STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2252

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2822

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Housing and Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2822 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII HOUSING FINANCE AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to enable the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to develop mixed-use developments in partnership with state and county departments and agencies to create communities with housing, jobs, shops, and government services located in close proximity.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Office of Planning; Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation; Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii; Chamber of Commerce Hawaii; Hawaii Association of REALTORS; Building Industry Association of Hawaii; and one individual.

 

     Your Committees find that traditional zoning and land use designations are no longer adequate to meet current development trends.  Mixed-use zoning encourages smart growth and the development of compact, higher-density communities consisting of walkable areas with housing, jobs, shops, and services located within close proximity.  Mixed-use developments are especially beneficial for low- and moderate-income households because they reduce transportation costs, traffic congestion, and the number of vehicle miles traveled by community residents.

 

     Your Committees further find that the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation is authorized to develop certain types of facilities in partnership with the Department of Education and the Department of Accounting and General Services.  Expansion of this authority to other state and county governmental agencies would enable the Corporation to use its development powers in partnership with any governmental agency that holds developable land.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Clarifying that the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, on its own behalf or on behalf of any federal, state, or county agency, may plan, develop, construct, and finance housing projects, including mixed-use developments in which housing is a significant component; and

 

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

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Housing and Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2822, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2822, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Housing and Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs,

 

________________________________

CLARENCE K. NISHIHARA, Chair

 

________________________________

BREENE HARIMOTO, Chair