Council advances Hawaii County General Plan 2045 amid outcry
A 6-3 council vote pushed Hawaii County’s 2045 plan forward, setting up major changes in housing, transit, and land use across the island.
A 310-page blueprint that could steer where homes, roads, buses, renewable energy projects, and climate protections go across Hawaii County over the next two decades moved a step closer to adoption after the County Council voted 6-3 to advance Bill 66 amid fierce outcry.
The plan, Hawaii County General Plan 2045, would replace the county’s 2005 general plan, which planning officials say has run past its functional lifespan. The draft is meant to guide physical, economic, environmental, and sociocultural development countywide, shaping everything from zoning and housing patterns to infrastructure spending, traffic relief, and long-term climate resilience.
At its core, the plan pushes growth toward urban areas to protect rural and agricultural land. It also sets a central climate target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2045 and calls for stronger climate adaptation measures, renewable energy adoption, and an eventual emissions-free fleet for the Mass Transit Agency by 2035. If adopted, those priorities would ripple through county budgets, agency planning, and future development decisions on Hawaii Island.
The vote came after more than a year of public hearings, technical review, and agency collaboration. County planning materials say the final recommended draft was transmitted to the council after years of community input. The Windward Planning Commission held hearings on November 1, 2024, November 4, 2024, December 5, 2024, February 6, 2025, March 10, 2025, and March 11, 2025, before voting to forward a favorable recommendation. Public reporting says the Windward and Leeward planning commissions proposed 49 amendments in all.
The controversy has been intense. Council members have said the debate has been clouded by personal attacks, misinformation, and even conspiracy theories, while opponents argue that later revisions stripped out measurable targets and weakened the plan’s force. An early May committee meeting drew more than two dozen attendees and ended in a 5-4 vote to move the bill forward, with no votes from James Hustace, Holeka Inaba, Dennis “Fresh” Onishi, and Ashley Kierkiewicz.
Supporters say the long record of public participation justifies moving ahead. Opinion coverage has put the total at more than 7,000 public comments over 11 years, underscoring how much of the island has already weighed in. The final vote now places the county one step closer to replacing a 2005 plan with a countywide policy framework that will help determine where Hawaii County grows, what it protects, and how it prepares for the next 25 years.
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