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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PCPLUED 2026/07/22 (2024-2026) DRAFT Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use, and Economic Development 27th Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii July 22, 2026 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use, and ORDER: Economic Development was called to order at 11:32 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair Ms. Michelle M. Galimba, Vice Chair Mr. James E. Hustace,, Member Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba,Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member' Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder,Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Mr. Dennis "Fresh" Onishi, Member Ms.Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Mr. Clerk,please proceed with Order of Business. BILLS FOR The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business. ORDINANCES: Bills for Ordinances. PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 Bill 175: AMENDS ORDINANCE NO. 25-50, AS AMENDED, AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 6 OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS Changes certain responsibilities for proposed vacation rental laws under Ordinance No. 25-50 from the finance director to the planning director; exempts prospective vacation rentals that have submitted a valid use permit or special permit application from Ordinance No. 25-50; and requires any funds collected under Ordinance No. 25-50 to be deposited into the Short-Term Vacation Rental Enforcement Fund. Reference: Comm.,964 Intr. by: Council Member Kimball CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Council Member Kimball, a motion please. Motion to Approve: Ms. Kimball moved to recommend passage of Bill 175 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Inaba: CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: I want to start with the substantive components of this. This is an amendment to Ordinance 25-50:-This is the registration process for TVRs (Transient Vacation Rentals). Starting with Section 6. What this non-codified section would do is insure that folks that had submitted an application for a Special Permit under the current Bed,and Breakfast laws would be considered deemed registered. The,reason or this is that there are probably going to be differences in the application process before and after the passage of Bill 147. So, we wanted to make sure that folks that already had their application received and approved, or accepted by the department even though it had not been processed, those would be considered deemed registered, and they wouldn't have to submit a new one under Bill 147. The second section here is to just to make clear under Section 7 that the finds from the enforcement of the registration ordinance and the fees themselves would go into the Short-Term Vacation Rental (STVR) Enforcement Fund. I would love to change the name to TVR fund, but there are reasons why we need to keep the name as it's currently under. Page 2 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 The other, under Section 8, as I was mentioning before when we were discussing Bill 173, this is where there is a grace period of four months created between September 1st and December 3 1"for anybody to register. Basically, we're doing this again as an uncodified section that gives the Director the ability to waive any of enforcement penalties around not registering in this time period. If you folks think that longer time is necessary, I'm certainly open to that conversation. Other than those amendments, most of these are editorial. As the registration process was being developed,by the,Planning Department with the consultant, it was clear that most of this process would actually fall in the Planning Department rather than'the;Finance Department. So, you see that shift where the finance director was named to the planning director. Other than that, it's pretty much just editorial making sure that our cross references are correct. There is one°error in this that unfortunately, I did not have the time to create the amendment for it, and I will do that in first reading. Under Section 4, there should be language in there that this section only applies to special permits that have already been issued or used permits that have been issued or accepted by the department. And it doesn't have that language in there but I'll fix that at the next stage. Happy to take any questions. CAR. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you for that overview. I just want to note for the record,that leadership from the Planning Department, Director Darrow and Deputy Ahn are here inCouncil Chambers. Members, any questions or comments? Council Member Inaba. MR IABA: Thank you. I'm wondering, Director, regarding the effective date of the ordinance. Do you folks need till December 31 st to get rolling? I don't know that we have discretion in our ordinance with the dates. MS. KIMBALL: Chair, may I respond to that real quickly while the Director is getting ready. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Sure, go ahead. MS. KIMBALL: So, the effective date of the ordinance will still be September lst. That's when the registration portal will be open. That section there that's uncodified would, under Section 8,just allow for people to register between September 1st and December 31 st. So, we do want to Page 3 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 leave the effective dates the same. That's just allowing a grace period, if you will, for people to register once it opens. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Director, anything to add? (Note: At this time, Planning Director Jeff Darrow came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. DARROW: Aloha, Jeff Darrow with the Planning Department. Good afternoon, good morning, Chair, Vice Chair, and"=members of the Hawaii County Council. So, this particular date is like a grace period. I mean, it's my understanding it's a grace period for people that have been operating to come in and register. After that date, we would enforce and do our enforcement. There will also be a grace period,which will be introduced in Bill 147, which is making its way back up to the Council at this time. It's passed through both Planning Commissions with favorable recommendations. This will be the changes in Chapter 25 related to TVRs and everything to do within the Zoning Code. That grace period will be a period of time that we can work with the applicants to resolve any issues they have. But to allow them to continue operating as we weak with them. Whether it's permitting or land use permits, those kind of things. MR. INABA;, Okay, thank you, Director. MR DARROW: Thank you. CHR KIERKIEWICZ; Thank you. Council Member Onishi. MR. ONISHI: Thank you, Madam Chair, Section 6-45, Registration. It would seem to me that you would need the Finance Department also helping with this registration because of the list of requirements that's needed. If not, your department is going to need more manpower to do all this other research or contacting Real Property Tax. Any comments? MR. DARROW: Sure. So, when this program was created back in 2018, there were a number of positions allocated for the STVR program. What ended up happening is that program was operated and funded by this STVR Enforcement Fund. That fund originally had quite a bit of money in it from registrations and from annual fees. Over time, it's depleted to the point that it very well could run out within the next year. Page 4 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 So, I mean, it was always the intention for the Planning Department to come back and not only work with the unhosted Short-Term Vacation Rentals, but also regulate the hosted vacation