Thanks to our Board Member, Dr. Jeremy Lam, for contributing to this post. The State agency which oversees the development of Kaka'ako has been criticized as being excessively pro-development. Bill 1866, which seeks to improve oversight and transparency at the Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA), passed the Hawai'i Legislature this week and was sent to the Governor for his signature. This bill allows greater public input, promotes greater transparency, provides recourse for communities through a contested-case hearing process, ensures more balance to the appointed board, and emphasizes the importance of maintaining height and distance requirements in building projects. The Governor has until April 24th to veto the bill, sign it into law, or allow the bill to become law without his signature. Of the many bills introduced by Representative Scott Saiki to reform the HCDA, this is the only one that survived the legislative process. Representative Saiki told Pacific Business News, "House Bill 1866 will allow us to ‘reboot’ HCDA and allow it to refocus on its mission, provide greater transparency in its operation and decision making, and allow the public to have greater input in its deliberations. At the end of the day, it will help HCDA create a community that is more livable, more productive and that better reflects our island values, lifestyle and sensibilities.” The Outdoor Circle is particularly concerned with ensuring that public greenspace and mauka-to-makai view planes are enhanced -- not undermined -- by the rush to develop the Kaka'ako area. Mother Waldron Park in the heart of Kaka'ako mauka was given to the city in the 1930's specifically to ensure the public had open green space to enjoy, as the downtown financial district expanded eastward. Read TOC's position statement on Kaka'ako: Friday starts the final four in the American Forests' "Big Tree Madness". Hawaii's own giant Coco palm is a contender for this year's championship. But we only have 24-hours to make it happen. On Friday morning, click on this link to go the American Forests' website and vote for Hawaii's Coco Palm. Share this info with all your friends. Follow the Coco's progress on Facebook by "friending" us here. Check out this new article on the challenge of ensuring sufficient open space in the new Kaka'ako: "Open Space in Kaka'ako" by Denby Fawcett in Civil Beat Who knew that one day we would have to make clear that open space means: open to the public, outside, and on the ground. "Open space" that is only accessible to building tenants is the vertical version of a private park. While this might be all fine and good for tenants of the building, it does not ensure a good urban design and sane quality of life for residents. And, it definitely should not count towards the trade-off when government allows developers to build outside basic building standards -- like set-backs. Ring the bell!!! The Environmental Court is headed to conference committee. Woot, woot! This is the farthest this bill has ever gotten in the legislative process. Mahalo to the members of the Senate and House Committees on the Environment and Judiciary and the House Finance Committee for shuttling this bill through the legislative process in an efficient and transparent way. We are so close to passing this bill. But there is still much to do to ensure this bill gets to the Governor's desk. Some business trade groups strongly oppose the bill on the misguided theory that establishing an Environmental Court would be bad for business. Quite the opposite! Establishing this court will help to further ensure that those businesses who pride themselves on environmentally-friendly operations are competing on a fair playing field against those businesses that have, up till now, simply incorporated harm to the environment as a cost of doing business. This bill is important because it will establish a fairer and more efficient process for adjudicating violations of the protections established for our forests, oceans, wildlife, and public health. For all of the illegal dumpsites and abandoned vehicles, all of the fishing and hunting violations, for all the spills into our oceans and streams: the environment deserves its day in court. The environmental court would function much like drug court, where cases concerning laws to protect our environment will be heard together on one docket by a judge focused on this area of law. With this focus comes more consistent outcomes. And with more consistent decisions comes more consistent enforcement and compliance. Residents, visitors, and businesses will know that Hawaii’s environmental protections are not just talk, but are truly and regularly enforced. Now is the time to make sure all of our elected officials in the State Capitol understand the importance of this bill. Please take a moment to contact the Representatives and Senators in your area. Here is a link to a list of all Hawaii's state elected officials and their contact information. When you visit this link, input your zip code in the upper right-hand corner to find out which elected officials represent you. Our Leaf touches ground this week with lots of news about branch engagement and statewide public affairs. I am very happy to report that the Exceptional Tree Initiative is being championed by Susan Spangler, appointed representative to the Mayor’s Arborist Advisory Council. Things have been busy for our volunteers this first half of the legislative session. With “cross-over” completed earlier this month, we now know which bills have a good chance of making it to “conference committee” at the end of the legislative session. It is exciting to see some of the Senators and Representatives championing the environment with such knowledge and inspiration. This is a challenging time as we all reckon with the cost of development to our ecosystem. It is extremely hopeful to hear these leaders talking about carrying capacity on our islands, particularly on O’ahu. We have a strong leader in our Honolulu City Council, who sees the danger in proliferation of advertising on our roadways. Moving ads on busses is proven to be a distraction to drivers, not to mention to the visual plane. It can’t be said too often: “Our beauty is the hand that feeds us.” A beautiful, calming viewscape is an intrinsic part of the much revered aloha spirit. We hope that all of our Mayors will follow Mayor Caldwell in making our county parks a priority over the next few years. This is news The Outdoor Circle likes to move with! We ask you to join us in being an active steward for The Outdoor Circle. Here's what you can ask of your friends and neighbors: Become a member (click here), volunteer some time (click here), and regularly visit our website and facebook page to catch up on our activities. Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell finally named the appointees to Honolulu’s Arborist Committee, which includes our very own Susan Spangler, president of the East Honolulu Outdoor Circle (center right in green and white dress). Congratulations to all the appointees!!
