Chris Todd’s HB 2616 Passes Committee 7-1 to Redevelop Hilo’s Banyan Drive

House Bill 2616, introduced by Rep. Chris Todd, passed the House Water and Land Committee by a 7-1 vote on Feb. 22, 2026, advancing a state-centered plan to redevelop Hilo’s Banyan Drive on the Waiākea peninsula. Committee chair Rep. Mark Hashem amended the bill’s effective date from July 1, 2026 to July 1, 3000 “to encourage further discussion,” a procedural change supporters said will allow more negotiation between House and Senate proposals.

The bill would establish a community development district that outlines district boundaries, appropriate funds, and creates an advisory council with designated seats, including a voting seat for a lineal descendant of the area. Big Island Democrats Rep. Sue Keohokapu-Lee Loy and Rep. Matthias Kusch endorsed HB 2616, and online testimony during hearings was described as overwhelmingly supportive. Matt Picket, general manager of the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, told committee members, “I’m 100% in support of this bill. I think it will be the first step in the right direction, and then we have a long way to go. But it’s definitely moving forward in the right direction.”

Local officials and stakeholders framed HB 2616 as a way to address decades of decline on Banyan Drive, where aging banyan trees, boarded-up structures and rising-sea threats have left a once-popular tourist strip in disrepair. The Uncle Billy’s Hilo Bay Hotel condos were boarded up earlier this year and remain permanently closed with DLNR law enforcement providing security at the site. Lawmakers and business leaders have warned that inadequate lodging and a deteriorating tourist district could jeopardize events that sustain East Hawaii’s economy, including the Merrie Monarch festival.

County-appointed Banyan Drive Hawaii Redevelopment Agency chairman James McCully testified about the policy drivers behind the decline, pointing to state leasehold law. McCully said several properties “fell into economic obsolescence” because leasehold rules “did not allow for a rational land tenure.” He told lawmakers, “To have an absolute restriction, whether it be 55, 65, 99 or 999 years is not good land use management for public lands.” McCully added that other polities allow terms “of 40 or 35 or 50 years. But they allow for a rollover, which is an extension of renewal, to allow for the ongoing investment in these properties.”

HB 2616 faces parallel proposals in the Senate, including SB 2001 from Sen. Lorraine Inouye, which critics note does not include a lineal descendant as a voting member of its advisory panel. Sen. Inouye has also reintroduced a demolition bill with an estimated $15 million price tag and filed legislation to acquire the Naniloa Golf Course; HNN reporting flagged concerns about more than 60 acres at Naniloa and how existing leases would be handled if the state takes control. Yakima Herald coverage noted at least five separate bills this session aimed at Banyan Drive problems and two bills seeking a new agency to oversee peninsula development.

HCDA executive director Craig Nakamoto told committee members the master planning effort for Banyan Drive is ongoing and funded by appropriations secured by the late Rep. Mark Nakashima, whose district is now represented by Matthias Kusch. With HB 2616 advanced out of committee but its effective date pushed to July 1, 3000, lawmakers must reconcile House and Senate language, resolve leasehold and funding questions such as the $15 million demolition proposal, and decide the future of properties like Uncle Billy’s and the Naniloa Golf Course before state-led redevelopment can proceed.