North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan Update Briefing – September 26, 2025
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North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan Update Briefing
Note: The transcript records the meeting as convening on September 25, 2025, while the provided timestamp indicates September 26, 2025. This summary uses the supplied date for the title.
The Committee on Energy, Environment and Sustainability received an informational briefing from the Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) on the update to the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan (SCP). Franz Krenz, Branch Chief for Community Planning, presented the process, community engagement results, and major themes of the public review draft. No votes were taken; the session served as a discussion forum for Councilmembers to ask questions and offer suggestions before the close of the public comment period.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Angela Young testified on behalf of Carrie, expressing support for local agriculture and noting the need for infrastructure support for farmers in Haleiwa. She highlighted the importance of the state's efforts to promote local food systems and sustainable farming.
- No other oral testimony was offered; a registered testifier (Alice Madison) was logged off before speaking.
Discussion Items
- Presentation by DPP: Franz Krenz outlined the update process, which began with a Citizens Planning Advisory Committee (10 policy workshops), 1,200 survey responses (from 5,200 mailers), and 24 stakeholder interviews. The public review draft is open for a 60-day comment period ending November 14, 2025. Key big ideas include:
- Proactive climate change adaptation (managed retreat, hardening).
- Residents-first approach to tourism (managing visitor volume, regenerative tourism).
- Resilient infrastructure (solar siting, green infrastructure, coastal path, shuttle system, realigning Kamehameha Highway).
- Maintaining vibrant country towns (Haleiwa and Wailua as commercial districts, updating town master plans).
- Economic diversification through diversified agriculture and support for remote work.
- Councilmember Weyer asked about the plan's integration with zoning and the Land Use Ordinance, the timeline for Haleiwa/Wailua master plan updates, and details on agrovoltaics. He noted the adjustment to the community growth boundary in Wailua (Mill Camp project) and clarified that inside the growth boundary development is permissible but must fit community character.
- Councilmember Tupola raised concerns about conflicts in the 2011 SCP regarding the Haleiwa Backyards property, where the plan allowed commercial use but other sections urged rural character. She urged clearer language in the update to avoid similar disputes. She also suggested including wind turbines as a renewable energy source, addressing city-managed visitor impacts (like Hanama Bay model), and ensuring realistic state coordination for highway realignment and Dillingham Airfield. She emphasized holding separate meetings with farmers to identify infrastructure needs (stream maintenance, access roads).
- Councilmember Dosantos Tam questioned staffing levels in DPP’s planning division (still lacking senior planners) and the feasibility of using the state’s rural land use district (currently no rural district on Oahu). He asked about the success rate of implementing action items from the 2011 SCP, noting that many items remain unachieved. He stressed the need for measurable outcomes and better inter-departmental coordination to avoid plans “sitting on a shelf.”
- Councilmember Toba echoed concerns about long implementation timelines, noting that many 2011 plan items have not materialized. He asked how success can be measured when outcomes take years, especially for housing and affordability.
- Chair Weyer summarized the need for continued state coordination and thanked presenters.
Key Outcomes
- No formal decisions or votes were taken; the meeting was purely informational.
- The 60-day public comment period runs until November 14, 2025. A third community meeting is scheduled for September 30, 2025, 6–8 PM at Wailua Elementary School cafeteria.
- Following the comment period, DPP will revise the draft and present it to the North Shore Neighborhood Board in January 2026, then forward to the Planning Commission in spring 2026, and finally to the City Council in early summer 2026.
- Councilmembers requested that DPP clarify the plan’s language on development density and growth boundaries, incorporate wind energy, address visitor management at city parks, and create specific farmer engagement sessions.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. Will the Committee on Energy Environment and Sustainability please come to order? It is 9.03 a.m. on September 25th. I'd like to welcome Councilmembers Tupola and Toba to the chamber. I know Vice Chair Dosantos TAM is on his way. Pursuant to section 92-3.7 Hawaii revice statutes. This meeting will be conducted as a remote meeting by interactive conference technology with the following procedures in effect for the meeting. Members of the public will be allowed to provide oral testimony on all items on the agenda in two ways remotely and in person in the council chamber. Remote and in-person oral testimony will be allowed when the agenda item is taken up. As both English and Hawaiian are official languages of the state of Hawaii, pursuant to Article 15, Section 4 of the Hawaii State Constitution and Section 1 13 of the Hawaii by statutes. Members of the public may testify in either language. For oral testimonies offered in Olilo Hawaii, additional time as may be necessary, will be allowed for the test buyer to provide an English translation of their testimony if they so wish. Before testifying, each person shall state their name. Each speaker may not have anyone else read their statement and is limited to a one-minute presentation on each item. All persons who have registered to testify remotely by video conference or phone will be called upon first. When your name is called, please monitor your screen and activate your audio feed when prompted. I will then give persons who have not registered an opportunity to offer test testimony. Please utilize the raise hand feature in Zoom to be called upon. For those who are joining us by telephone only, please press star nine to indicate your desire to speak. I will then identify the last three digits of your phone number. When your phone number is called, please press star six to unmute yourself when prompted. Some friendly reminders and tips. Please video conference and required location if possible. If you're also watching the proceedings on Olelo, please mute your television at the time you're called to testify. When the timer on the screen reaches zero, please conclude your remarks promptly. Once the remote testifiers have testified, I will proceed to in-person testimony in the council chamber. Persons who have not registered will be given an opportunity to speak following the oral testimonies of the registered speakers. HRS section 92-3.7 requires all votes that remote meetings to be conducted by roll call unless unanimous. Therefore, I'll with otherwise call for objections. And if there are any, I will call for a roll call vote. However, I do note that today's meeting is an informational briefing for those council members participating from outside the council chamber who we don't have at this time. But if they log on in accordance with section 92-3.7, the meeting will automatically recess if we lose audio-visual contact with you and cannot reconvene until we re-establish contact. Therefore, please announce beforehand if you'll be voluntarily signing out of the meeting. Written testimonies, including the testifier's address, email address, and phone number, will be available to the public as described on the posted agenda. As a courtesy, please turn off all cell phones and we'll go to the first item for action informational briefing. Presentation by the Department of Planning and Permitting on the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan. Joining us in the council is Franz Krenz from the Department of Planning and Permitting, who will be providing a brief presentation for your information. The presentation is available online, is Departmental Communication 710 2025, and I believe that was distributed to the committee. We'll go ahead and turn it over to our guests today if you want to introduce yourself and proceed. Mohalo. Thank you. Aloha and good morning, Chair Wire and members of the Energy, Environment and Sustainability Committee. My name is Franz Cranes. I'm branch chief for the community planning branch within the planning division of the Department of Planning and Permitting. We're here this morning to provide you a briefing of where we are in the planning process for updating the North Shore Sustainable Communities Plan. The we also want to share with you some of the highlights of the initial draft that we have. As is customary, we've been meeting with uh various council members, and we met with Chair Weyer first since this is his district, and he requested that we come and make a presentation before you this morning. The North Shore Sustainable Community Plan. This is the second five-year review or update of the plan.
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