State Senate Democrats would give developers faster state approval for their projects over the next 10 years if developers make housing projects more sustainable by using renewable energy, diverting solid waste from landfills, recycling wastewater and making more units affordable.

The bill, part of the Senate Democrats' majority legislative package announced Monday, would give the state a year to consider permit applications or else the housing projects can go forward without state permits.

State Sen. Russell Kokubun, D-2nd (S. Hilo, Puna, Ka'u), chairman of the Water, Land, Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs Committee, said the idea is to give developers incentives to build sustainable projects and move away from exclusive gated communities.

"What we're trying to do is describe what we see as the ideal community, and in the ideal community there are no gates," Kokubun said.

The bill would condition fast-track approval on whether developers produce 50 percent of their own energy for projects, divert 75 percent of solid waste from landfills, recycle 100 percent of wastewater, reserve 40 percent of units as affordable, and keep 50 percent of the land in open space.

State House Democrats, when they released their majority package earlier this month, proposed a three-year window in which developers building affordable rentals would be exempt from state and county land-use, planning, zoning or environmental laws.

Both ideas are intended to take bold action to help residents with high housing costs while also promoting sustainability, but have already been questioned by environmentalists and others who worry about relaxing oversight on new development.

Senate Democrats have been cautious about describing their legislative package in grand terms for fear of opening themselves up to criticism that many of the items are administrative or small in scope. Senate Majority Leader Gary Hooser, D-7th (Kaua'i, Ni'ihau), said the package shows a commitment to sustainability and issues such as healthcare and housing that are important to working families.

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