rentals. That's what this is doing. When we did the original unhosted, we took care of registration; we took care of all the finances. The one thing that's being introduced into this new bill is the oversight of the taxes. It's really focusing as well on making sure they have their GET(General Excise Tax) and their TAT (Transient Accommodations Tax)., Finance will be very involved in that aspect eif it. We've already got a platform on board called Deckard, and there'll be a shott,time soon, we'll be doing a webinar to be able to present what they're doing. But they have an enforcement platform that monitors what's going on around,the island as far as license, unlicensed STVRs, and,so forth. And as well as the Registration Platform. So, we'll be doing the webinar to show how that works. We've got a payment system all set up all ready to go, so that everything can be done on-line. I think we're okay. Atfirst, we're just trying to identify the roles betwe'en'the Finance Director acid the Planning Director. MR. ONISHL But with this, eliminates the Finance Director completely. MR. DARROW: She is involved. As you'look through this, there are certain aspects that the Finance Director remains a part of this. MR ONISHL Is it Section 6-452 MR. DARROW:' In the Registration Section she is taken out, the Finance Director. But,again, through this process, there will bean avenue setup that the payments for taxes are made. They work with the Finance Department. The platform that we've been working on has been working with both Planning Department and Finance. MR. ONISHL So, sometimes with government, it's better to list it or to, at least, mention it. Instead of just going with, I guess, no knowledge. Say, if the Administration changes, right,you're no longer there. New people come in. You read this and they might not have an idea of what the intent was. MR. DARROW: Again, up to this point, it seemed more appropriate. I mean the Planning Department has been taking a lead on establishing this process. And we have experience in doing it based on our previous launch of our registration. You know, again, if you look at the bill, even in Section 6-45, you will see a reference here for the Finance Director. Page 5 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 It mainly is making sure that we're all updating our information; to have current and updated information. But they basically take care of the TAT and the GET. We take care of the land use. MR. ONISHL But we're talking about the registration part. The TAT and all that is separate. It's afterwards, after the fact. MR. DARROW: It's part of the registration process. They cannot move through it unless they identify they have those.,But overall, all of the questions that are being asked, and the information has to do with the land use. MR. ONISHL My last question is, anticipation of when do you expect your staff to be functioning at a hundred percent. Because right now,like you said, funding got reduced, right? So,there's really not many staff members there, right? MR. DARROW: We have five unfunded positions, I believe. MR. ONISHL So, with this happening, how long will it take? MR. DARROW: ASAP (As Soon As Possible). MR.,ONIS I;,,No, I understand that. But'it's going to take time, right? MR DARROW: I don't want to go into great detail, but we've been working with�inance on making sure that once this plan begins because we have a number of employees that are currently during particular jobs in what we have now. When this launches on September Ist, everything is going to shift. So, their roles are going to shift. So, we feel very confident on being able to make sure this runs smoothly. We will, immediately, once things start running, begin to advertise for those needed positions. MR. ONISHL So, then, listening to what you're saying, those positions might not be important to be hired. Because if you have staff that's going to be starting September I st, and running this program, then you might not need the extra staff. MR. DARROW: Those staff that are the ones that aren't there, the reason why they aren't there is because we didn't want to continue. We needed them believe them. Several of them are inspectors, so we needed them. MR. ONISHL We needed them a long time ago. Page 6 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 MR. DARROW: But the problem is, the more we deplete that fund, the faster we would run out of monies to pay the people that are currently in those positions. MR. ONISHL Then my last thing to add to that, why weren't these positions paid by the General Fund? MR. DARROW: It was just set up that way. We've requested that, and that is the goal. I think what needs to happen, my understanding is that Finance wants to make sure that once the program launches, that it is clear that there is going to be income to be able to sustain the program; shift the positions in the General Fund. And then the monies will also go into the General Fund instead of this separate plan. MR. ONISHL Okay, so there is a plan. MR. DARROW: There is a plan. MR. ONISHL Okay,good. Thank you. I yield at this time, Chair. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: You,know, similar to Mr. Onishi, thinking about the correlation'between Department of Finance and our TAT reporting. Is it'important to have Finance built into some of this process that"s being created? MR. DARROW: They are very involved. We have meetings with Deckard; that's the platform that has been hired. They are in all the meetings. They are an essential part of this because the information that will be coming in will be going to both Planning and Finance. But their information is going to be different than our information that's coming to us. Theirs is going to be related more towards the taxes; and ours is going to be related more to the registration and land use. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, then looking at the first sentence in Section 6-45, Registration. I mean,just throwing this out there; not that there's a problem, Council Member Kimball, "A person may not operate a TVR on any property, unless and until the owner first registers it." Used to be Director of Finance; now it's proposed as Planning Director, in a format prescribed by now, the Planning Director. Page 7 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 Is it important that Finance and Planning work together within this document to create the perfect application or you like it the way it is where it's all Planning-driven? MR. DARROW: This registration process was created in collaboration with both the Finance Department and Planning Department, as well as the entity. They have a lot of experience in dealing with the registration process. The information they needed in the registration is part of it; But I would say, 90 percent of that registration form is Planning. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay,to the maker, did Finance and Planning work together with this bill? MS. KIMBALL: If I may, Chair? I think it's important just to note that this amendment doesn't actually include all references to the Finance.Director that was in Ordinance 25-50. The difference here particularly with' Section 6-45 is that we initially thought we weiuldhouse the registration process in Finance and connect to Planning. What has happened overtime is we actually have housed the registration in Planning, but it will actually connect to Finance. 'So, there are other references in Ordinance 25-50 particularly around the GET, the TAP, and property taxes with the Finance Director. Those are not being amended here with this particular ordinance,and that's why you're not seeing them. But the Finance Director is included in Section 6-45, subsection (c). The Finance Director is also included,in terms of the reporting from the hosting platform:-,So, that compliance end that has to do with TAT, it's still there. Then, there's also the ability for the Finance Director and Planning Director to make rules either jointly or separately, as needed for this process. But the main difference you're'seeing with Section 6-45 is that the registration process is just now housed under the Planning side rather than the Finance side, which is what we had originally planned for but it just has worked out better this way. