Development

...the Rasputin of urban planning....

...he unwittingly bought into a scheme that is now the subject of an FBI investigation....

...two OHA operatives are in the Council runoff elections this November with one goal in mind--help OHA upzone Kakaako Makai so it can build hotels and condos up to the sky....

... Can we afford to take the risk of building a new stadium with an entertainment center that may become a financial white elephant like our convention center? ....

..."Without the intervention of the Hawaii Supreme Court, this case would have continued in the darkness of closed proceedings. We look forward to a formal announcement on how the public may observe the conduct of these proceedings." said attorney Lance D. Collins....

... The Maui Planning Commission appears to have violated both the Sunshine Law and its own rules by failing to give the public required notice of a hearing item ....

...Honolulu Mayoral Candidate Keith Amemiya knows a lot about the ‘affordable’ housing system and how to ‘work’ it....

... Pandemic no excuse for government hostility to sunshine laws ....

... On May 30, Mayor Victorino issued a directive indicating certain shoreline development approval requests will be reviewed within fifteen days or be automatically approved ....

...while you are locked down with COVID, this is what some politicians are doing....

...Ige’s Health Emergency Declaration waves many of the state laws ensuring public participation, transparency, and accountability.    

The implicit understanding is that elected officials will utilize these extraordinary powers only to combat the Corona Virus pandemic in Hawaii.

It only took two days to find out....

...The EB-5 program offers alien investors a family-sized set of green cards if they invest....

...Carbon Tax to become $15B Slush Fund for Developers....

...Senate Bill 3104, Senate Draft 2, relating to Land Development...and...Senate Bill 3103, Senate Draft 2, relating to a School Facilities Agency....

...the District Court had awarded nominal compensation ($1), after the jury concluded that the State of Hawaii took Aina Lea's property....

...Public debate falls into two schools of thought as to why housing costs are so high....

...More mandates and government red tape won’t build houses....

...These are the kind of people who make Hawaii what it is today....

...The State’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Budget for FY2019 was $2.02 billion....

...Included in the study are data on housing supply, demand, and estimates of housing units needed by levels of affordability....

"...DPP should convert from its inefficient plan-review operation to an inspection-driven model...."

"...We found that the Department of Planning and Permitting does not effectively manage the permitting process for timeliness...."

...NPS, which administers federal funds to SHPD, designated SHPD a high-risk recipient in 2009....

...HAWSCT: When Agency Includes Conditions In Phase 1 Land Use Permit, But Later Removes The Conditions In Phase 2 Permit, Party Who Asked For Conditions Is Entitled To Notification....

...smaller steps that could lead to big results....

"...We found that the Department of Planning and Permitting does not effectively manage building permits and inspections...."

...State's Amicus Response....

...When supply can’t keep up with demand, prices go up....

...The DOE’s inconsistent and problematic implementation of the school impact fee law calls into question the relevance and appropriateness of the fees that have been collected to date....

...Houston is America's largest city without any zoning laws....

...The Department of Planning and Permitting is holding a series of pop-up workshops to gather input on how climate change and sea level rise will affect the area between Kāhala and Pearl City, also known as the Primary Urban Center....

...a July 22, 2019 'melee' between members of the Fullard-Leo family and 20 pimps and drug dealers....

...Here is the motion asking the Hawaii Supreme Court for leave to file an amicus curiae brief (and the proposed brief)....

...Ige is recruiting qualified and dedicated people who are interested in serving on the State Board of Land and Natural Resources....

...This morning, at the request of TMT, the University of Hawaiʻi asked for a two-year extension of the Conservation District Use permit deadline for the initiation of construction. The Department of Land and Natural Resources granted this extension until Sept. 26, 2021....

...The PUC spans from Wai‘alae-Kāhala to Pearl City....

...a dirty legislative trick from 2008 has--eleven years later--effectively outlawed new installation of tankless on-demand gas water heaters....

... a vacant home fee of 5% or 10% ....

...It is universally acknowledged that Hawaii residents need more homes. So why is it so hard to build them?....

...Hawaii’s property owners now have many more options for fighting back against oppressive government regulation of property than they did last week.... 

...1,100 homes were removed from the rental market in the first year of the city’s empty-homes tax....

...The rules took effect on March 31 and implement the affordable housing requirements in Ordinance 18-10 and other approvals issued by the city....

...the State (in 1967) and the City and County of Honolulu (in 2004) passed legislation designed to dismantle leasehold housing on private lands....

...We already have a good stadium.  And this consultant now admits Aloha Stadium is located in the best possible place.  So why tear it down for yet another unnecessary boondoggle?....

...Reminiscent of rail, projected Ala Wai costs have already leapt from $200M to $470M.... 

"...I was quite idealistic in thinking that with the $2.9M Master plan Rob Iopa’s WCIT created, we were going to be issuing RFPs to implement them...."

...Akina told Larson and his three million listeners that if policymakers want to create more housing that is affordable, they should ease land-use restrictions, reduce regulatory burdens and let the free market work....

...The share of low-income households experiencing severe housing cost burden continues to increase....

...the program’s requirement that investments must “substantially improve” zone property in order to qualify for tax breaks is quite loose....