Brighter days ahead for Hawaii’s permitting conundrum

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

Ask anyone about trying to get a government permit in Hawaii, and it will seem like delays are about as certain as scoring a sunny day at the beach.

This year, the state Legislature actually did something about that. And thanks in part to community pressure for change, the governor signed two key bills into law that could help fix this situation.

First, there’s SB66, which could wind up being one of the most important bills approved in 2025.

Scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2026, this permitting “shot clock” bill directs the counties to implement a process by which permit applicants seeking to build a house can become eligible to receive an expedited permit if the county doesn’t render a decision within 60 days. 

Under the expedited process, such applicants who have submitted a complete application — including necessary historical or environmental paperwork — will be able to obtain certification from a qualified architect or engineer and then begin construction after a five-day verification period.

Compared to our current state of affairs, that new procedure could feel like sorcery. 

But after all the work the Legislature put into passing this bill, such a welcome change was almost not to be.  Before Gov. Josh Green ultimately signed it, he alarmingly announced his intent to veto it, expressing concern that it could shortcut necessary historic review. 

Thankfully, hundreds of community members reached out to him in support of the measure, calling attention to the fact that existing statutory protections for historic properties would remain in place, and ultimately, he did sign it.

Speaking of historic properties, the Legislature also passed SB15, which is another bill that Gov. Green had said he was going to veto, but then later signed.

Effective immediately, SB15 has added to the state’s definition of “historic property” that a structure must “meet the criteria for being entered into the Hawaii register of historic places” in addition to being at least 50 years old. 

Previously, the law simply read that all properties at least 50 years old were required to go through historic review to obtain a permit, with limited exceptions. 

Perhaps more important than narrowing the definition of “historic property,” the bill excludes from review by the State Historic Preservation Division areas that are known to have a “low density of historic, cultural or archaeological resources” or that have already had substantial excavation without discovering historic properties.

Together, SB66 and SB15 have great potential to reduce permitting delays for homebuilding across the state. 

In Honolulu alone, the average wait time to receive a permit from the Department of Planning and Permitting during the first quarter of this year was 465 days, not counting same-day permits, which generally apply to solar panels and other low-risk work.

That means someone hoping to build a new home could spend more than a year paying for temporary lodging while watching the cost of materials and labor gradually increase.

So, assuming these bills are properly implemented, the passage of SB66 and SB15 represents a huge win for bringing down costs and speeding up construction to help to grow Hawaii’s housing stock.

But still more could be done to reform Hawaii’s morass of regulations that have stunted homebuilding for decades. Let’s hope next year’s Legislature continues to prioritize housing reform.