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay, thank you. I yield, Chair. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Anyone else with questions or comments. Okay. Thank you, Director, for being here. And so, you're confident with the go-live date of the registration process, as September 1st MR. DARROW: At this point, things are looking a lot better than they were a few months ago on July 1st Page 8 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: That's very encouraging. Thank you. MR. DARROW: Yes, we're working through all the bugs. We're very impressed with the Deckard platform that has been hired. They are very flexible; they're very responsive. They are able to answer all of our questions. Just very impressed. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Fantastic. You mentioned there being a community—was it webinar or some kind of workshop to let folks know. This is the process; this is the portal. These are all the documents you need in order to submit a complete application. Has the date been identified for when that webinar or workshop will take place. MR. DARROW: We currently have adate. We don't wantter advertise that yet because there's some tweaks we need to do to the registration; .The webinar, I mean, Deckard has already said they would be able to der the presentation of how to go through the process. But right now, it's your standard STVR registration. We want ter b�able to adjust it so it's going to be more in line with what's actually going`to be happening with TVRs, STVRs, and B&Bs. We're hoping to have thatdone pretty quickly, and then, we will spread the news out when that webinar will be held. We're also going to very shortly put something both onawaiicountytar.com as well as the Planning website of like, frequently,asked questions and information that brings everyone up to speed as to what's going on. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Would,it be possible to announce the date and time and sort of venue for this webinar at first reading, if this goes to first reading,which is August 5t'. If gb-live is September 1't, we want to make sure we're giving folks ample time to prepare for the webinar event. More time the better. And this is an excellent venue on the public record. These meetings are available for live streaming anywhere. We just want to make sure thatwe're giving folks ample time to know when the webinar is happening- MR. DARROW: Absolutely. You want to join us? CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Sure, as an observer. I am curious about the workflow. When a registration comes through, what is the turnaround time. And I guess, walk me through, what the Planning Department needs to do and if there's a requirement to pull in the Finance Department. I'm so sorry to emphasize the need to understand the workflow and how long it's going to take to get through reviewing registrations and issuing a registration number. But I bet it's on all of our minds. So, I just want to make sure this launch is successful and it's easy for folks to navigate. Page 9 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 But also, on the internal side for Planning Department and Finance, there's clear lines of responsibility. And we're getting this turned around quickly. MR. DARROW: Thank you for that question, Chair. So, that has been like Focus No. 1, in the Planning Department. We have been actively working on this particular process. How is this going to work? How can we make this process as simple as we can; not, complicated. Processes these days that are complicated just complicate everything else So, our focus right now, our direction that we've,given to Deckard is that everybody that comes in we're trying to link our EPIC system with this program. There's an API(Application Programming Interface)that they're working on where it shares information. As well as our GIS (Geographical Information System). And it will be able to identify permitted zoning districts and things like that. When somebody comes in and registers,they Will be able to, as long as they have the information and are able to inputt, they will be given a conditionally approved registration number. With that number, they will be able to utilize for advertising on the hosting platforms. That is where the grace period comes in. So, oh'that registration form are conditions. And it says that you agree that these conditions need to be met to continue. But it's not at that time. You are given a conditionally approved registration number: So, during that"period of grace time, the staff will be reviewing these registrations to make sure they're in''a permitted zoning district; that they've been able to work out their building permit issues for the structures that they're utilizing for the TVR. If they need a land use permit, like a special permit, that they've gone through that process and received approval. So, this conditionally approved number could be for a period of time. It could be a year; it may even extend after that. Additionally, if we have certain conditions in Chapter 25 that you'll see. One of them is that you cannot do'a TVR in an additional farm dwelling, right. So, things like that. So, staff will review these simple conditions; make sure that they've met them. And then they will be given an approved number. From there they won't really need to deal with Planning anymore. They will just continually to deal with the website where every year Deckard will send them a notice, "Your annual fee is coming up." And then they will go on to the website and pay the fee. Our hope is that this is going to be smooth. It's going to give grace to be able to allow them to continue this transition and operate while they work through any bugs that there may be. Page 10 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, that's helpful. That's a lot of information there, and I just want to chunk it out real quick. So, under registration, there are ten areas of information that someone must have met in order to be registered. Location, names, site drawings, number of bedrooms, tax certificates. All of that stuff. They cannot advance through the application unless those fields are completed or documents are uploaded, correct? MR. DARROW: Correct. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: At the point of submission, immediately, they will be given a conditional number, which then,that information is provided to the hosting platform. MR. DARROW: It's our understanding that Deckard will be maintaining that list, and that list will be the list that they monitor the websites, as far as active advertising. That's a guestion'I haven't asked Deckard, but I will if they provide the hosting platforms with that information. But that's the information that they do what they call scraping the websites to find out if they are advertising with these approved registration numbers. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Yeah, that's just the piece I'm'curious about because the registration system goes live on September lst, they're given a conditional number upon submission of the application. I would assume that on September lst,platforms like Airbrb and BRBO are going to ping these vacation;rental owners, host, requesting that information so that their listing can still be live. Is that your understanding of how this is working? Sorry,I'm a workflow junkie. MR. DARROW:' N'O'problemi.' Again, one of the big things that was brought up today was this grace period that is being introduced for the actual registration process. So, we're not going to actively be looking at enforcement. