Environmental groups had initially cheered on Honolulu City Council Bill 2, a measure they hoped would lessen Oahu residents’ dependence on cars and instead encourage them to walk or use other modes of transportation.

But at a Council meeting Tuesday, those same groups raised objections to changes made to the “off-street parking and loading requirements” bill that they now argue has been watered down significantly, without their input, to appease island landowners and developers.

Representatives of developers and the building industry called the latest draft of the bill a good compromise that removes language that would make it tougher to put up badly needed units while retaining the measure’s original intent.

Bill 2 got an 8-0, second reading approval from the Council on Tuesday. It now goes back to the Zoning and Planning Committee for refinement before returning to the full Council for a third and final vote.

Land use laws pertaining to off-street parking and loading requirements have not been changed in more than three decades, and one of the key drivers of the bill was to remove a requirement that a minimum number of stalls be put in based on the number of units.

While the original bill was initiated by Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration as part of his Oahu Resilience Strategy to combat the effects of climate change, he is now being criticized by the same environmental groups that supported it.

Asked at an unrelated news conference Tuesday about the issue, Caldwell said he supports alternate modes of transportation “so we become a more livable city, a 21st-century resilient place. … For me, less parking means less cars.”

But the latest version of the bill, he said, “gives flexibility to developers to let the market determine how many stalls they’re going to build. … They can build more stalls than necessary, they can build no stalls. We want to leave it up to the developer.”

Among the concessions to developer interests in the draft, introduced by Council Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi and advanced by the Council on Tuesday:

>> Language is removed that would prohibit the sale of off-street residential parking stalls in condominiums as part of a “bundled” package for those purchasing condo units and instead require the buyer of a condominium unit to rent or lease stalls separately through a management company or homeowners association. The draft approved Tuesday allows for parking to be “unbundled” and offers incentives for doing so but does not require it.

>> Language is removed requiring that any parking be set back at least 40 feet from public sidewalks, except that the setback would be imposed in transit-oriented development (TOD) zones only starting Dec. 1, 2025.

>> Language is removed prohibiting parking entrances from being along major thoroughfares.

Melissa Miyashiro, managing director of the Blue Planet Foundation, said existing parking requirements “prioritize space for cars instead of people,” while the new bill, as originally drafted, would promote more walkable and livable communities. Miyashiro urged the Council to not change the bill and instead allow the issues to be discussed more fully in committee.

Several developer representatives, meanwhile, testified that the original bill would make it cost-prohibitive for them to develop as many units as they are planning.

Kathy Sokugawa, acting director of the Department of Planning and Permitting, said she did not see Koba­yashi’s draft until Monday afternoon. But she urged the Council to advance the bill to allow the committee to gather public input and hash out remaining issues.

“We remain convinced that this bill is still worth adopting,” Sokugawa said, noting that besides eliminating parking minimums, it contains other provisions that accommodate all interests.

Sarah Elkotbeid of the Natural Resources Defense Council said the latest version of “a once visionary bill” was being advanced by providing “a lot of one-sided access for developers but not the public.”

In a related development, Sierra Club of Hawaii Chapter Director Marti Townsend filed a complaint with the Ethics Commission on Friday against David Arakawa, who heads the Land Use Research Foundation, for meeting with DPP staff about the bill on behalf of developers and landowners without being registered as a city lobbyist allowing him to do so as required.

LURF is a nonprofit that lobbies for and is funded by private developers and landowners.

Townsend called it “absolutely outrageous” that Arakawa, despite not being registered to lobby, would be allowed to meet with city officials weekly without fear of punishment because the Ethics Commission has no authority to impose penalties on violators.

Arakawa acknowledged to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that he has met frequently with Department of Planning and Permitting staff on the bill, and said his failure to submit his lobbyist registration papers with the city in 2019 and 2020 was inadvertent. He submitted the paperwork Monday upon learning of his omission, he said.

A onetime city corporation counsel under former Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, Arakawa in 2015 paid a $2,000 negotiated fine with the state Ethics Commission for failing to file as a state lobbyist. LURF also paid $2,000 under the settlement.