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<br /> 9-11-06: 9:54AM;18085283463 ;18085183463 x 6/ 9 <br /> 7 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ~ arl .A? <br /> v4. <br /> <br /> LAND USE RESEARCH <br /> FOUNDATION OF HAWAII <br /> 700 Bishop Street, Ste. 1928 _L <br /> Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 NI <br /> Phone 521-4717 <br /> Fax536-m32 <br /> September 7, 2oo6 <br /> <br /> Honorable Stacy K. Higa, Chair <br /> Hawaii County Council <br /> 25 Aupuni Street <br /> Hilo, Hawaii 96720 By Facsimile: (8o8) 961-8912 <br /> Dear Chair Higa: <br /> <br /> Subject: Proposed Bill No. 319 to Amend Chapter 23 Hawaii County Code by <br /> Adding Requirements to Mitigate Water Supply and Transportation <br /> Impacts Concurrent with Any Large Scale Subdivisions and <br /> Condominium Property Regimes <br /> My name is Dean Uchida, Executive Director of the Land Use Research Foundation of <br /> Hawaii (LURF), a private, non-profit research and trade association whose members <br /> include major Hawaii landowners, developers and a utility company. One of LURF's <br /> missions is to advocate for reasonable and rational land use planning, legislation and <br /> regulations affecting common problems in Hawaii. <br /> LURF has been a participant in the County of Hawaii's Impact Fee Study. Through that <br /> process, we learned that funding of infrastructure is usually done through grants, aides, <br /> various sources of tax revenues (i.e. real property tax, vehicle weight tax, fuel tax, etc.) <br /> and other fees. Impact fees essentially provide another alternative source of funding for <br /> basic infrastructure. <br /> We realize that the scope of this project was primarily focused on impact fees. However, <br /> through this process, we have found that impact fees need to be viewed as one element in <br /> a range of various municipal financing options to fund basic infrastructure. For <br /> example, impact fees are generally used to mitigate impacts from a proposed new <br /> developments based on the existing level of service of the infrastructure. Impact fees <br /> cannot be used to address deficiencies in existing level of service. Existing deficiencies <br /> are more appropriately addressed through an improvement district or community <br /> { facilities district funded by special assessments or tax increment financing. <br /> The Bill proposes that any large scale subdivision or condominium property regimes in a <br /> particular area should be assessed considering a number of factors, including how much <br /> public infrastructure is challenged by recent or anticipated growth in that area. The <br /> requirements are proposed to be made concurrent with any large scale subdivision or <br /> i <br /> i Comm. No. <br /> Ref. To: <br /> Ref. Oats SEP 2006 <br /> i <br />