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: I'm not even talking about that. I'm just making sure that the numbers are online, because we've emphasized, right, folks getting registered in order to continue to operate this type of activity. The other question that you didn't really answer yet is the turnaround time. So, I'm assuming lots of applications are going to come through September lst. How quickly do you believe your team is going to be able turn around providing that official number for operations? MR. DARROW: We've been actively working on an inhouse checklist for staff that would just go through an application and make sure they've provided that information. To me, it looks like it's going to be a much Page 11 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 quicker process than our previous process. I can't tell you exactly. It's going to be different for every registration depending on the issues, but my thought is it's going to be much quicker than our previous one, which took hours to go through a registration and make sure all of the information was correct, and all of the information that was supposed to be provided was provided. Keep in mind,you did touch upon a point which I brought up to Deckard. Typically, when you go to a website and you're filling out something, you have the ability to save and then come back to it: Unfortunately, that's not something that is available at this time with Peckard: So, we're asking them to make it clear from the beginning that you need the information for the registration to be able to go all the way through the process, CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Or you'll be timed out, kicked out and got to start again. MR. DARROW: Yeah, if you don't fill it all out you won't be able to complete it. And then when you leave, it's notmgoing to save. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, and with this registration process, you'll then be able to track complaints that come in;how those are resolved; any enforcement that's happening on the Planning side. All of that will be in a particular profile. MR. DARROW There's an additional program called Rental Escape that is part'of this, and they are actively monitoring all of the active advertisements that are going on'related to STVRs, B&Bs, and overnight hosting. They will check itin relation'to their active registrations. If they're not licensed or whatever, we can have them which we will be utilizing—have them send out a courtesy letter that says, "Hey, you know, we've been doing this search and we see you're advertising for this particular overnight accommodation without a registration number. You have a period of time to come in and register. If not, we will inform the Planning Department." When we got that and they haven't taken the next step,,then we will take the next step after that. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: That's for someone that's not registered. I'm talking about for registered TVRs and if there are complaints that come in for registered TVRs, will the Deckard system house all that information? And will you be able to track how you've worked to help resolve any concerns that are coming in? Page 12 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 MR. DARROW: I haven't asked them that question as far as how they maintain that. They did say that there is contact, like they can be contacted via the website and information can be provided to them. Whether it's a complaint, or whether it's questions. Planning Department will typically do any type of—if there's a complaint, we'll follow up on that. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: But where is all that information being housed, in your spreadsheets? What I'm trying to get at is, is it housed in a system that no matter what Administration, is it administering the program. All of that information is in a central repository. MR. DARROW: Everything that comes in, it's usually related to our EPIC system. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: I don't want to get into the weave. I guess I just want an answer next time. Can we house that information in Deckard, or is that going to require like another widget,or something to track? MR. DARROW: Just so I'm clear, you're asking, if somebody wants to know how many complaints there were, they can go somewhere and see? CHR KIERKIEWICZ: I'll gefto that in a second. I just want to know, once a registration happens;,a conditional number, then an eventual number is issued;if someone in the community were to call your office and issue a complaint about a registered TVR, where does that complaint information go? In a spreadsheet or on a profile that was created within Deckard? I'm justl6oking to understand where all the information is being housed so you can track how those complaints are being addressed and resolved, if there was any enforcement that needed to happen, that's all. MR DARROW: Well, real quick, I can answer that. Whether we move forward'or whether e go back, complaints are always confidential. So, they go within our files and they're kept confidential. We follow up on those. They are assigned to an inspector; they follow up on that complaint. And all of information is held within that file. CHR, KIERKIEWICZ: Okay. And so, my next question, the Deckard system, is any of this information publicly searchable? So, any member of the public could go online and search for a vacation rental that's been registered with the County. MR. DARROW: That's part of the program that should be able to allow people to get that type of information. It needs to be available from Planning, and I believe, from Finance as well. Page 13 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you for indulging all of my questions. I think Vice Chair Onishi has some questions. Council Member. MR. ONISHL Thank you, Madame Chair. Listening to the discussion between the Chair and you, with certain companies, when they fill out the application, because I was working with Public Works with their building permits. In the system using Al,you can have these questions, like they can evaluate the application when they're submitted. So, you wouldn't need staff. And then, it could red flag certain areas within the application. To the applicant, these are the problems, right? Have you guys looked into that? MR. DARROW: I know Building has. I don't think we have at this point. There's talk about it, but it hasn't gotten to that point. I think they're looking at cost and what it's going to take to implement thattype of Al program. My understanding is like what you said, there's a program that can do that with building permits. I'm not sure if there's a program out there that can do it with planning permits. That's something I think we need to speak to Tyler and those that are havingthe meeting regarding the Al functions that are happening now. MR. ONISHL Okay. I forgot'my second question: So, I guess I can send you an email later. Because there is a professor atthe U.H. Hilo that does some work with Al and was also looking at trying to get involved with doing certain things for the County for Pudic Works. MR. DARROW:, I think I get like ten emails a day from Al companies asking us to hire them. MR. ONISHI: I mean,but something to help with the process, making it easier. And also, making it easier for the applicant. That's what we're here for.,to service the applicant, right? And like you said, that right now, they cannoteven save their applications. So, when you make sure, they're going to have all that information, right? And how many of them do have all that prepared` So, I think we have a lot of frustrated people out there. Okay, but I'll yield. Thank you. CHR, KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Council Member Kdneali`i- Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. Jeff, maybe I'm asking the same question in a different way, but we didn't want to use EPIC for this? MR. DARROW: I don't think EPIC has the capability of doing this. It's a web-based program that needs to be online. Our EPIC system is where we Page 14 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 house our information, right? You can submit to it and then it's assigned to somebody. This actually does the work for us. You end up going, you fill out a registration form;you create an account; you're able to go back to that account later to do additional upgrades, or edits, or change of information; or pay your annual fees all through this program. All of that information will be imputed into our EPIC system for us for information. