Committee narrows planning‑reporting bill, removes short‑term rental registration data

The committee amended and advanced Bill 138 on first reading after negotiations with the Planning Department about what data the department can reliably produce. The bill originally sought an extensive semiannual report listing properties for which zoning‑change ordinances might expire, time extensions, variances, subdivisions, ohana permits and more. Planning staff warned their new EPIC permitting system could not readily generate some requested fields and that including short‑term vacation rental (STVR) registrations would add several thousand application rows.

Councilmember Inaba, who led the amendment with Chair Cindy Evans, said the revised version narrows required items to those planning can produce within 30 days after each six‑month reporting period and that the report will include tax map keys, zoning districts at time of application, types of approvals/denials and conditions imposed by the director where applicable. "We wanted to boil it down to something that's feasible for the department to do," Inaba said.

Jeff Darrow of the Planning Department told the committee that including STVR registrations would significantly increase reporting volume—roughly by thousands of entries—and that staff still need training to produce consistent Epic reports. The committee accepted a motion to amend (communication 760.7) to exclude STVR registration details and to set an effective date later in the year to give the department time to prepare the reporting format. The bill as amended was forwarded to the full council with a favorable recommendation.