Revised Ordinances of Honolulu

(Link to original Word Processing Version)




     5. IMPLEMENTATION

 OVERVIEW

Implementation of the City=s revised Development and Sustainable Community Plans will be a major challenge for the City=s planners, engineers, and other technical and policy-level personnel, as well as elected officials who determine the allocation of City resources.

In contrast to previous Development Plans, which functioned primarily as regulatory guides and a prerequisite for City zoning of parcels proposed for development, the revised plans are oriented toward implementation on a broader scale. They now seek to implement a vision for the future by providing wider guidance for decisions and actions related to land use, public facilities, and infrastructure as well as for zoning matters. As a result, many of their provisions reflect the consultations which occurred throughout the planning process with pertinent implementing agencies and community representatives.

Many other City, county, and town jurisdictions on the U.S. mainland have instituted comprehensive planning programs that emphasize a proactive community-based planning and implementation process. These local governments seek to establish a strong link between planning policies and guidelines, and specific organization, funding, and actions needed to implement a variety of public and private projects and programs.

The following sections of this Chapter are intended to strengthen the linkage to implementation to realize the vision of the future presented in this plan.

Implementation of the Central Oahu Sustainable Communities Plan will be accomplished by:

!    Limiting residential and non-residential development to areas within the Urban Community Boundary to support the vision for protection of agricultural and preservation lands in Central Oahu, for development of the Primary Urban Center and Secondary Urban Center at Kapolei, and for ending infrastructure investments which promote urban sprawl;

!    Guiding development in areas of critical concern including Waipahu and Wahiawa through Special Area Plans;

!    Guiding public investment for infrastructure through Functional Plans which support the vision of the Sustainable Communities Plan;

!    Recommending approval, approval with modifications, or denial of developments seeking zoning and other development approvals based on how well they support the vision for Central Oahu's development;

!    Incorporating Sustainable Communities Plan priorities through the Public Infrastructure Map and the City's annual budget process;

!    Evaluating progress in fulfilling the vision of the Central Oahu Sustainable Communities Plan every two years and presenting the results of the evaluation in the Biennial Report; and

!    Conducting a review of the vision, policies, principles, and guidelines, of the Central Oahu Sustainable Communities Plan every five years and recommending revisions as necessary.

5.1 DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES

5.1.1        PUBLIC FACILITY INVESTMENT PRIORITIES

The regional directed growth strategy requires the cooperation of both public and private agencies in planning, financing, and constructing infrastructure. The City should take an active role in planning infrastructure and coordinating the expansion of Honouliuli Wastewater Treatment Plant and reuse of its effluent, improvement of the Wahiawa Treatment Plant, provision of recreational open spaces, and development of the regional transportation system, parks, and police and fire facilities.

5.1.2        PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES

The Central Oahu Sustainable Communities Plan provides a clear signal to private landowners and developers as to where development will be supported.

The Urban Expansion area is shown on the Phasing Map in Appendix A. The Urban Expansion Area shows where new urban development is occurring and where applications for new urban development will be accepted for processing. As shown in Table 2.2, several projects in this area already have Development Plan approvals and most zoning changes needed for proceeding with development immediately.

Projects in the Urban Expansion area needing zoning changes and other development approvals would be eligible for processing starting with adoption of the Plan and will be supported if:

!    the project implements the vision for Central Oahu and relevant policies, principles, and guidelines, and

    !    adequate infrastructure will be available to meet the demand resulting from the project.

No additional areas should be approved for residential development beyond the Urban Expansion area in order to protect agricultural and preservation lands.


5.2 SPECIAL AREA PLANS

Special Area Plans provide more detailed policies, principles, and guidelines than the Sustainable Communities Plan for areas requiring particular attention. The form and content of Special Area Plans depends on what characteristics and issues need to be addressed in greater detail in planning and guiding development or use of the Special Area.

Special Area Plans can be used to guide land use development and infrastructure investment in Special Districts, Redevelopment Districts, or Resource Areas. Plans for Special Districts would provide guidance for development and infrastructure investment in areas with distinct historic or design character or significant public views. Plans for Redevelopment Districts would provide strategies for the revitalization or redevelopment of an area. Plans for Resource Areas would provide resource management strategies for areas with particular natural or cultural resource values.

Waipahu and Wahiawa are the only areas in Central Oahu currently designated for a Special Area Plan.

Waipahu. The Waipahu Town Plan, the Special Area Plan for Waipahu, was completed in December 1995. The Plan provided the basis for policies, principles, and guidelines for Waipahu in Section 3.5 above. The policies in Section 3.5 will be used to evaluate both applications for zoning changes and other development approvals and proposals for public and private infrastructure in Waipahu.

Wahiawa. A Special Area Plan, the Wahiawa Urban Design Plan, was prepared for Wahiawa and transmitted to the City Council in 1998. The Plan focuses on urban design issues and implementation proposals and builds on the Wahiawa Town Master Plan (prepared in 1994 by members of the Wahiawa community).