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: So, Deckard'is going to interact with them? So, maybe we should cancel our EPIC,contract and move it over to Deckard. MR. DARROW: I'm not going to comment on that. But there has been a lot of comments. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Okay,thank you, Jeff. I yield. CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. One second, Council Member Kimball, I had one more question:to ask the Director. Registration, Section 6-45 (c) "The duty of the ownertomantain the currency and accuracy of information provided." Any changes to the status? Will that need to be shared via a form prescribed by the Director, or can that happen within the Deckard system. MR. DARROW Section 6-45(c). In the system they have a Change of Information form that you can fill out and do that. Whatever it is. If it's change of ownership,that's a little different, there's another form for that. But any information,you need to change on your registration you can do through thatprecess and update it. CHR.'KIERKIEWICZ:. Sorry, the question that I had was also about the status. So,,if they elect to terminate the registration, can that be done through Deckard or is that a separate form? MR. DARROW: It will be done through Deckard. Cancellations, and those kinds of things, as well as update that particular status for that STVR, B&B, whatever it is. And again, it will monitor that. You know, in speaking with them, and we asked a lot of questions, we still have a lot more to go. But one of the questions was, do you ever come across people making up their own numbers or using the same numbers several times? And they say, all the time. So, they are constantly able to catch all of this activity online. Page 15 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 CHR. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Director. Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. I want to encourage everybody between now and first reading, if we get there, to look at the Deckard.com website and look at some of the demos. They have a lot of case studies here that really show you the type of tools that they have available. Director,perhaps before the next reading, I think it might be useful to share the RFP (Request for Proposal) that went out just from that standpoint. Then you can see all the features that were requested when we put out the RFP. ' Deckard, this is what they do exclusively, and it's not just the registration they're providing, but they're providing the search function that goes through all of the listings on BRBO, Epedia, Airbnb, all'those places. And allows us to line up what we have registered and what is out there advertising as a transient vacation'rental. And I think that's the real value for us. There is quite a lot of Al working behind the scenes in the actual process of accepting the applications. And as mentioned,they tie to some of our existing platforms. So,I think it might be useful for everybody to see that RFP and see all the features that we requested as part of this. But tracking the violations and those notices is'also part of what is in there. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you very much. Any other questions or comments. If not, we'll move to a vote on themeasure. Okay, seeing none, all those in favor of forwarding Bill 175 to the Council with a favorable recommendation, please say "aye." -Any opposed? Vote on Bill 175: The motion to recommend passage Bill 175 on first reading (Approved was carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Galimba, Hustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Chair Kierkiewicz—9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR KIERKIEWICZ: Bill 175 will be heard at first reading. Thank you. Mr. Clerk, next order of business. Page 16 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 Bill 176: AMENDS CHAPTER 16, ARTICLE 1, OF THE HAWAI`I COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), RELATING TO THE GENERAL PLAN Establishes amendment procedures for the General Plan (GP), including a comprehensive review every ten years and interim amendments; describes powers and duties of the planning director and planning commissions. Reference: Comm. 968 Intr. by: Council Members Inaba and Kierkiewicz Motion to Approve: Mr. Inaba moved to recommend passage of Bill 176 on first reading. Seconded by Mr. Onishi. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: At this time,Tease let the record reflect that I'm passing the gavel to my Committee Vice Chair, Council Member Galimba at 12:17 p.m. as I'm the co-introducer of the legislation. Thank you, Relinquish Chair: At this time, the Chair relinquished the Chair to Vice Chair Galimba. ACTING CHR. GALIIMBAT, Thanks Chair Kierkiewicz. Council Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Thank you. Bill 176 is our bill to codify in the Hawaii County Cede, our General Plan,amendment procedures, both covering the comprehensive review as well as amendments to the General Plan that could be initiated by the County Council or the Planning Director. This billy as we know,was necessary because we were locked out of making amendments'dur ng th s'last,comprehensive review. Partly because the rules lived in the General Plan. But now we'll codify it. So, as an overview this process still requires a ten-year cycle for comprehensive reviews. It requires public notices and opportunities for public participation, including at least one workshop in each Council district. It gives the Council the opportunity to identify proposed amendments for the Planning Director to consider. Again, the requirement for review by both the Leeward and Windward Planning Commissions which is required by our Charter, and I believe State Law as well and establishes a general timeline. So, we still have a three-year window from initiation to when the Planning Department should be transmitting it to Council for our action. If you reference Communication 968.3, this issue started with that. We had a graphic that shows the process. So, we can just talk through it. The bill states that prior to the initiation, the Planning Department would work on creating a draft, and at the beginning the Director would share this draft with Page 17 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 us, and as far as the public notice, inform us of whether the plan is being replaced as it was in this last round or if there were just slight adjustments being made. From that point, the Council has 120 days to propose amendments via a resolution for the Director's consideration. And then, the Planning Department has some time to work through those public workshops. The Planning Commissions, as they do with any other bill for an ordinance that they recommend to the Council again, make recommendations unto the Planning Director's set of recommendations, And I think the biggest change here for us to recognize is that, when it's transmitted to the