Good news! HB247 SD1 has been AMENDED to exclude CPRs of 5 units or less. In other words, registration of CPRs of 5 units or less will NOT require a county certified "infrastructure and environmental impact statement."

Mahalo for all of your efforts! Please provide your thanks and support to Senators Mike Gabbard and Rosalyn Baker for being open to excluding small-scale CPRs from this bill and coordinating the amendment with the other Committee Chairs.

It is also very important that we now SUPPORT this version of the bill, because it will give counties the opportunity to "comment on" medium/large-scale agricultural CPRs. As such, if the bill passes we will likely NOT have to deal with this particular issue in the coming years!

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Please SIGN this petition, leave a comment, and submit testimony OPPOSING Hawaii SB340/HB247, which is based entirely on a study of Oahu county agricultural building/zoning code failures but would effectively prevent agricultural condominium property regimes (“CPRs”) throughout Hawaii regardless of size.

The development of a property is required by law to be regulated at the COUNTY level, as part of each county’s zoning, building, development, and enforcement process. Specific county code, regulatory, and enforcement failures should NEVER be remedied via a change in State law. In addition, CPRs are a State-regulated form of property ownership that, just like other forms of co-ownership, does NOT change a property’s zoning, building, and infrastructure requirements and CANNOT be subjected to yet another unfunded and unattainable county review based on a misunderstanding of the CPR form of ownership.

WE STRONGLY OPPOSE SB340/HB247 AND DEMAND THAT THE BILL BE KILLED OR AMENDED TO EXCLUDE THE NEIGHBOR ISLANDS AND EXEMPT AGRICULTURAL CPRS CONTAINING 3 OR FEWER UNITS FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

1. INCORRECTLY APPLIES FINDINGS OF CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU AG ZONING/BUILDING CODE STUDY TO ALL COUNTIES: The Bill is based entirely on a study entitled “ACT 278 STUDY OF SUBDIVISION AND CPR ON AGRICULTURAL LANDS ON OAHU,” which examines the failures of the City and County of Honolulu’s agricultural zoning/building codes and is NOT applicable to any other county in the State. The stated intent of the study is "Proposed Improvements to Regulating Agricultural Lands on Oahu"; however, the proposed legislation would apply to the State as a whole. HB247 must be amended to exclude the neighbor islands due to the fact that all agricultural zoning/building/infrastructure/environmental regulations are county-specific. 

2. INAPPROPRIATELY PENALIZES SMALL-SCALE FAMILY CPRS ON ALL ISLANDS FOR THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU’S FAILURE TO REGULATE LARGE-SCALE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS ON OAHU: All concerns raised by the Oahu-specific study are related to large-scale 25+ dwelling agricultural CPRs, which are the direct result of the City and County of Honolulu’s AG-1 and AG-2 zoning designations. These designations allow for multiple dwellings on large agricultural lots without requiring proper infrastructure. HB247 must be amended to exempt small-scale agricultural CPRs of less than 3 units.

3. WRONGLY ATTEMPTS TO REMEDY CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU REGULATORY FAILURES BY CHANGING THE ENTIRE STATE’S LAWS: By law, the state is responsible for the general designations of permitted uses on agricultural lands; all other agricultural land use regulations are the domain of the counties, controlled via their county codes. It is highly inappropriate for the State of Hawaii to take over the City and County of Honolulu’s job of regulating county-specific agricultural zoning/building/infrastructure issues by changing the entire State’s agricultural zoning designation. For example, unlike the City and County of Honolulu, Maui County agricultural zoning codes clearly stipulate that ALL agriculturally zoned parcels, regardless of size, may qualify for permits to build no more than two (2) farm dwellings, only after implementation of farming activities. Furthermore, the County of Maui also requires infrastructure improvements for all parcels with more than 3-dwellings, regardless of zoning. As such, the issues of agricultural use, infrastructure improvements, over-development of agricultural lands, and County participation in the CPR process are already thoroughly addressed by the County of Maui. If other counties, such as the City and County of Honolulu, wish to “participate in the CPR process,” then their county council members must do so by strengthening and enforcing their county’s land use codes. SB340/HB247 must be killed immediately and referred to the City and County of Honolulu’s County Council where it belongs.

4. BASED ON A FUNDAMENTAL MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE CPR FORM OF OWNERSHIP: Condominium Property Regimes (“CPRs”) are NOT in any way related to SUBDIVISIONS because they do NOT create separate lots. As such, CPRs never change a property’s land use, zoning, building density, permitting, infrastructure requirements, building codes, community plans, island plans or urban growth boundaries. A CPR is a form of ownership (like tenants in common) and submission of a property to a CPR does not create any additional infrastructure requirements or environmental impacts. The Bill perpetuates the erroneous belief that the CPR process can be used to “circumvent county subdivision requirements,” and fails to address property overdevelopment and lack of infrastructure, which are exclusively county zoning/enforcement issues. If passed, this Bill would likely create thousands of unregulated Tenants in Common Agreements, which essentially allow a property owner to sell a defined portion of their property to a co-tenant without any State or county oversight.