5.3 FUNCTIONAL PLANS

Functional Plans are meant to provide guiding principles and strategies which will be used by the various functional agencies to determine needs, assign priorities, phase infrastructure and facilities development, and secure financing to meet the needs identified in the Sustainable Communities Plan.

City agencies responsible for developing infrastructure and public facilities shall review existing Functional Plans, and in consultation with the Director of the Department of Planning and Permitting, update the existing Plans or prepare and submit to the Mayor new long-range Functional Plans for providing facilities and services for Central Oahu to the year 2020.

Agencies with Functional Planning responsibilities include:

!    Board of Water Supply
!    Department of Design and Construction
9    City Buildings
9    Parks and Recreation
9    Drainage Systems
9    Wastewater
!    Department of Transportation Services
!    Honolulu Fire Department
!    Honolulu Police Department

The Functional Plans should provide:

!    A Resource-constrained Long-Range Capital Improvement Program with priorities,

!    A Long-Range Financing Plan, with any necessary new revenue measures,

!    A Development Schedule with first priority to areas designated for earliest development, and

!    Service and facility design standards, including Level of Service Guidelines for determining adequacy.

A resource-constrained program is one which identifies the fiscal resources that can be reasonably expected to be available to finance the improvements.

Level of Service Guidelines for determining adequacy of public facilities and infrastructure to support new development should be established by the responsible City agencies as part of their review and update of Functional Plans. Level of Service Guidelines for infrastructure and utilities which are primarily State agency responsibilities (such as schools) shall be developed by the Department of Planning and Permitting in consultation with the responsible State agencies.

In preparing the Functional Plans, a proactive public participation process should be established which provides the public with access to complete information about infrastructure and public facility needs assessment, alternatives evaluation, and financing. Outreach activities should involve the Neighborhood Boards, community organizations, landowners, and others who might be significantly affected by the infrastructure or public facilities projects to be developed under the Functional Plan.

The process should be characterized by opportunities for early and continuing participation, timely public notice, public access to information needed to review the decision, and the opportunity to suggest alternatives and to express preferences.

5.4 REVIEW OF ZONING AND OTHER APPLICATIONS

A primary way in which the vision of the Central Oahu Sustainable Communities Plan will guide land use will be through the review of applications for zoning changes and other development approvals. Approval for all development projects should be based on the extent to which the project supports the policies, principles, and guidelines of the Sustainable Communities Plan.

Projects which do not involve significant zone changes will be reviewed by the Department of Planning and Permitting for consistency with the policies, principles, and guidelines of the Central Oahu Sustainable Communities Plan during the Zone Change Application process. Those projects requiring environmental assessments shall follow the provisions of Hawaii Revised Statutes, Chapter 343.

Projects involving significant zone changes will require an Environmental Assessment which must include a Project Master Plan when 25 acres or more are involved. This is submitted to the Department of Planning and Permitting for review as part of the first Zone Change Application. (See definition of significant zone change and Project Master Plan in Section 24-5.1 of the adopting ordinance.)

Zone change applications to permit urban uses on parcels outside the Urban Community Boundary or on parcels identified as part of the Open Space Network will not be accepted for processing.

5.4.1     ADEQUATE FACILITIES REQUIREMENT

All projects requesting zone changes shall be reviewed to determine if adequate public facilities and infrastructure will be available to meet the needs created as a result of the development. Level of Service Guidelines to define adequate public facilities and infrastructure requirements will be established during the Capital Improvement Program.

In order to guide development and growth in an orderly manner as required by the City's General Plan, zoning and other development approvals for new developments should be approved only if the responsible City and State agencies indicate that adequate public facilities and utilities will be available at the time of occupancy or if conditions the functional agency indicates are necessary to assure adequacy are otherwise sufficiently addressed.

The Department of Planning and Permitting will review and summarize any individual agency's findings regarding public facilities and utilities adequacy which are raised as part of the EA/EIS process or as part of the agency review of the zone change application and recommend conditions that should be included in the Unilateral Agreement or Development Agreement to insure adequacy of facilities.


5.5 FIVE-YEAR SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES PLAN REVIEW

The Department of Planning and Permitting shall conduct a comprehensive review of the Central Oahu Sustainable Communities Plan and shall report its findings and recommended revisions to the City Council five years after adoption and every five years thereafter.

In the Five-Year review, all the elements of the Central Oahu Sustainable Communities Plan (regional vision, policies, principles and guidelines, and implementing actions) will be evaluated to see if they are still appropriate. In addition, the development phasing guidelines will be reviewed to see if its purpose is being achieved and if phasing priorities should be revised.

The Plan evaluation will include an evaluation of the Urban Community Boundary since it is a key vision element of the Plan. However, the Urban Community Boundary (UCB) was drawn with the intent that it will remain fixed through the 2025 planning horizon because of the vision that key agricultural and preservation lands should be protected for the foreseeable future and the analysis that there are ample developable lands to meet the urban development needs for the foreseeable future within the UCB in Ewa and Central Oahu.

