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COUNTY OF HAWAII <br />STATE OF HAWAII <br />RESOLUTION NO. <br />A RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE HAWAII COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF <br />PUBLIC WORKS TO ESTABLISH A SUSTAINABLE HABITAT ORDINANCE. <br />WHEREAS, the purpose and intent of a Sustainable Habitat Ordinance is, in part, to <br />provide minimum requirements for the protection of life, limb, health, property, safety, and the <br />welfare of the general public and the owners and occupants of dwellings and appurtenant <br />structures, through waiver or exemption from existing codes, and adoption of alternative <br />standards; and <br />WHEREAS, a Sustainable Habitat Ordinance will permit the use of the ingenuity and <br />preferences of individual owner /builders of dwellings on agricultural parcels in rural areas of <br />Hawai`i County for owner occupancy, and allow the use of substitute materials, procedures and <br />alternatives, to the specifications prescribed by various and future international technical codes, <br />to the extent that a reasonable degree of health and safety is provided; and <br />WHEREAS, Hawai`i Island has a shortage of affordable housing; and <br />WHEREAS, thousands of residences on Hawai`i Island have been constructed without <br />Hawai`i County building permits, particularly residences constructed in rural areas; and <br />WHEREAS, the cost of construction of houses and outbuildings in accordance with the <br />current Building Code is cost prohibitive for many residents of Hawai`i Island who reside in <br />rural areas; and <br />WHEREAS, there are many locally available, underutilized, renewable building <br />materials, such as bamboo, tropical hardwoods, and other tropical wood species, on Hawai`i <br />Island, particularly in rural areas; and <br />WHEREAS, the use of locally - available and minimally processed building materials can <br />reduce overall construction costs and result in a smaller ecological footprint; and <br />WHEREAS, the rural areas of Hawai`i Island are remote, often serviced by substandard <br />roads, and the cost of transporting building materials from commercial centers to rural areas, <br />results in extra cost to the residents; and <br />WHEREAS, substantial rural areas of Hawai`i Island are zoned agricultural, and are not <br />serviced by public utilities; and <br />