Dean Hazama already had been involved in years of sorting out various zoning and permit-related issues as a member of a neighborhood board when he decided to apply for a seat on the city’s Planning Commission.

“I had an interest in land-use issues. It was almost a natural fit for me,” said Hazama, who is now in his fifth year on the commission, currently serving as chairman of the nine-member panel that advises the mayor, City Council and the city’s director of Department of Planning and Permitting on land use and development issues.

Hazama, the business management officer for the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, also chairs the Mililani Mauka/Launani Valley Neighborhood Board and has served on that panel for 15 years. It’s rewarding work, he said, in that “We can help our area schools get resources and infrastructure that they need. We can get safety things done, getting streetlights and crosswalks in. The day-to-day things people want for their community.”

The Planning Commission works on behalf of the larger islandwide community, vetting issues ranging from housing projects and transit-oriented development (TOD) options to proposed updates for the city’s General Plan — a blueprint of sorts guiding long-term regional planning since 1977.

The city is now seeking input on its latest General Plan draft, which includes updates on sea-level rise and climate change impacts, new city policies for an aging population, adjustments to Oahu’s population geography and a plan for multimodal communities that aim to reduce traffic congestion.

Residents may submit comments through May 7. DPP will then review the input, revise the draft and submit it to the Planning Commission in the fall. After its perusal, the commission will make a recommendation to City Council, which will further review and eventually adopt an updated plan. For more information and to view the draft plan, visit honoluludpp.org/Planning/GeneralPlan.

Question: All of the commissioners are volunteers appointed by the City Council and serving up to two five-year terms. What’s the time commitment for homework to prep for your meetings and public hearings?

Answer: Some of the issues are very complex. Sustainable communities plans, for example, are pieced together like a puzzle under the overarching General Plan.

We have three binders from each (Central Oahu, East Honolulu, Koolau Loa, Koolau Poko, North Shore, Waianae sustainable communities plans; and Ewa and Primary Urban Center development plans). When those individual plans are updated, we get one binder containing all of the changes from the previous plan. The second binder is the technical report, and the third is the new draft plan. It will take you at least a week to review everything in one set of binders.

Q: Among the recent land-use changes affecting Oahu is the Ho‘opili master-planned community — the largest housing project in the islands in at least two decades. It first went before the commission seeking re-zoning three years ago. How did you approach that proposal?

A: When I look at proposals … No. 1 — Is it a good project? You can build a good project in a bad place and it can still be fine. But if you build a bad project in a good place, it’s not going to work. The second thing is — What kind of benefits are they (developers) providing for the people living there and those in the surrounding community? For me and the commission, we’re always trying to find a balance.

Q: With the first phase of the 11,750-home development now taking shape on the Ewa Plain, what are your thoughts on islandwide single-family home supply and demand?

A: We’re in a pickle right now. We have a serious shortage of inventory for single-family homes. … The shortage of inventory results in our home prices being inflated, and now there’s an excessive demand for basically no supply.

Projects like Ho‘opili and some of the smaller ones … they’re going to at least put some units on the market for people, which can hopefully stabilize our housing prices a little bit. Unfortunately, it’s going to take several years before many of these units become available.

Q: Last month, Mayor Kirk Caldwell said Oahu needs some 24,000 affordable housing units to meet pent-up demand, but the marketplace is adding only up to 3,000 units to the supply annually, with many priced in the luxury bracket. Thoughts?

A: It’s going to take a partnership including the state and the city and private developers to solve the affordable housing problem.

Q: The commission has recently weighed in on affordable housing requirements under “interim” TOD for the ongoing rail project. Developers may build the required housing on-site, nearby or opt to pay an in-lieu fee. You have expressed concerns about the fee option?

A: In my opinion, it should be in rare cases. That waiver should be granted only in extreme situations. If it’s just a regular market type of unit project or for workforce, affordable standards (requiring construction) should be enforced.

Q: You supported the city’s move last fall to offer an in-lieu option to developers of the Manaolana Place condo-hotel, which will be situated near the Hawai‘i Convention Center and the planned Ala Moana area rail station?

A: In that case the developer is building a high-end luxury project. If we had the developer provide affordable units in that project the one thing we could not control for the person buying a unit is maintenance fees. The maintenance companies would be allowed to charge the same fee for luxury and affordable units. So the question would be: Could the person who qualifies for an affordable unit be able to afford such a fee?

Q: Does TOD rank as an increasingly important issue for the commission?

A: Yes. If we’re committed to rail, which I believe we are, TOD is the engine. You can build a rail line, but you have to build something next to it. … If you look at states and countries that have rail systems, you’ll see examples where TOD actually works really well. … I look at countries like Japan. Their TODs are incredible. Hotels, restaurants, homes. It’s kind of like a mini-city within a city.

Conceptually, I think rail is a good plan that can work really well. If you make things convenient and easy for rail riders, people will flock to it. It’s execution that could get you. We have to make sure we execute correctly.

Q: What’s going to make execution successful?

A: There’s talk about providing incentives to attract both developers and commercial entities to come and build near the rail stations. It’s like: “Business is open. We’re wheeling and dealing now.” But we have to be careful not to give away the store while we’re doing that. We have to make sure we follow the rules with discipline. We can’t waiver everything because then we end up with this big conglomeration of things around rail that becomes out of control and becomes sprawl.

Q: The scope of the commission’s work includes: holding public hearings and making recommendations on revisions and amendments to the General Plan and development plans; commenting on rules and regulations for zoning and land subdivision; and making decisions pertaining to state special use permits. What do you enjoy most and least?

A: Least? People are passionate about issues, and I understand that. But when testimony from people who are not happy or upset gets near to the (incivility) line, it can get uncomfortable.

People criticize our planning process, our zoning process, our permitting process. But one of the things it does afford, I think, is ample opportunity for the public to provide comments and concerns. That’s invaluable. And I know for a fact that the commission does take that input into consideration. Our process may be a little longer and more drawn out than some people would like, but I think it’s important to give the public an opportunity to provide their thoughts.

I most enjoy working collaboratively with commissioners from diverse backgrounds, bringing different things to the table. … The decisions we make today can affect every one of us. … A lot of these issues … they have a broad-ranging impact on our future. … The commissioners take their responsibility very seriously. What we decide today can affect people’s lives here for the next 10, 15, 20 years.