5. DAMAGES THE LOCAL ECONOMY, ELIMINATES JOBS, AND REDUCES TAX REVENUES: Negative impacts of HB247 on our State economy include reduced real estate sales, less affordable housing, millions of dollars in lost real property tax revenues from the separate tax assessment of CPR units, lost State income/GET/TAT tax revenue from the sale and rental of CPR units, and detrimental far reaching effects on the entire real estate industry and local residents.

6. CREATES AN UNFUNDED COUNTY MANDATE: The proposed legislation would create an unfunded mandate, putting an overwhelming burden on already overworked and under-staffed county planning departments, as well as the State of Hawaii Real Estate Branch, who will be tasked with interpreting, implementing, and enforcing the new law.

7. UNNECESSARY AND UNFAIR: HB247 unfairly targets the CPR form of ownership, which is already authorized and highly regulated under Chapter 514-B of the Hawaii Revised Statues for all parcels. Strengthening county zoning ordinances, building codes, development standards, and enforcement of these rules are the only appropriate solutions for protecting land use, zoning, density, permitting/building codes, community plans, island plans, and urban growth boundaries, NOT further additions to the complex statewide CPR registration process already in place.

8. ELIMINATES AFFORDABLE HOUSING: We are experiencing an affordable housing crisis in Hawaii. This Bill will effectively wipe out one of the only means of creating new affordable housing for working class residents, farmers, and local families.

9. DISCRIMINATORY AND UNLAWFUL: HB247 is discriminatory in that it will disproportionately affect agricultural landowners (especially small private landowners, farmers, and families). The Bill borders on a “regulatory taking” because it would unreasonably prevent private property owners from making economically viable use of their land, potentially resulting in litigation against the State for just compensation.

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Template for HB247 Opposition: Please personalize your written testimony and emails to Senators; include 2-3 specific reasons you oppose the Bill and restate points in your own words as much as possible.

Dear Honorable Senator ____________, 

My name is [name] , I live [location] and I am [description of any relevant occupation/experience/characteristics]. I strongly OPPOSE HB247 SD1 and request that you AMEND the Bill to exempt small scale CPR projects of 5 units or less or exclude the neighbor islands.

HB247 is unlawful, illogical, and ineffective for the following reasons:

·        The Bill is based entirely on a study of AG building and zoning code problems on the island of Oahu; NO other counties were included in the study. It is inappropriate and irresponsible for State lawmakers to apply the findings of a Honolulu County agricultural zoning study to all counties without even bothering to study whether these same land-use issues exist on the neighbor islands.

·        All concerns raised by the Oahu-specific study are related to large-scale 25+ dwelling agricultural CPRs. Honolulu County’s AG-1 and AG-2 zones allow multiple farm dwellings on large AG properties without sufficient environmental and infrastructure requirements as part of Honolulu County’s building permit process. The neighbor islands simply do NOT have the same county zoning problems as Oahu. For example, under the Maui County Code ALL AG lots, whether 2 or 2,000 acres, are allowed to build ONLY 2 farm dwellings. As such, nearly ALL agricultural CPRs on Maui are small-scale family CPRs containing 2 units.

·        It is unlawful for the State legislature to take over the Honolulu County Council and Planning Department’s job and try to fix county-specific regulatory and enforcement failures (and corruption) without assessing how the neighbor islands will be affected. By law, agricultural zoning, building, infrastructure, and environmental regulation is county-specific and must be addressed via the County code.

·        HB247 perpetuates the completely erroneous belief that the CPR process can somehow be used to “circumvent county subdivision requirements.” CPRs are a form of property ownership that are already highly regulated by the State. Just like all other forms of co-ownership, CPRs do NOT change a property’s land-use, building density, or infrastructure requirements. CPRs are not in any way related to subdivisions because they do NOT create separate lots. The State has repeatedly introduced legislation that perpetuates this misconception, and this needs to stop.

·        Even if this bill is passed, it will do nothing to prevent the overdevelopment of agricultural properties. Developers on Oahu will still be able to obtain building permits to build multiple farm dwellings on large AG properties without any supportive infrastructure. Instead, this Bill will make it impossible for families to make use of the CPR form of ownership (even for 2 unit CPRs), which will lead to thousands of unregulated “Hui” Sales (Tenants in Common Agreements), which continue to provide a shared ownership option with ZERO State regulation or consumer protection.

·        HB247 creates an unspecified, unfunded, and unattainable County review process and additional impediment to the creation of affordable housing options in the midst of an affordable housing crisis. This bill will dramatically reduce the supply of homes and drive up the cost of housing for local residents, particularly on the neighbor islands where most residents live on agricultural land.

While the intent of the Bill is commendable, HB247 in its current form is unacceptable and must be AMENDED to exempt small-scale CPR projects of 5 units or less or exclude the neighbor islands.

Mahalo for your understanding and action in this matter.

Sincerely,

[name]