“We are delighted to have the honor to serve the City in this capacity,” said Susan Spangler. “Honolulu’s Exceptional Trees need our attention, if they are going to endure well into the next generation.” This is a major first step in The Outdoor Circle’s Exceptional Tree Initiative, our new program to ensure Hawaii’s public greenspaces — and especially their Exceptional Trees — are well-maintained. Arborist Committees are established by state law to implement the Exceptional Tree Act of 1976 at the county level. In each county, this committee is responsible for addressing tree-related issues, including the identification of new candidates for “Exceptional Tree” status. Honolulu County has been without an Arborist Committee since Mayor Caldwell took office in 2012. Recently, we reported that members on Oahu are using "See, Click, Fix" -- a new app on their smartphones -- to report illegal billboards to Honolulu's enforcement division. And now we are seeing results! Here is the follow up from the first enforcement action taken through the "See, Click, Fix" App. From the inspector's report: "Inspection on 3/10/14 revealed the correct address of the complaint is 1357 South Beretania Street. The inspection on that date revealed the following: - Mark Glen's Action (Gold) - There is a non-permitted sign (a banner). Pending. Reinspection on 3/17/14 revealed the banner sign (Cash For Gold) has been removed at the above-referenced property." Yay! It worked. The key here is patience. Like most counties in Hawaii, Honolulu's code enforcement division is woefully understaffed. It takes months for complaints to be inspected and notices of violations to be sent to property owners. We are heartened, however, to learn that two new enforcement officers were recently added to the staff at Honolulu's DPP Customer Service Division. These new officers combined with this more convenient method of reporting possible violations, we hope to stem the proliferation of illegal outdoor signage in Honolulu. To download the app onto your smartphone, click here. You can make anonymous reports of billboard violations -- but be sure to mention you are working with The Outdoor Circle! A special thanks to the members of the North Shore branch for taking the lead on enforcing our sign laws on Oahu. The beloved International Marketplace is undergoing a major renovation. Thankfully, the owners, Queen Emma Land Company, recognize the value of the amazing trees on their property and are making heroic efforts to preserve and enhance the trees there. The Exceptional Banyan Tree closer to Kalakaua Avenue is being preserved -- and the human experience of this tree will actually be enhanced by a design that puts the pedestrian and dining area on the 3rd floor, around the canopy of this epic tree. In addition, several other trees are being protected-in-place or relocated on the property. Unfortunately, however, two large trees will be lost. One of the other banyan trees on the property has fallen victim to the ferocious stem gall wasp. Despite every effort to protect certain banyan trees from this infection, nothing has been able to save infected trees from dying. In consultation with expert arborists, the developers have decided to remove this tree and repurpose it to the extent possible. This tree will be replaced with a mature monkeypod from on-site that was previously slated for removal. In addition, the large monkeypod on the Kuhio Avenue side of the International Marketplace will be removed and repurposed. Though the developers had originally planned to relocate this tree, realities of the tree’s root system and underground utilities have rendered that option impossible. The loss of this large canopy tree on Kuhio Avenue will be very noticeable. After consulting with The Outdoor Circle and others, the developers are investigating possibilities for compensating for the loss of shade and overall character that will come with the loss of this tree. Stay tuned for more updates to the developer’s plans for the new International Marketplace as they become available. You can learn more about this project by visiting their website: http://shopinternationalmarketplace.com The 9th Circuit ruled on February 18, 2014 that the EIS for the Honolulu Rail Project is not incomplete, despite the lack of equally in-depth analysis of alternatives to the elevated train, including Bus Rapid Transit. Judge Tashima, at the lower federal court, also determined that the City and the Federal Transit Authority properly analyzed the alternative routes for the rail system, including whether to locate a tunnel under Beretania Street. In light of the courts’ decisions, we are assessing the next best steps. We need to continue to engage with the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit (HART) to ensure that all of the mitigations promised in the EIS are actually implemented -- that trees affected by the rail project are relocated or re-purposed and replaced, that transit stations are well-designed and landscaped to integrate into their surrounding