Council, the Council has full authority to do its legislative work. So, as we saw in the previous amendment procedures for the comprehensive review, we were barred from the removal or addition, or making any substantive amendments. So, that language is'gorte. Being that is a Planning Department initiated process, they're the ones who created the recommendations and sent it through the commissions. Even though we do have an opportunity to chime in at the beginning via a resolution, we found it necessary to be very clear that we have full authority to amend prior to the passing of this legislation; In additions we do have a timeline as well. So, if the Director does not provide the draft to the Council within five years, that process is being closed. And that's to allow us to have an opportunity to make interim amendments. Nothing prevents the Planning Department from reinitiating using the same draft they were working on. But there needs to be some type of deadline. So, that'swhatis presented here. I'm going to hand it over to Council Member Kierkiewicz to speak about the interim amendments. Okay, handing it over. — MS. KIERKIEWICZ: This is also going to be my public therapy session, because this last GP go-around, there was so much trauma intention because of what was in the General Plan itself on the procedures for review and update; and just the inherent authority, Council Members are granted through the Charter. And so, there was a lot of conflict there. So, this code amendment would provide clarity, whether it's ambiguity and transparency, and I think, predictability within the process. I also really appreciate the fact that the process cannot go on indefinitely, right? This last General Plan spanned four mayoral administrations, which is kind of insane. So, this insures that everyone that is involved in the process, from the Planning Department, the Council, the community even and the Page 18 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 commissions; they know their responsibilities, and they know when to act and within what timeframe. There are separate procedures for initiating the comprehensive review as well as interim amendments. And you can see the process for interim amendments in Section 16 (f) for Council initiated. The Council Members can propose amendments at any time. Those amendments would be transmitted to the Director and both Planning Commissions prior to first reading for their review. The Director has 30 days to review and provide comment and recommendations to the commissions. Sixty days after receiving the Director's comments, the commissions are to act upon what has been sent to them and send their recommendations to the Council. Noting here that failure to act within the 60-day time period will result in an unfavorable recommendation, which is standard'practice across the board. The Council, at that time, may either act'upon receiving those recommendations or 90 days after transmitting to the Director and commissions for review. Which ever occurs first. So, again, there's a timeframe here where the Director and commissions are required to provide comments. If not, the Council will move forward; The Director is also empowered through Section 16 (g)to initiate interim amendments. Again, very similar process: The Director would propose an amendment, transmit to the Planning Commissions with a written justification for why he or she is making that recommendation for an amendment. The commissions review and send the recommendations to the Council, and the Council moues forward with its legislative process of either adopting, adopting with amendments, or rejecting the Director's proposed interim amendment. Hope that provides clarity for how this process will play out in the future. Its best home is in the Code, not in the document itself. We're open to any questions and feedback members might have. Thank you for the opportunity. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. Council Member Inaba. MR. INABA: Yes, and just as a follow-up, we do have Communication 968.2 which is written comments from the Planning Department on this bill. I do want to note that my intention is to hear everyone's feedback today, but postpone to the next Committee meeting, so that we can work on this and come up with the right language moving forward. So, Director, do you want to just walk through some of yours? Page 19 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 MR. DARROW: Sure. Thank you Chair. Really appreciate the opportunity to work in collaboration with Chair Inaba on this. Overall, we are very thankful for the time and effort that was put into this to spell this out much clearer than our last go-around, hopefully. I don't think any of us will be here then in the future. I hope not. But just in case. So, on Section 16-1, we're just asking that they consider keeping the date of December 5, 1971, as that was an important date in regard to the first- adopted General Plan. Section 16-A, Initiation. This is unique. Usually, we initiate and then we prepare. This is prepare and=then initiate. We're just concerned about that, because typically, what'we do is take in input and then prepare. I can see this process working if your were looking at an overall comprehensive amendment of the currentplan,and doing an amendment; you go through it, make amendments;package it and then provide it. With what we just saw in the last go around, it was a completely new plan, both 2040 and 2045 did not amend the previous plans. They basically created new plans. We incorporate a lot of direction from the Council through the resolutions through the different agencies; through public comments to incorporate and prepare that plan: But again, that's one of the things that we can work through as we postpone and meet together and come up with some language. Public comment, workshops in Section 16-B. Again, the concern was right now whenever there's a change to someone's property that was redesignated to either Open or Conservation;that there be a notice provided. "We note that the proposed process does not include the requirement to notify property owners. We recommend keeping this informed requirement." So, that's under Section 16-13'. Section. 16-D, we're just unclear about; we are just requesting some clarity on this'pazticular',process spelled out in 16-D. Section 16'-E, the Legislative history report. We're again asking to clarify the intent of the Legislative history report and where it is filed, especially in the case that the Planning Director's recommendations are rejected. Lastly, Section 16-F, we're requesting that it remain 60 days rather than 30 days. Thirty days is a pretty tight timeline, especially given everything that goes on. But anyway, appreciate it. Thank you. MR. INABA: Thank you, Director. So, I'll briefly just summarize the things that we, for sure, are willing to address. I'll walk us through from the top, the Director's comments. Page 20 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 I don't think we'll be keeping the original 1971 one. We might have further discussion on that. But as of now, probably not. Having the draft created prior to the initiation is something we felt would be helpful to everyone, because when the initiation notice goes out, it informs us of how it's going to be. So, that's something that I would like to hear from the body on. But again, they have three years from initiation to get somethingto Council. So, if the Planning Department knows that the comprehensive review is coming up, they have essentially 10 years to prepare some type of draft to share as part of the initiation notice. When it comes to the closure, there were comments from the department regarding being clear that the Council has the authority to make amendments, because it says either pass or reject. So, we'll be clarifying th`atlanguage as well as the Legislative History Report to be specific about workshops not having minutes since they aren't recorded. So; making sure we tighten up that language, and we'll make that change from 30 to 60 days. So, generally, not too many changes from what happened. The most significant change is being able to make the required amendments when it comes to Council. We won't be including the Public Notice, nor the Notice to property owners either. Because this is the County's General Plan. It doesn't change the actual designation. And.that's a lot more money, time, and human resources to get all of those letters out for something that isn't a property owners true zoning designation. It's the County's mana`o on what should be or could be in the future. So, that's why that was removed, and that was something that we had checked in with Corporation Counsel months back prior to working on'this bill. So, I'll,stop talking now. And again, we're going to postpone hear from you folks, and we'll make the amendments for the next Committee meeting. Thank you, Chair. