Have we found a cure for Hawaii's permitting headaches?

by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D., President / CEO, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

Have you ever had trouble getting a building permit?

I’m guessing yes because the reaction to my recent column about a homeowner’s permitting troubles on Hawaii Island has been some of the most intense I’ve seen in my many years of sharing my thoughts with you.

Readers responded with their stories of anger and frustration, as did attendees at last week's events in Hilo and Honolulu presented by my colleagues and me.

But even if you yourself haven't faced permitting difficulties, the extreme permitting backlogs in Hawaii's four counties could still be affecting you because these roadblocks hinder homebuilding, which fuels the ongoing housing crisis that impacts us all.

The basis for our events in Hilo and Honolulu was to talk about Grassroot’s new policy brief, “Seven low-cost ways to speed up permitting in Hawaii,” and goodness, did I learn a lot about how Hawaii’s permitting systems make life harder for many.

At the Hilo luncheon, one attendee spoke about the many people living in unpermitted units in lower Puna who are afraid of losing their homes because there is no system in place to grandfather them into legality.

There was also a story told about Hawai‘i County’s new electronic permitting system, the Electronic Processing and Inspection Center, canceling approximately 40,000 permits when it came online. Many of the people affected are now being told that they will have to tear down their homes and rebuild them according to the county’s current codes in order to get a new permit.

At the Honolulu event, Grassroot staff were joined by Honolulu City Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam and Ted Peck, president of Holu Hou Energy. Peck told a story of a business that wanted to get a solar panel and battery installed.

According to Peck, it took two years for the business to wade through the process, partly because the county discovered that one of the stamps on the application had expired, which pushed the approval back two months and cost the business an extra $10,000.

I wish I could say stories like these are uncommon, but I think we all know someone who has struggled to get their permit approved, even if we haven’t been through that ordeal ourselves.

So how can we help get Hawaii out of this mess? The report I mentioned outlines seven ideas, including:

>> Allow preapproved building plans.

>> Exempt projects that pose no major safety risks.

>> Streamline approval for solar-related projects, which comprise a large chunk of permit applications in Hawaii.

>> Grandfather dwellings that were built without permits.

>> Adopt “shot clocks” whereby applicants with delayed permit approvals could receive fee reductions or even automatic acceptance.

I am glad to say that all of these recommendations have been well-received so far.

Councilmember Santos-Tam agreed that exempting more projects from needing a permit and adding certainty to when permits must be issued would improve the process.

And just yesterday on Hawaii Island, the County Council approved a bill to increase the value of maintenance projects that don’t need a permit. If approved by the mayor, the threshold will increase $7,500 to $25,000, becoming the highest in the state.

Advances are occurring in the other counties as well, as our team continues to collaborate with state and county leaders regarding implementation of our recommendations.

The reforms we are promoting are small steps, yes, but there are no silver-bullet solutions to a problem as big as Hawaii’s permitting woes.

And we have to start somewhere if we want to see any improvement.

E hana kākou! (Let's work together!)