Kakaako bills cool off, but debate over development stays heated

Just past the midpoint in this year’s legislative session, it appears that most efforts to halt or dramatically scale back high-rise development in Kakaako have fizzled.

State lawmakers introduced at least 17 bills in January aimed at imposing changes on the Hawaii Community Development Authority, the state agency governing development in Kakaako. Now the count is down to just one bill still up for debate.

Among proposals that failed to advance early on were abolishing HCDA and putting a moratorium on development permits.

Other initiatives abandoned more recently include reducing building density, requiring 300 feet between any buildings more than 100 feet tall, and making below-market housing under HCDA rules more affordable to lower-income residents.

The one measure still alive would kill the agency’s budget, alter the makeup of its board, put development applications online for more convenient public viewing and maintain Kakaako’s 400-foot building height limit.

HCDA-related legislation has been a hot-button issue at the state Capitol this year because a relatively high volume of condominium tower projects proposed by developers on private land have been approved by HCDA over the past year or so, including some planned next to existing towers that for decades stood alone with enviable views.

"There is a growing wall of concrete in Kakaako, and new buildings should have stricter limits on height and density," Michael Korman, a Kakaako resident, said in written testimony on one bill. "Currently planned housing projects will negatively influence the quality of the air, the open space and the quiet atmosphere that led current residents to select this neighborhood as home. Kakaako citizens feel helpless with personal well-being and quality of life in jeopardy."

The crowding issue has largely pitted existing tower dwellers, like Korman, against developers of new towers and construction industry representatives.

Both sides have organized campaigns to get their message out, including forming nonprofit organizations with names such as Kakaako Cares and A Better Honolulu, in an attempt to influence lawmakers and broad public sentiment.

Proponents of restricting HCDA and development in Kakaako generally argue that the agency and its board are interpreting agency rules, which are flexible by design, to allow denser development than is appropriate for the area where new towers are increasing demands on roads, schools and the city’s wastewater system.

Many of these proponents reside in one of three Kakaako high-rise projects One Waterfront Towers, Imperial Plaza and Royal Capitol Plaza that are adjacent to sites recently approved by HCDA for two condo tower projects and one midrise residential building.

Other support has come from long-established local environmental groups including Hawaii’s Thousand Friends, the Outdoor Circle and the Surfrider Foundation.

Those wanting to rein in the HCDA mostly have testified as individuals and relied more on grass-roots activities such as marching to the state Capitol in January and gathering petition signatures.

Organizations created by Kakaako reform bill supporters include Kakaako United, Kakaako Cares and Kakaako Do it Right. On the kakaako united.org website, people can donate money for a legal defense fund and buy a red Kakaako United T-shirt for $15.

On the opposing side are mainly developers and construction industry groups with vast financial resources.

One construction industry alliance, Pacific Resource Partnership, paid for 60-second TV commercials that ran during prime-time Winter Olympics coverage and are still airing. The ads suggest that building dense housing in Kakaako will create a "new kind of downtown living" and preserve open space in areas on Oahu regarded as country.

"We have to get past car culture," the commercial states. "Get out, get walking, biking not just to exercise but to get to work, to school, to go to a park to play."

HCDAitself created a promotional video touting the benefit of concentrating new homes in Kakaako to accommodate population growth and take advantage of Honolulu’s main job center and a planned mass transit line nearby.

"The Kakaako district now stands to become Hawaii’s first true live-work-play community a beacon of forward thinking and planning," the HCDA video proclaims. "While some may fear the change, now is the time to embrace the future and to show Hawaii as a leader in building smart."

Development interests also formed the nonprofit A Better Honolulu to educate the public about what it sees as a need to continue the momentum of Kakaako development and to gather written testimony on the subject for submission to lawmakers.

Opponents of bills that would scale back Kakaako development generally argue that doing so would undermine a nearly 40-year-old state vision to direct dense residential and commercial development to part of Honolulu that suffered from industrial decay.

The Legislature created HCDA in 1976 to improve infrastructure including roads and sewers in the 450-acre area bounded by Ala Moana Boulevard and King, Punchbowl and Piikoi streets to encourage private landowners to redevelop property with mixed uses including residential towers up to 400 feet.

To date, HCDA and private landowners have invested about $200 million in Kakaako infrastructure upgrades to accommodate a more than doubling of the area’s population to a projected 30,000 residents by 2030.

Some HCDA supporters note that residents in existing towers rallying against the agency benefited precisely because of agency rules and efforts that they now want curtailed.

The Land Use Research Foundation, an organization that represents major private landowners and developers and is involved with A Better Honolulu, said in written testimony on one HCDA-related bill that Imperial Plaza, Royal Capitol Plaza and One Waterfront Towers would be in violation of 300-foot minimum spacing.

"There is no justification for the proposed spacing restriction," the organization said.

The bill in question, Senate Bill 2696, was passed by the Senate Ways and Means Committee Feb. 26, positioning the bill for consideration in the House. But on March 4, the bill was recommitted to Ways and Means along with two other HCDA-related Senate bills.

The only HCDA reform bill to cross from the Senate to the House was SB 2699, which would require that new high-rise towers in Kakaako make 10 percent of units affordable to households earning below 80 percent of Honolulu’s median income and another 20 percent of units for households earning below 120 percent of the median income.

HCDA currently requires 20 percent of new tower units be affordable to households earning up to 140 percent of the median income.

This bill, however, was referred to three House committees and appears dead because it didn’t meet a deadline for an initial hearing.

In the Senate, the only HCDA-related bill received from the House was HB 1866. This bill proposes to redefine who serves on the agency’s board but maintains the role of the governor appointing a majority.

Allowing for a judicial review of any HCDA decision that "aggrieves" someone is also provided by the bill, along with requiring that HCDA put development applications online and notify all residents within 300 feet of a proposed project.

Kakaako’s 400-foot height limit would become law under HB 1866, preventing HCDA from increasing the limit to 650 feet as it has suggested for a few sites near the city’s planned rail line.

Two elements of HB 1866 could jam up HCDA if they pass. One element would zero out the agency’s operating budget in fiscal year 2015, while the other would require legislative approval for the agency to spend money in its revolving fund.

A hearing on HB 1866 has been scheduled by the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing for 3:15 p.m. Wednesday.