communities. If you are interested in helping to minimize the negative impacts of rail, please drop us a line to volunteer. Learn more about this issue, here is a link to the Star-Advertiser news article. (Image: From the Star Advertiser, Gordon Pang) Members of the North Shore Outdoor Circle have had it with the proliferation of illegal signs in their community. They are banning together with members from the four other O’ahu branches to stamp out this visual blight. This is not the first time, TOC member have taken on illegal signs with great success. But this time they have a new secret weapon: a smartphone app called “See, Click, Fix.” “See, Click, Fix” is a free application available on most smartphones that allows citizens to easily report problems to the county. The program automatically routes the reports to the proper agency. Your report can include images, the specific location, and a detailed description of the problem. Reports can be tracked on the SeeClickFix website, including when reported problems are resolved by the proper authorities. TOC members are encouraged to install this app on their smartphones and start reporting illegal signs, dumping, water-wasting, trees in need, and any other matter that needs the county’s attention to the proper authorities. Be sure to mention that you are member of The Outdoor Circle in your reports. Thanks to a major turn-out from all four TOC branches on O‘ahu, Mayor Caldwell’s proposal to sell advertising on the outside of city buses was deferred by the Budget Committee. Congratulations on a job well done! This may, however, be only a temporary reprieve from the blight of bus billboards. We need to be prepared that Bill 69 might come before this Committee again in March. In preparation for that, we should: 1. Celebrate our victory! Thank you to everyone who gave so much of their time and resources to make this campaign a success. Thank you to Kathy for chairing the working group, Martin for all of the advice and the very effective signs at the hearing, Barbara, Jeremy, Linda, John, Susan, Martin, and Kathy for meeting with Council members, Susan and Jeremy for the petition, Diane and Steve for reaching out to our allies, Leigh for contacting our Neighborhood Boards, to the 20+ people who testified in opposition to the bill today, and to all of the many wonderful letters to the editor that were submitted over the last month. All that work culminated in this victory. Mahalo nui loa! 2. Thank the Budget Committee & Council Chair Please take a moment to draft a short thank you note to the members of the budget committee that supported us and especially Council Chair Ernie Martin. Below is a list of how the committee members voted. Here are their email addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Chair Martin did not have to attend this committee meeting and speak so eloquently on the challenges with the city budget and against the passage of Bill 69. But he did and we are very grateful. 3. Continue to build our movement We have to assume for now that Bill 69 will come up again during the March budget discussions. To be ready for that, it would be good to continue to meet with Council members, Neighborhood Boards, and other supportive groups, and continue to collect petition signatures. Please reply to this email if you are interested in joining the working group in this effort. ———————————————————-- How the Committee voted on the motion to defer Bill 69: Chair Ann Kobayashi (Manoa): YES. Vice Chair Stanley Chang (East Honolulu): NO. CM Carol Fukunaga (Makiki, Downtown) YES. CM Joey Manahan (Kalihi) YES. CM Kymberly Marcos Pine (Ewa, Waianae) YES with serious reservations. Council Chair Ernie Martin (North Shore) is not on this committee, so could not vote on the motion, but he urged the committee to “shelve” the bill, and if not at least defer the bill until after the Mayor’s budget is released. He asked excellent questions of the administration. ____________________________________ Background Information Honolulu City Mayor Kirk Caldwell is seeking authority to sell external advertising space on city buses to reduce the City’s current budget deficit. The Outdoor Circle, Hawai‘i’s oldest, environmental advocate and champion of the 1927 ban on billboards, has long opposed outdoor advertising because it undermines the scenic beauty of our islands. Like the City, The Outdoor Circle is also very concerned about the City’s longstanding budget shortfall. Honolulu’s parks and trees already suffer from insufficient funding and would likely be early victims in the next round of budget cuts. Many Circle members are also avid bus-riders, who want to see improved and expanded bus service. Yet, members of the Circle found the Mayor’s proposal to be dubious and dangerous because it could significantly weaken current controls on outdoor advertising and not balance the city’s budget. The city’s budget shortfall now stands at $156 million. Advertising on the outside of buses is expected to raise $8 million at best, and more likely would raise only $2 million