issues.
After members requested staff craft clearer tolling and exemption language and to explore timing-matrix options, Inaba moved to postpone Bill 127 to the committee's July 23 meeting; the motion, seconded by Leroy, carried with nine aye votes. The committee adjourned at 10:50 a.m.
What happens next: staff and the planning director will draft tolling language, examples of exemptions and additional timing-matrix detail for committee consideration at the July 23 meeting. No formal ordinance changes were adopted Tuesday.
