Revised Ordinances of Honolulu(Link to original Word Processing Version)
5. IMPLEMENTATION 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.
. Initiating zoning map and development code amendments to achieve consistency
with the policies, principles, and guidelines of the Sustainable Communities Plan; The vision for the North Shore requires the cooperation of both public and private agencies in planning, financing, and constructing infrastructure. The City must take an active role in planning infrastructure improvements, including improvements for wastewater treatment, drainage, parks and public access, and roadways. 5.2 DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES
Projects to receive priority in the approval process are those which:
. Involve land acquisition and improvements for public projects that are consistent
with the Sustainable Communities Plan vision, general policies, and planning
principles;
For areas requiring particular attention, Special Area Plans provide more detailed policies,
principles, and guidelines than the Development and Sustainable Communities Plans. The
form and content of Special Area Plans depend 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.
There are no Special Area Plans proposed in the North Shore Sustainable Communities
Plan area. As stated earlier, it is not the intent of this Sustainable Communities Plan to
establish a Special Design District for Waialua Town. However, Waialua residents have
indicated the need to consider in the future a special area plan that will promote economic
revitalization of Waialua Town.
5.4 FUNCTIONAL PLANNING Functional planning is the process through which various City agencies determine needs, assign priorities, establish timing and phasing, and propose financing for projects within their areas of responsibility that will further the implementation of the vision articulated in the Development and Sustainable Communities Plans. This process may take a variety of forms, depending upon the missions of the various agencies involved, as well as upon requirements imposed from outside the City structure, such as federal requirements for wastewater management planning. Typically, functional planning occurs as a continuous or iterative activity within each agency. The functional planning process involves annual review of existing functional planning documents and programs by the City agencies responsible for developing and maintaining infrastructure and public facilities or for provision of City services. As a result of these reviews, the agencies then update, if required, existing plans or prepare new long-range functional planning documents that address facilities and service system needs. Updates of functional planning documents are also conducted to assure that agency plans will serve to further implement the Development and Sustainable Communities Plans well as to provide adequate opportunity for coordination of plans and programs among the various agencies.
The number and types of functional planning documents will vary from agency to agency,
as will the emphases and contents of those documents. A typical agency may develop a
set of core documents such as:
. A resource-constrained long-range capital improvement program. A resource-
constrained program is one which identifies the fiscal resources that can be
reasonably expected to be available to finance the improvements.
Functional planning is intended to be a proactive public involvement process which
provides public access to information about infrastructure and public facility needs
assessments, alternatives evaluations, and financing. Outreach activities should involve
Neighborhood Boards, community organizations, landowners, and others who may be
significantly affected by the public facilities and infrastructure projects or programs to be
developed to further implement the policies of the Development and Sustainable
Communities Plans.
The functional planning process should be characterized by opportunities for early and
continuing involvement, timely public notice, public access to information used in the
evaluation of priorities, and the opportunity to suggest alternatives and to express
preferences. The functional planning process provides the technical background for theCapital Improvement Program and public policy proposals which are subject to review and
approval by the City Council.
5.5 REVIEW OF ZONING AND OTHER DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS
A primary way in which the vision of the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan will
guide land use is through the review of applications for zone changes and other
development approvals. Approval for all development projects should be based on the
extent to which the project supports the vision and 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 vision, policies, principles, and
guidelines of the North Shore 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 .
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
process.
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.
5.6 FIVE-YEAR SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES PLAN REVIEW
This section discusses the transition from the former Development Plan to this 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.
5.7.1 Development Plan Common Provisions and Existing Land Use Approvals
Land use approvals granted under existing zoning, Unilateral Agreements, and approved
Urban Design Plans will remain in force and guide entitlement decisions until any zoning
action to further implement the vision and policies of the North Shore Sustainable
Communities Plans initiated. If an Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact
Statement (EA/EIS) is accepted in the course of a Sustainable Communities 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.
5.7.2 Relation to General Plan Population Guidelines
The North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan implements the General Plan population
policies (in Population Objective C) as follows:
. North Shore's share of population in 2020 will be consistent with the current General
Plan population distribution range.
5.7.3 REVIEW AND REVISION OF DEVELOPMENT CODES
Upon completion of the 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 or Sustainable Communities Plan areas. 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 North Shore
region, as well as consistency with the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan:
. Land Use Ordinance (Chapter 21, Revised Ordinances of Honolulu). Zoning
code standards and the zoning map for the North Shore need to be revised to
reflect policies, principles, and guidelines in the Sustainable Communities Plan.
North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan Implementation
5-1 Revised Ordinances |