a year. As such, this proposal would soil Honolulu’s scenic beauty and we would still be forced to cut funding to public parks and other essential public services. Residents and visitors already suffer with the lack of enforcement on stationary sign violations and convoluted applications of the current mobile advertising ban. With outdoor advertising on city buses, it would be a short trip to seeing signs on bus shelters, transit stations, and future rail cars. Circle members appreciate Mayor Caldwell’s attempts to address these concerns, but his efforts fall short. He cannot promise that the content of the advertising would not be offensive, as constitutional protections guarantee equal access to any form open for public use. Hawai‘i is special. We want to protect its largest city from turning into just another metropolis, where one cannot blink without being inundated with commercial advertising. The Outdoor Circle looks forward to working with Mayor Caldwell and his administration to find workable solutions to the City’s budget challenges, but cannot support advertising on the exterior of city buses. Related Links: Hawaii News Now: Proposal would put ads on City buses KHON: Mayor wants buses turned into rolling billboards KITV: Mayor: Bus Ads Ticket to Restore Routes, Services PBN: Honolulu mayor proposes adding advertising to the sides of buses Star-Advertiser: Exterior ads could earn $8 million Establishing an Environmental Court in Hawaii to improve enforcement of current environmental laws is a top priority for the members of The Outdoor Circle. Today, SB632, one of the bills proposing to do just that, is working its way through the state legislative process -- this is the farthest this bill has ever gotten! Now is our chance to demonstrate to legislators the vast public support for improving environmental protection in Hawaii with this important tool. This bill has made its way through a gauntlet of committee hearings at the Hawaii State Legislature and is in a good position to be passed by legislators this session. You can help make it happen by submitting testimony in support of SB632 to the Senators and Representatives of the Hawaii State Legislature today. Below you will find a sample testimony that you can make your own and email addresses for all state elected officials. People power works! After years of lagging before the state Legislature in various forms, the Environmental Court concept is finally getting heard. Thanks to the combined efforts of The Outdoor Circle, Keep the Hawaiian Islands Beautiful, students at UH's Richardson School of Law, and many concerned residents throughout Hawaii and abroad. Good work everyone! But we still have another lap to go -- we can't let up on the pressure yet. Please forward this post to your family, friends, and co-workers. We all benefit from a clearer, more healthy environment. SB 632 will help make that happen! Post it on Facebook, send it out on twitter (#EcoCourt), call your neighbors, do whatever you can to help grow this movement and pass SB 632. Sample Testimony (modify this to make it unique and more effective) Aloha Senators and Representatives, Thank you for this opportunity to testify in strong support of SB 632 to establish an Environmental Court in the State of Hawaii. As a society, we in Hawaii value our natural environment above most other things. We enshrined in our constitution that all residents have a right to a "clean and healthful environment." We departments at the state and county levels entrusted with protecting our natural resources for use now and forever into the future. Yet, enforcement against violations of our environmental laws is often inconsistent between courts. This fosters confusion, undermines compliance, and fuels further litigation. Environmental statutes and regulations are sometimes very technical and require considerable study before judges are equipped to rule in these cases. Establishing a section of our state court system to adjudicate violations of our environmental laws will help to improve enforcement of these laws. Improved enforcement will lead to reliability in the interpretation of and better compliance with environmental laws. This will mean a clearer environment and better public health for all residents of Hawaii. This is why I urge you to pass SB 632. Thank you, First and Last Name City, State Send Your Testimony Send your email to all Senators and all Representatives in the State Legislature by addressing your email to: [email protected], [email protected] To learn about the international movement to establish Environmental Courts, visit to European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment at www.eufje.org. Check out their thorough report on the topic, called: "Greening Justice". |
Welina!The Greenleaf is the online newsletter and blog of The Outdoor Circle. Here you will find updates on the projects and accomplishments of our many branches throughout the state, as well as programs with statewide impact. Archives
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