Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-28 Sierra Club Hawai'i Island Group Testimony -- From: on behalf of Moku Loa Hawaii Island Sierra Club To: Planning WPC Testimony Subject: Re: Agenda Item #1, Written testimony, Recommended amendments Date: Monday, September 28, 2026 10:06:57 AM Attachments: WPC testimony, 9-28-26, Bill 170 D1, data center FINAL.docx Aloha, Please see attached testimony providing recommended amendments to Bill 170, Draft 1. Mahalo for your volunteer service to our community. Moku Loa (Hawaii Island) Group, Sierra Club We work hard to advance Sierra Club’s mission to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives. P O Box 1137 Hilo, HI 96721-1137 | hawaiiislandsierraclub@gmail.com sierraclubhig.org September 28, 2026 Windward Planning Commission c/o County of Hawai’i 101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3 Hilo HI 96720 RE: INITIATOR: COUNTY COUNCIL (PL-CCI-2026-000018), Bill 170, Draft 1 Aloha Chair Daniele and Commission Members, Mahalo nui loa for your volunteer service and dedication to our island community. The legislative intent and purpose of Bill 170, Draft 1 (Bill 170) is amend the county Zoning Code, Chapter 25, in order to: 1) update and clarify the definition of “data processing facilities”, and 2) clearly differentiate between “data processing facilities” and “data center” by defining “data center”. HIG submitted prior written and oral testimony to the Windward Planning Commission (WPC) for its September 3, 2026 meeting. However, after public testimony and discussions during that meeting, HIG would like to submit the following revised proposed amendments. SECTION 2. Chapter 25, article 1, section 25-1-5, of the Hawai`i County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as amended) is amended by amending the definition of "data processing facility" in subsection(b) to read as follows: “Data processing facility" means a facility[an establishment] primarily involved in the compiling, processing, storage, transmission, dissemination and/or maintenance of documents, records, and other types of information in digital form utilizing a mainframe computer, servers, and/or networking equipment, including telecommunications facilities, communication network infrastructure, central offices, switching facilities, internet exchange facilities, public safety communications facilities, or facilities where data processing equipment is incidental to the property's primary use . This term does not include data centers as defined in Section 25-1-5, general business offices, computer-related sales establishments, and business or personal services." HIG is proposing these amendments in order to: 1) better differentiate these facilities from data centers, and 2) incorporate suggested language provided by Hawaiian Telcom and Charter Communications in their written and oral testimony on September 3, 2026, as appropriate. SECTION 3. Chapter 25, article 1, section 25-1-5, of the Hawai'i County Code 1983 (2016 Edition, as amended) is amended by adding a definition in subsection (b) to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows: "Data center" means a physical asset [facility] used for the large-scale operation of computer systems and associated equipment [for the processing, computing, transmission, or dissemination of digital data] that utilizes graphic processing units and requires supporting infrastructure beyond that typically accessory or incidental to office, commercial, or public and private institutional uses. This term includes a single data center location and any campus of multiple locations under common ownership or control with a combined electrical demand that meets or exceeds 5 megawatts. This term does not include data processing facilities as defined in Section 25-1-5, hospital or government data systems, and university computing educational and/or research facilities, and business offices in which servers are incidental to the primary use.” HIG is proposing the amendments to the definition of “data center” in order to: 1) replace “facility” with “physical asset” to clearly differentiate between the two definitions, 2) remove “for the processing, computing, transmission, or dissemination of digital data” to clearly differentiate between the two definitions, and 3) add language that directly addresses the issue of energy demand by a single or multiple locations under common ownership, and 4) add language to better clarify other uses that are not to be considered a data center. In addition, HIG asks the Windward Planning Commission members to reject the amendments proposed in the Planning Director’s Recommendation Report because those amendments do not comply with the legislative intent described in Bill 170, Section 1. Finally, in light of the Planning Department’s current multi-year project to comprehensively revise both the county’s Zoning and Subdivisions Codes, any proposed legislation that proposes to create a regulatory system for data centers at this time would be premature and ill-advised, especially given the current national debate related to the approval and regulation of data centers. Mahalo for this opportunity to testify.