Aloha Committee Chair Molina and Committee Members,
I am submitting this testimony on behalf of the REALTORS Association of Maui and our 2,000 members in my capacity as their Government Affairs Director. The REALTORS Association of Maui (RAM) opposes moving forward with a proposed charter amendment that seeks to establish planning commissions for all community plan areas on Maui, and dissolve the Maui Planning Commission.
The Maui County Council changed the way members of the Charter Commission were selected and seated in a manner that allowed for more council oversight and influence. The current Charter Commission was seated using this new methodology, and is composed largely of individuals trusted and selected by the council. The Charter Commission already vetted the concept of planning commissions for each community plan area and determined that it was a bad idea for various reasons. The Charter Commission came to this conclusion after many meetings and significant input from Maui County officials and the general public. The Charter Commission, and their vetting process, become essentially meaningless if the County Council just adds in rejected proposals after the fact. The commissioners you seated already considered this proposal, and they wisely determined that more planning commissions would not be in the best interest of Maui County. With an already packed ballot this year, we should trust that determination.
Increased regulatory complexity rarely makes a system work more efficiently, and it always comes with a cost. It is my understanding that the County of Maui already faces difficulty filling seats on the current number of planning commissions with qualified individuals who are able to meet attendance requirements. Increasing the number of Planning Commission from 3 (Maui, Molokai, and Lanai) to 7 (the six community plan areas plus the Maui County Planning Commission) will make gathering qualified volunteers a significantly larger and more difficult task. Similarly, it will also increase burdens and costs related to scheduling and staffing this slew of new planning commissions. We’ve already seen these sorts of issues with the addition of 2 new advisory committees to the planning commission, and it will only be worse with several new planning commissions. Overall, it is unclear how this proposal confers any additional benefit to our residents, but it is guaranteed to increase costs and create more confusion in the regulatory process.
In the subject resolution, it is stated that “this proposed Charter amendment would promote home rule in land use and planning,” but that can be accomplished through different and far less complex and costly means. Please, trust your Charter Commission and recognize that they rejected this proposal for good reason. Please vote “no” on Resolution 22-144.
Mahalo,
Jason A. Economou
Government Affairs Director
REALTORS Association of Maui
Aloha Committee Chair Molina and Committee Members,
I am submitting this testimony on behalf of the REALTORS Association of Maui and our 2,000 members in my capacity as their Government Affairs Director. The REALTORS Association of Maui (RAM) opposes moving forward with a proposed charter amendment that seeks to establish planning commissions for all community plan areas on Maui, and dissolve the Maui Planning Commission.
The Maui County Council changed the way members of the Charter Commission were selected and seated in a manner that allowed for more council oversight and influence. The current Charter Commission was seated using this new methodology, and is composed largely of individuals trusted and selected by the council. The Charter Commission already vetted the concept of planning commissions for each community plan area and determined that it was a bad idea for various reasons. The Charter Commission came to this conclusion after many meetings and significant input from Maui County officials and the general public. The Charter Commission, and their vetting process, become essentially meaningless if the County Council just adds in rejected proposals after the fact. The commissioners you seated already considered this proposal, and they wisely determined that more planning commissions would not be in the best interest of Maui County. With an already packed ballot this year, we should trust that determination.
Increased regulatory complexity rarely makes a system work more efficiently, and it always comes with a cost. It is my understanding that the County of Maui already faces difficulty filling seats on the current number of planning commissions with qualified individuals who are able to meet attendance requirements. Increasing the number of Planning Commission from 3 (Maui, Molokai, and Lanai) to 7 (the six community plan areas plus the Maui County Planning Commission) will make gathering qualified volunteers a significantly larger and more difficult task. Similarly, it will also increase burdens and costs related to scheduling and staffing this slew of new planning commissions. We’ve already seen these sorts of issues with the addition of 2 new advisory committees to the planning commission, and it will only be worse with several new planning commissions. Overall, it is unclear how this proposal confers any additional benefit to our residents, but it is guaranteed to increase costs and create more confusion in the regulatory process.
In the subject resolution, it is stated that “this proposed Charter amendment would promote home rule in land use and planning,” but that can be accomplished through different and far less complex and costly means. Please, trust your Charter Commission and recognize that they rejected this proposal for good reason. Please vote “no” on Resolution 22-144.
Mahalo,
Jason A. Economou
Government Affairs Director
REALTORS Association of Maui