Hawaii Island state lawmakers introduced an ambitious long-term plan to revitalize Hilo’s urban core during the ongoing legislative session.
Hawaii Island state lawmakers introduced an ambitious long-term plan to revitalize Hilo’s urban core during the ongoing legislative session.
Senate Bill 1292, introduced Wednesday in the Senate by Kai Kahele, D-Hilo, and companion House Bill 1479, introduced in the House by Rep. Mark Nakashima, D-Hamakua, North Hilo, South Hilo, and Rep. Chris Todd, D-Keaukaha, Hilo, Panaewa, Waiakea, would create the first-ever community economic district on the Big Island — or on any neighbor island, for that matter.
On Thursday, Kahele called the initiative long overdue and said it would lay planning groundwork for the next 80 years of development.
“I’ve been living in Hilo my entire life and Hilo hasn’t changed,” he said. “Something has to be done if we want to reinvigorate East Hawaii.”
Kahele said his goal is to increase opportunities for residents and visitors alike, from better-paying jobs and increased health care resources to direct flights from Hilo’s airport to the mainland and improved tourism infrastructure.
“What are we doing to market and showcase Hilo, when a person that arrives from Canada (on a cruise ship) on their first visit to Hawaii … has to walk 3 miles to downtown?” Kahele said. “We can’t even get bathrooms to get opened at the pier.”
The community economic district would include the Banyan Drive peninsula, Wailoa River State Park and Wailoa estuary and the Kanoelehua Industrial Area.
In each of these places, the state is the majority landowner. Many leases throughout the proposed district are due to expire within the next 10 years.
“Due to the uncertainty regarding tenancy, improvements have not been made and infrastructure has deteriorated,” SB 1292 states. The bill was co-sponsored by Sen. Lorraine Inouye, D-Hilo, Hamakua, Kohala, Waimea, Waikoloa, Kona, and Oahu Sens. Donovan Dela Cruz, Brickwood Galuteria, Michelle Kidani and Glenn Wakai.
Creating a community economic district would shuffle management of the area in question to the Hawaii Community Development Authority, itself an agency within the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
HCDA would manage the leases in partnership with the Department of Land and Natural Resources; revenue for planning would come from the leases.
The HCDA was created in 1976 with the aim of planning development of “underutilized urban areas of Hawaii,” according to the DBEDT.
The three existing community economic districts are on Oahu.
The first district created was Kakaako, followed by Kalaeloa. In 2002, a district was created in Heeia to facilitate restoration of the area’s wetlands and develop “culturally appropriate agriculture” on 400 acres of land.
Kakaako’s mixed-use district planning has resulted in 25 completed projects ranging from the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine campus to a host of residential buildings.
“It’s all centered around taking state land and turning its economy around,” Kahele said.
Each of the existing community economic districts is represented within HCDA by district residents. Having board members from the Hilo community making decisions is key to any new development, Kahele said, because “Hilo is a small-town atmosphere. We have a unique culture; we have a unique heritage.”
Recently, Hawaii County has worked to address some of the revitalization concerns.
Last year, the Banyan Drive Redevelopment Agency was tasked with creating a master vision plan for the peninsula, which was declared blighted in February 2016. A conceptual plan was approved last November.
Darryn Arai, Hawaii County planning deputy director, said the next step would be putting out requests for proposals to create an environmental impact statement or an environmental assessment.
“We’re just starting to get to work,” he said.
Wil Okabe, Hawaii County managing director, said the Mayor’s Office was not contacted about SB 1292 prior to it being introduced.
“(The) point that the senator’s making to improve Hilo — that is a positive, and I think the more discussions and the more communications we can have to inform the people of our county (about this), I think that’s going to be important,” he said.
Okabe said the primary concern of the Mayor’s Office was how the bill would impact the planning already completed by the Banyan Drive Redevelopment Agency.
Kahele praised the work of the agency, but said that lease insecurity was still a problem, as was funding for the proposals.
“No matter what plan we come up with … we still have to go back to the landowner and ask for permission, and ask for a lease, and have the land board, which is essentially Honolulu, approve it,” he said. “That became the obvious roadblock to me and to many others in the Hilo area.”
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.