HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0989.082 2018-2020 Hawaii COUNTY CLERK
�+ + + COUNTY OF HAWAII
Construction CEIVED
Tim® q; �►1 BY P.O.Box 179441
A I l i a n c e Date JUL 2 1 2020 Honolulu,HI 9H817
(HIE)22[1-8892
July 22, 2020
The Honorable Aaron Chung, Chair
The Honorable Karen Eoff, Vice Chair
and Members
Hawaii County Council
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawai`i 96720
RE: OPPOSITION for Bill 179—An Ordinance Establishing a Count 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 Chung, Vice Chair Eoff, and members:
The Hawaii Construction Alliance is comprised of the Hawai`i 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 Hawai`i 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.
Once a monopoly has been established there is no guarantee that prices would be affordable, due
to the lack of competition.
Comm.,No. 989.82
Ref.To: P/Council
Ref. Date 7/221%020
Furthermore, we believe that FHB's are more expensive than traditionally built homes and call
upon the company that is attempting to pass.this:legislat.on to show the true cost to the consumer
for a "factory built home".
If FHB'S will in fact result in more affordablehousing for-the why does this bill give
FHB's so many exemptions to permitting•and inspection ? :-.,_:
Portions of this bill, such as the development of a new c mprehensive construction code, could
expedite the plan review process and stimulate economi growth in these uncertain times.
Yet this bill does not call for ANY inspections of FHBs uring the building process,unlike
traditional construction, which could be dangerous for the consumer considering FHBs are pre-
wired and pre-plumbed.
This attempt to manipulate the building code during the OVID-19 pandemic,when thousands
of local families are suffering, only to enrich a few indiv duals is especially egregious.
We call on the council 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