5.6 TRANSITION FROM THE CURRENT SYSTEM

This section discusses the transition from the former Development Plan to this revised Sustainable Communities Plan, including its independence from Development Plan Common Provisions, its relationship to the General Plan guidelines, and the need for review and revision of development codes, standards, and regulations.

5.6.1 DEVELOPMENT PLAN COMMON PROVISIONS AND EXISTING LAND USE APPROVALS

This Sustainable Communities Plan will go into effect upon adoption by ordinance. At that time, the revised Sustainable Communities Plan will become a self-contained document, not reliant on the Development Plan Common Provisions which formerly applied to the Central Oahu Development Plan as well as all the other Development Plans.

Land use approvals granted under previous Development Plan amendments should generally remain in force and guide zoning decisions unless clearly inconsistent with the vision and policies of the Central Oahu Sustainable Communities Plan. Development can proceed in accordance with existing zoning, Unilateral Agreements, and approved Urban Design Plans.

If an Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement (EA/EIS) was accepted in the course of a Development Plan land use approval for a project, it should be acceptable to meet the requirement for an initial project EA/EIS when zone change applications are submitted for subsequent phases of the project unless the project scope and land uses are being significantly changed from that described in the initial EA/EIS.

5.6.2 RELATION TO GENERAL PLAN POPULATION GUIDELINES

The Central Oahu Sustainable Communities Plan implements the General Plan population policies (in Population Objective C) as follows:

!    Central Oahu's likely share of Oahu population in 2025 (16.8%) will be quite close to the General Plan 2025 population distribution guideline (17%). Central Oahu's share in 2000 was 16.9%.

!    Planned developments in the Central Oahu urban-fringe will implement Population Objective C, Policy 2 which encourages such development in order to "relieve developmental pressures in the remaining urban-fringe and rural areas and to meet housing needs not readily provided in the primary urban center."

The General Plan population distribution guidelines will continue to be used as a guide to direct the pattern of growth and development in the Central Oahu Sustainable Communities Plan Area. Assessments of this performance will be reported in both the Biennial Report and in the Five-Year Review of the Sustainable Communities Plan.

Under the new Central Oahu Sustainable Communities Plan, projects will be evaluated against how well they fulfill the vision for Central Oahu enunciated in the Sustainable Communities Plan and how closely they meet the policies, principles, and guidelines selected to implement that vision.

5.6.3 REVIEW AND REVISION OF DEVELOPMENT CODES

Upon completion of the Development Plan and Sustainable Communities Plan Revision Program, current regulatory codes and standards should be reviewed and revised, as necessary, to maintain their consistency and effectiveness as standards to guide attainment of the objectives and policies envisioned for all Development Plan areas.

To achieve the vision for Central Oahu as identified in this plan, at the time such reviews are conducted, the following regulatory codes and standards may warrant further review and revision to ensure achievement of the vision for the Central Oahu region, as well as consistency with the Central Oahu Sustainable Communities Plan:

!     Land Use Ordinance (Department of Planning and Permitting, pursuant to Chapter 21, Revised Ordinances of Honolulu). Zoning code standards and the zoning map for Central Oahu need to be revised to reflect policies, principles and guidelines in the Sustainable Communities Plan.

!     Subdivision Rules and Regulations (Department of Planning and Permitting, pursuant to Chapter 22, Revised Ordinances of Honolulu). Public right-of-way standards used for subdivision and consolidation of land need to be revised to reflect transportation policies, principles, and guidelines in the Sustainable Communities Plan.

!     Traffic Standard Manual (Department of Transportation Services, July 1976, as revised). Standards which are applied to local and most collector streets need to be revised to reflect transportation policies, principles, and guidelines in the Sustainable Communities Plan.

!     State Highways Division Procedures Manual , Vol. 8, Chapter 5, Section 4 (State Department of Transportation). These State highway standards need to be reviewed to identify provisions which may conflict with the transportation policies, principles, and guidelines in the Sustainable Communities Plan.

!     Standard Details for Public Works Construction (Honolulu Department of Public Works with Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii County Departments of Public Works, September 1984. Department of Planning and Permitting now responsible for revisions). Engineering standards for the dedication of public works construction need to be revised to reflect Sustainable Communities Plan principles and guidelines.

!     Storm Drainage Standards (Department of Public Works, March 1986. Department of Planning and Permitting now responsible for revisions). Standards for the dedication of drainage systems to incorporate grassed swales and retention basins into the design need to be created to reflect the Sustainable Communities Plan policies, principles, and guidelines for open space.

!     Park Dedication Rules and Regulations (Department of Planning and Permitting, pursuant to Chapter 22, Article 7, Revised Ordinances of Honolulu). Regulations need to be reviewed to determine if passive drainage systems which are designed for recreation use should count toward park dedication requirements, especially in cases where the area would exceed the amount of land that would be required under current rules and regulations.

!     Wastewater Management Design Standards (Department of Wastewater Management, Vol I: 1993, Vol. II: 1984) pursuant to Chapter 14, Revised Ordinances of Honolulu. Department of Planning and Permitting now responsible for revisions. These standards and ordinance may require review to further implement Sustainable Communities Plan policies and guidelines.