North Shore NewsAloha Friends and Neighbors,
I hope you have all enjoyed the start of spring! I would like to share information regarding Bill 19 (2023), proposed by the Department of Parks and Recreation. The bill seeks to establish a uniform policy for com- mercial activities on public parks and beaches across Oʻahu. Bill 19 has been referred to the Committee on Parks, Enterprise Services, and Culture and the Arts, chaired by Councilmember Tulba. As currently writ- ten, Bill 19 would remove existing beach park-specific protections, which include protections at Kokololio, Waialeʻe, Sunset, ʻEhukai, Pūpūkea, Waimea Bay, Haleʻiwa Aliʻi, Kaiaka Bay, and the undeveloped por- tions of Haleʻiwa Beach Park adjacent to Puaʻena Point for a broad framework. I believe these existing protec- tion are important, for regulating commercial activities at our beaches – and prohibiting them when appropri- ate – is necessary to protect our natural resources and community access. I think it is important that we do not see a return of activities to areas the community has already sought to protect. Bill 19 will likely be amended as it proceeds through Council over the next several months, so please provide testimony on ways you think the bill should be changed.
I want to share some updates on our real property taxes as well. I have introduced amendments to Bills 37 (2022), 38 (2022), and 40 (2022), currently pending at Council and relating to increasing our low-income tax credit, home-owner occupant exemption, and kūpuna home-owner occupant exemptions. Increasing these credit and exemption amounts will help protect our families against increasing property tax bills, and your testimony on these measures is welcome.
I also want to highlight Bill 10 (2022) again. Bill 10 implements systematic updates to our Land Use Or- dinance and was sent to the Council last year by the Planning Commission. Mahalo to everyone that has reached out and provided insight into what changes are needed to protect and serve our community. Bill 10 is currently in the Committee on Planning and the Economy, chaired by Councilmember Kiaʻāina, and I believe that a vote should not occur on the final ver- sion of Bill 10 until all of our community’s concerns have been addressed. Our office has been conducting outreach across our community, and from that we are drafting proposed amendments to the current version of Bill 10. I invite you to reach out to discuss ways you think Bill 10 needs to be amended so that we can en- sure that our entire community’s voice is heard.
If you are interested in submitting testimony or want to find out more about other bills moving through Council, please visit https://www.honolulucitycouncil. org/. Please feel free to email me anytime at mweyer@honolulu.gov, or call our office at
(808) 768-5002. Mahalo for your continued engage- ment and interest in community issues!
Mahalo, Matt