HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0989.018 2018-2020 Dill I?
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COUNTY CLERK
Hawai l COUNTY OF RAWAIII
CEI
Ti ' : ` _
Construction
DateJUL P.O.Oux 179441
Alliance Honolulu,HI 96817
(808)220-8892
July 7, 2020
The Honorable Susan L.K. Lee Loy, Chair
The Honorable Matt Kaneali'i-Kleinfelder, Vice Chair
and Members
Hawaii County Council Public Work and Mass Transit Committee
1055 Kinoole Street,
Suite 101
Hilo, HI 96720
RE: OPPOSITION for Bill 179—An Ordinance Establishing a County Construction Code
Relating to Building Construction and Related Systems Within a Building Under
Construction by Amending the Hawaii County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as Amended)
Dear Chair Lee Loy, Vice Chair Kaneali'i-Kleinfelder, and members:
The Hawaii Construction Alliance is comprised of the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters;
the Operative Plasterers' and Cement Masons' Union, Local 630; International Union of
Bricklayers &Allied Craftworkers, Local 1;the Laborers' International Union of North
America, Local 368; and the Operating Engineers, Local Union No. 3. Together, the member
unions of the Hawaii Construction Alliance represent 15,000 working men and women in the
basic crafts of Hawai`i's construction industry.
We are deeply opposed"Appendix L Factory Built Housing" (FBH) and all of the references to
FHB in the proposed ordinance.
Bill 179 gives preferential treatment to FHB and would effectively allow a single company to
bypass the plan review process and dominate the homebuilding market.
While the concept of Factory Built Homes is not new, there is one company that stands to benefit
enormously from this expedited permitting process, and that should be of great concern to the
committee and to the broader community.
If one company is allowed to dominate the homebuilding industry on the island,the lack of
competition would eventually result in a monopoly, much to detriment of the local construction
industry, and the resulting job losses could be catastrophic.
Comm. No. 93 _
Ref. To: 71�WIut'CL
Ref. ate
Once a monopoly has been established there is no guarantee that prices would be affordable, due
to the lack of competition.
Portions of this bill, such as the development of a new comprehensive construction code, could
expedite the plan review process and stimulate economic growth in these uncertain times.
However, an attempt to manipulate the building code during the COVID-19 pandemic,when
thousands of local families are suffering, only to enrich a few individuals is especially egregious.
We call on the committee to tread carefully in what appears to be a bill specifically drafted to
cater to a single special interest.
Mahalo,
Nathaniel Kinney
Executive Director
Hawaii Construction Alliance
execdir@hawaiiconstructionalliance.org