Ewa developers would pay a fee to fund road improvements based on traffic generated by every home and commercial project they construct, under a proposal that cleared the City Council's Zoning Committee yesterday. Panel OKs Ewa
road-payments planDevelopers would pay fees based
on traffic their projects createBy Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.comIf approved by the Council next Wednesday, Bill 52 would establish the state's first standard impact fees after two decades of discussion.
The formula, based on traffic generated by different land uses and the impact on key sections of the district, would have a developer pay about $1,836 for each single-family home and $1,245 for every multifamily unit. Retail developers would pay $4,053 per 1,000 square feet of development while time-share hotel developers would pay $501 per room.
The program would net $38 million over the next decade or so, or what amounts to about 20 percent of the $194 million needed for about half a dozen major traffic improvement projects planned for the area through about 2010.
Those projects include:
>> $64.8 million for a four-lane North-South Road and interchange with H-1 freeway between Ewa and Kapolei.
>> $49 million to complete various sections of Kapolei Parkway, which eventually will connect Ewa Beach with Kapolei and Ko Olina.
>> $36 million for new ramps, bridges and other improvements associated with creating separate interchanges for Makakilo and Kapolei.
>> $33 million to expand Fort Weaver Road, makai of Farrington Highway, to six lanes from four lanes.
Most are state thoroughfares so the city, in accepting the fees, would need to work with the state Department of Transportation on a means of distributing the funds.
Representatives of the area's major landowners, including Campbell Estate, Gentry Homes and Haseko (Hawaii), testified in favor of the bills.
The developers already are required by Land Use Commission approvals and unilateral agreements with the City Council to pay their fair share for roads, water and sewer systems, schools and other improvements. Having a set standard of fees, they said, would provide both them and government agencies a level of predictability and equality. Currently, they argue, their outlay for improvements are exacted on an informal basis.
Planning and Permitting Director Randy Lee yesterday testified that while he supports the bill, he wants assurances from the DOT that it will proceed on road projects and issue bonds, using the fees as reimbursement.
Council Zoning Chairman Duke Bainum, who co-authored the bill with Ewa Councilman John DeSoto, presented a letter from state Transportation Director Brian Minaai that stated: "The Department of Transportation is committed to the construction of these ... projects."
Minaai, however, said he could not guarantee the projects would be completed by 2010.
City & County of Honolulu