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Just one thing to add. I feel strongly about a draft being circulated to the public and now going out and doing workshops where folks are just adding to a dream board. You're the Planning Department; you are planning experts. You're supposed to know how to plan communities. And I worry about giving so much free reign to community where they start to misunderstand the point and function of a General Plan. So, providing a starting point for folks to comment on, I think is more productive and a better use of everyone's time. Page 21 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 One thing that I also just thought of now, Council Member. I'm sorry, I'm just thinking on the fly here too. It would be great to also maybe get a look back as part of these public initiation meetings about what has been achieved with the current draft the County has adopted. I know that there are maybe some procedures in the current 2045 plan about reporting. But I think it's all important to report on where the County was successful or fell short on some of the goals that are idthe current plan. And that may have informed the draft that folks are viewing that you are recommending the Council move forward on. So, I'm not apt to agree with you that we just go out to community and say, what are you looking for? I think the general themes remain,the same every single time. Again, more productive to go out with a working draft and to get comments on that. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thank you. CouncilMember Hustace. MR. HUSTACE: Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Council Members Inaba and Kierkiewicz for presenting this. I really appreciate the work you've put into this. Definitely felt that tension in the General Plan process about our inability to make changes; small, large, whatnots. So, I appreciate kind of putting in position here our legislative authority. So, thank you. My only question, and I appreciate your sentiment, Council Member Inaba on'trying to identify and really be clear about the closure process and what thaf l6oks like in terms of making sure it's clear with Planning that these are the steps we're going to take; this is our process legislatively. And it probably doesn't have to be too verbal. But in terms of just adding clarity there. So,thank you very much. ACTING,CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Kimball. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. First of all, to the makers, about the timeline. I just wantto make sure I'm expressly clear on this. Every ten years, MR. INABA: So, yes. We need to initiate within ten years of the previous approval, and once the initiation begins. So, nothing's changed on that. They have three years from initiation to get it to Council. And if they don't they need to provide quarterly reports to us. And if they fail to get us something within the five years, then it's deemed closed. Because we still are barred from interim amendments during the comprehensive review based on the rules we're proposing. And that's to insure there isn't confusion at the commissions between an ongoing comprehensive review and somebody trying to throw in interim amendments. Page 22 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 MS. KIMBALL: So, we could, if everything went well, anticipate a 13-year cadence for a new bill. Okay, that's what I thought, wanted to be sure. To the makers, was there any conversation about adopting the General Plan as something than an ordinance itself? That is one the challenges that I have had with this process in terms of how it was brought to us, is that the General Plan itself is considered an ordinance. And well, I knew that prescribes certain procedures tied to it. It also handcuffs it in some ways too. I just wondered if you had any dialogue about that. MR. INABA: We did not discuss changing it to like a resolution. I think the standing kind of philosophy is that it is law and having tt as an ordinance really provides that kind of force of law that we would want to see from something that supposed to guide development and incorporates*input from State and County agencies to guide the County in moving forward. So, simple answer, no. MS. KIMBALL: Okay, I'll bring some comments more thoroughly next time on maybe some other options to discuss other than it having to be an ordinance. I think that it make sense. Corporation Counsel, yes, I think that the Charter is part of that, go ahead. (Note: At this time, Corporation,Counsel`Renee Schoen came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS..SCHOEN-.' Good morning, Renee Schoen, Corporation Counsel. So, the Charter Section 3-15 requires that the Council adopt by ordinance, the General Plan. MS.,KIMBALL: However, this last go around it was included as an attachment. So, even within the constraints of the Charter language, I think there's options to'maybe look at something a little different that has a little more flexibility. Then the last thing to the makers,just trying to make clear, with respect to making it clear what our authority is once it's delivered to us from the Planning Department, it seems from the standpoint, if there's an absence of any prescription about what we have the authority to do, that it becomes by default, the prescription of the authority under the fact that it is an ordinance and we are the legislative body. Am I reading that correctly? MR. INABA: Yes, and that's something we're going to clarify. So, Section 16-C, subsection (b) says that the "Director shall present the director's recommendations together with the recommendation of each commission, to the Council for its consideration." Page 23 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 That lends to us doing our legislative function. But we are going to clarify as well in Section 16-D (b)(1) that the Council's adoption or rejection of the recommendations, but they could be amended as well. So,just full authority there and we'll work out that language for next time. MS. KIMBALL: I actually, kind of like that it's just our consideration, and by default give us all of our legislative authority. I think,,generally speaking, I like to preserve as much authority in the legislativebranch as possible. However, I am kind of two minds about the factthat the General Plan is something different than a typical ordinance, I mean, one would hope that the legislative body would be thoughtful enough to consider what the Planning Department recommended around any given amendment. But I do have some concerns that anything too substantial would potentially merit further review by the Planning Commissions. But I'm not sure where that line is for me,— Maybe - Maybe I guess we would have the authority if it came to us as an amendment to send it to the