26-04-2025
Bill aimed at inflation could make shoreline development easier with no public say
HONOLULU (KHON2) — A bill moving to the governor's desk could allow more development in coastal areas without needing additional environmental reviews and oversight or a public hearing.
HB732 has many environmental groups and residents concerned that it could open the door to harmful development.
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Special Management Areas are found on all islands typically near the shoreline or coast. Most areas are makai of major roadways or highways like Farrington Highway, Kuhio Highway, Kamehameha Highway and Honoapiilani Highway. Some counties have exceptions and include valleys or areas mauka.
If you want to build within an SMA you are required to get a special permit which is either an SMA Minor or SMA Major.
The SMA permit was established in 1975 so developments within an area along the shoreline do not impact valuable resources and ensures adequate access to public beaches and natural reserves.
An SMA minor is an approval for developments within the SMA with a value of $500,000 or less, if it does not otherwise have substantial adverse environmental or ecological effect. The review process does not require a public SMA Major is a project with a construction value of $500,000 or more, or may have a substantial adverse environmental effect and requires a public hearing.
HB732 bumps that line up to $750,000 to factor in inflation and rising construction costs, but some say developers already cheat the system.
'We've seen developers basically low ball by a huge percentage so they can avoid public scrutiny and avoid environmental review,' said North Shore resident and activist Denise Antolini. 'That is a big problem they know how to play the game and they get evaluations ridiculously low.'
A North Shore neighborhood board member says she's seen it happen many times and there is no way to prove the value of a project.
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'You just have the word of that applicant, and that's a dangerous, dangerous place to be in,' said North Shore Neighborhood Board Vice Chair Racquel Achiu. 'You are relying on the developer that wants the world.'
Honolulu's Department of Planning and Permitting says applications for an SMA permit must include an estimate of the valuation of the development. If an applicant concedes that the valuation of a project is greater than $500,000 or the application is for a special management area major permit, a detailed project valuation is not required and a general overall estimate for project cost is acceptable.
If the application is for a special management area minor permit, a detailed project valuation is required and must include all related installation, materials and labor costs of the development based on current market values and prevailing wages.
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Applicable structural, civil, utility, service equipment, and outdoor improvement costs must also be included in the project valuation. Costs relating to grading, removing, dredging, mining or extraction of any materials must be included in the project valuation, provided that the costs directly related to demolition and removal of structures will not contribute to the overall valuation when the demolition and removal work is not considered development.
The Department of Planning and Permitting said all estimates must be prepared by an impartial, third-party licensed contractor or professional estimator, must be itemized and detailed and must include the square footage basis, if any, being used.
The bill also allows inflation adjustments every five years, but those in opposition say it's a step in the wrong direction.
'This is about our special management areas, our coastlines, our shorelines and the appropriate use and protection of those spaces. Adding inflation into it just sells us out,' Achiu said. 'It just allows something that is a little harder to attain when it should be as it was intended to be.. a protection for these places.'
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'We need to do more to protect our shorelines from development, rising sea levels, severe weather and intense erosion areas, and this doesn't do anything to help,' Antolini said.
Sierra Club of Hawaii Director Wayne Tanaka said the bill asks if there should be more or less public input when it comes to coastal development proposals.
'This measure says we should have less, which I think is a dangerous position to take,' he said. 'Public input is important to inform these permitting decisions so we can protect the public interest in our coastlines.'
'This measure, in a way, encourages that almost makes it that much easier for offshore investments to develop without community input,' Tanaka continued. 'I think there's some desire to facilitate development, they're talking about rising construction cost, to justify raising the threshold, but should rising costs mean we turn our backs to rising seas?'
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Honolulu's DPP submitted testimony in support of the measure saying increasing the threshold would provide a more streamlined review process as it would receive more SMA minors than majors to approve.
'For both permit types, the agency is required to make a finding that the proposal has no substantial adverse environmental or ecological effects. The DPP performs a thorough review of SMA Minor projects based on the review criteria, policies, and guidelines listed in HRS Chapter 205A,' the testimony said. 'If we find that a project may have substantial adverse environmental, ecological, or cumulative effects, the SMA Minor permit is denied and the project may proceed by applying for an SMA Major Permit, which is a lengthier and more involved process that requires City Council action. Given all this, we believe that allowing more projects to be processed as minor permits will streamline the permitting process without sacrificing environmental review.
'If something is going wrong, you don't continue to let it go wrong, you fix it, and this bill doesn't fix the underlying problem,' Antolini said. 'So, while I understand the counties cry for help, it's a very bad reason to change policy that protects our shorelines.'
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