The Committee on Zoning and Planning of the Honolulu City Council met on Thursday, November 20, 2025, at 9:03 AM. Chair Kia Aina presided, with Vice Chair Waters, Councilmember Cordero, and Councilmember Topola (remote) present. Councilmember Okimoto was excused. The committee considered four action items – two resolutions and one bill – and heard two informational briefings. Key outcomes included approval of a Planning Commission appointment, a 90-day extension for a shoreline permit application, a 36-month extension for an affordable housing project, passage of a community benefits package for a Waikiki hotel project, and advancement of a bill allowing dog parks to count toward park dedication requirements.
Aloha and good morning, everyone. It is Thursday, November 20th, 2025, and the time is now nine oh three AM. With the committee on zoning and planning, please come to order. I would like to welcome uh committee members, Councilmember Cordero, as well as uh Vice Chair Waters. Councilmember Topola is joining us remotely by video conference, and councilmember Okimoto is excused. Councilmember Topola, in accordance with section ninety-two dash three point seven Hawaii revised statutes. Please identify each person who is with you at your location. Hi, good morning. Aloha chair. There are no people with me. Thank you. HRS section ninety-two dash three point seven requires all votes at remote meetings to be conducted by a roll call unless unanimous. For those council members participating from outside of the council chamber, in accordance with HRS section ninety-two dash three point seven, the meeting will automatically recess if we lose audiovisual contact with you and cannot reconvene until we re-establish contact. Pursuant to section ninety-two dash three point seven Hawaii revised statutes. Persons who did not register will be given an opportunity to offer testimony after the registered testifiers. Additional time as may be necessary will be allowed for the testifier to provide an English translation of their testimony. 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 or silence all cell phones for the duration of this meeting. Thank you. Moving to agenda item number one for action resolution 25-294. This resolution confirms the mayor's appointment of Mark Anthony Clemente to serve in the planning commission of the city and county of Honolulu to fill a vacant position previously held by Nathaniel Kinney for term to expire on June 30th, 2030. Mr. Clemente is currently the director of government relations at the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters, and will provide representation in the Commission in the land development and construction category. I would like to call up the appointee to say a few words. Could you please introduce yourself and share the role you hope to fulfill in the commission? Hello, Chair, Vice Chair, Council Members Mahalo for the opportunity to reintroduce myself. My name is Mark Anthony Clemente, and I'm honored to be nominated to serve on the Honolulu Planning Commission. I just want to take a moment to thank the mayor and his administration for this opportunity to serve. Through my work in the construction industry, I've had a front row seat to see how our land use decisions impact housing production, infrastructure capacity, and the overall quality of life for all of our residents here on Oahu. If confirmed, I will bring a balanced, fair approach to this role. I believe strongly in listening to community input, asking the right questions, and evaluating each proposal based on the general plan, the development plans, and the parameters set before the commission. As a son of Hawaii and a graduate of D Commale Schools, my guiding principles are whether my thoughts, speech, and actions advance our La Hui and also the broader community. Mahalo for your consideration, and I look forward to working with you. Thank you so much. Members, do you have any questions for the nominee? Or any comments? Councilmember Cordero. Thank you. Hi, Mr. Clemente. Thank you very much for meeting with the members and um being willing to serve. I know that in our meeting, I mentioned a bit about how we saw a few items come before the zoning and planning committees with items that went from the council to the planning commission or just directly from the planning commission to the council that should have had more careful review. And I was wondering how you would be able to handle the workload as well as the thoroughness that these documents should receive. Councilmember Cordero, thank you for that question. Um, with respect to the workload, you know, balancing priorities is uh something I've been used to doing uh throughout my career. Uh, with respect to the thoroughness and completeness of the work that the planning commission does, from my perspective, I think we should work together, and I would be contacting council members to seek their input as well to see how we can improve what lies before the commission before sending it off to the council as uh for review. Mr. Uh Clemente, I greatly appreciate not only your background, of course, in the law as well as your policy background in both houses at the legislature. More importantly, I uh I appreciate where you're from, which is in Wailua, as well as your community service on the North Shore Neighborhood Board, Roadwood Club of Waihewa, Wai Lua, Waihewai Lions Club, King Kameo Hawaiian Civic Club. So I really think that you um will be a well-suited candidate because you um you have um a lot of experience that is broad based.