Planning Commissions for review if anybody thought it was substantive enough. At'any rate,that's somewhere I'm not quite settled on my position on that. But'I'm sure you've had that dialogue as well. Thank you, I yield. ACTING CHR.;GALIMBA: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MS' KIERKIEWUICZ: Can I just say a point, when Council Member Kimball had mentioned,hew the General Plan is presented as an exhibit to an ordinance. It wasn'talays that way. So, the actual language of a General Plan, if you look at the Drafts of'71 and then '89. They were in the format of hew,we typically receive bills. So, what you see here, Bill 176, that's exactly what the General Plan looked like before it was adopted and made into a booklet with pictures. So, there gas a lot more flexibility and room to make amendments because it was provided in a format that we are used to. So,we might want to consider going forward going back to what we know which is these Bills for Ordinances, not an exhibit. I don't think folks care about the pictures right now, Director. I think they really care about the substance, the policies that we are adopting that are going to guide our County. I just want to make note of that. Then, to your comment about sending to the commissions, I think that was another tension point that we were trying to navigate as a body was how to Page 24 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 define substantive. And I think we all had a different range for what that looked like. I feel comfortable with the language as is where the Council has the final say on what this looks like, because that is what we do for any other Bill for Ordinance that comes through. We get the recommendations from various commissions. And then at the end of the day, we take,that into consideration and then move forward with either adopting or amending. So, I'd like for us to continue to exercise our full legislative authority'and adopt and amend bills as currently articulated in the Charter. Thank you. MS. KIMBALL: One brief comment to your point, Council Member Kierkiewicz. I think about a rezoning ordinance, right, and how that doesn't go live in the Code. But it is in the format of an ordinance thatwe can amend as maybe the right formatto receive it. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you. Just real etuick. I just want to support what Council Member Kierkiewicz said about I think it really is important that the Planning Department kind of take the lead in setting the direction and giving the public something to wrap,their heads around. It's such a large document and such an important thing. And you're the ones with the experience and education on this. I think people don't often know even where to start. And so, it makes it really,hard to get that civic engagement from a lot of people when it's just too overwhelming for them. So,f just want to second that I know it's a big shift in a different way of looking at it. But we're granting you first stab. ButI really do think that that's a way we should go with this. Thank you, I yield. MR. DARROW: Chair. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Thanks, go ahead. MR. DARROW: Thank you for those comments. The way the bill is written, it does give flexibility for the Planning Director, which is good. The way it's laid out in 16-A is that it's not like you're creating a new plan; you're creating recommendations for the General Plan, which may be recommended amendments or it could be a recommendation for a new plan. So, you're kind of given a headstart there. You're saying this is the direction we want to go, and then, you initiate and have them chime in. So, that works. It looks like it'll be good. Page 25 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 The one thing I did want touch upon is what Council Member Kimball touched upon. Typically, I mean, we've been meeting with most of the Council Members at this point regarding the amendments they'd like to see now that the General Plan has passed. And if they were done previously, those would have been amendments that would have been considered during the comprehensive General Plan. You know, in meeting with everyone, I haven't seen,anything other than some land use map changes and some minor adjustments in the language. There hasn't been anything that has really you know, even though the previous General Plan said is, these are considered substantive, right? A land use map change or a policy change. Those are considered,substantive. But typically, a minor map amendment really isn't that substantive. It's just fixing something or things like that, What I think is substantive that we've seen, and it's happened twice now. In 2005 it happened, and it happened again recently;where we see a new plan that comes out. And again, I'm just using this as an example of what we can consider as a substantive change. Like you're looking at one plan, and then another plan is presented: And again, this has happened twice now. This happened back, in 2005, and it's happened again here. It would be good to have an opportunity when something like that comes forward to be able to allow the commissions an opportunity. If that's the direction the Council wants to go as far as 'adopting that new plan that's been submitted. Anyway, that's a thought. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Council Member Inaba. MR INABA: Thank you. We'll work further in the next two weeks with the Planning Department. But thank everyone for their feedback. I want to clarify a point that the Director brought up regarding Section 16-A. Well, what is presented is not sharing, or it's going to be recommended amendments, or a recommended new draft. It is the recommended new draft. So, I want to clarify that, because ten years from now when people look back at these minutes, I need that to be on the record. It's not what you say you're goring to do, you're providing either the amendments or the draft plan as part of the pre-work, okay. Thank you. MR. DARROW: Thank you. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: I just wanted to make a few comments. And that would be that I think that point of amendments at the very end by the Council; I do feel like, although we may feel we are wise, we may need some feedback. And I think although we felt like we were shut out, we were more Page 26 PCPLUED-27 July 22,2026 just daunted by the process that substantive amendments would have to go through with the timeline we were under, so finding a way to not be such a daunting process. But still, I think giving a little more weight to the Planning Department, then recommendations would be something that I would love to see. I don't know what that is, but perhaps can all be thinking about it in the next couple weeks. So, those are my comments and please go ahead. MR. INABA: Sorry about that, Council Membei,Galimba. We will talk story more with Planning on that as well. Sb, we'll trove to postpone Bill 176 to the August 4 h Committee Meetings. Motion to Postpone: Mr. Inaba moved to postpone Bill 176 to August 4, 2016. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Any discussion? All in favor,please say "Aye." Any opposed? Vote on Motion The motion to postpone Bill 176 to August 4, 2026, to Postpone: was carried by the following voice vote: (Approved) Ayes: Committee Members flustace, Inaba, Kagiwada, Kdneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Onishi, Villegas, and Acting Chair Galimba—9. Noes: None. Absent: „ None. Excused., None. ACTING CHR. GALIMBA: Motion passes. That brings us to the end of our agenda. Thank yqu. ADJOURN- There being no further business Acting Chair Galimba adjourned the MENT: meeting at 12:50 pm. Approved: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair (Date) Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use, and Economic Development AK/dt Page 27