STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1214

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2001

RE: H.B. No. 1026

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1026, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO KIKALA-KEOKEA,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to provide funds for infrastructure development that will benefit residents of Hawaiian ancestry in the Kikala-Keokea homestead area by:

(1) Creating an Infrastructure Development Fund (Fund) to be administered by the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR);

(2) Repealing a loan program for residents of the island of Hawaii dispossessed of their homes and lands by volcanic eruptions into the Fund; and

(3) Appropriating funds to be deposited into the Fund from the unexpended and unencumbered balance still remaining in the Housing Finance Revolving Fund.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii, the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations, and a resident of Kikala-Keokea submitted testimony in support of the measure. The DLNR and the Representative from the 4th district commented on the measure.

Your Committee finds that the destruction of Kalapana by lava flow displaced a tightly knit community with a truly Hawaiian lifestyle. In 1938, the United States Congress enacted Public Law 680, the Kalapana Extension Act, providing that native Hawaiian residents of the area were to be provided with leases for homesites and that fishing was to be permitted only by native Hawaiian residents of the area or adjacent villages, and by visitors under their guidance.

The continuation of the unique way of life of the Hawaiian residents of Kalapana was disrupted by volcanic eruptions and lava flows which began on January 3, 1983, destroying one of the last Hawaiian settlements on the island of Hawai'i.

The Legislature recognized this tragedy by enacting Act 314, Session Laws of Hawai'i 1991, as amended, authorizing the DLNR to negotiate long-term leases with qualified, displaced Kalapana families to maintain their heritage in the Kikala-Keokea homestead area adjacent to the Kalapana-Kapoho Beach road. The site allows the Kalapana families to develop the land in a manner that will enable them to continue their traditional way of life by raising small animals, planting sustenance crops, growing herbal medicines and gathering additional food resources from the nearby ocean and uplands.

Act 314 also stipulated that the DLNR or its designated agency subdivide and create a residential subdivision in the Kikala-Keokea homestead area that will be exempt from all statutes, ordinances, charter provisions, and rules of any governmental agency relating to zoning and construction standards for subdivisions, the development and improvement of land, and the construction of units thereon; provided that it meets the minimum requirements of health and safety.

Prior to the expiration of Act 314, the DLNR entered into lease arrangements with forty-eight of the fifty-eight families who met both of the eligibility criteria set forth under the Act. However, the forty-eight Hawaiian families have not been able to use their leases since the project does not meet the minimum standards due to a lack of water and other infrastructure.

To this end, your Committee finds it necessary to complete the installation of infrastructure in the Kikala-Keokea subdivision in order for the forty-eight families to exercise their lease rights.

Upon the completion of infrastructure installation, your Committee believes that a home financing mechanism will be needed for many of the displaced families who would not otherwise be able to qualify for mortgages through traditional financial institutions. Consequently, your Committee believes that the establishment of such a financing mechanism is necessary for this purpose.

Your Committee has amended the measure by deleting its contents and inserting therefor, provisions that:

(1) Transfer funds that were previously appropriated for a low-interest loan program under Act 242, Session Laws of Hawaii 1991, from the former Housing Finance and Development Corporation's (now known as the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii) Housing Finance Revolving Fund to the DLNR for the development of infrastructure, including water infrastructure at the Kikala-Keokea homestead area;

(2) Establish a new Infrastructure Development Fund to be administered by the DLNR for the development of infrastructure, including water infrastructure, at Kikala-Keokea, to be matched by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs on a dollar-for-dollar basis, so that the leases can be honored and the community reestablished; and

(3) Changing the amount appropriated out of the Infrastructure Development Fund from $2,500,000 to $1,750,000;

(3) Upon fulfillment of the purposes set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2), require that all unexpended or unencumbered moneys remaining in the Infrastructure Development Fund be transferred to the credit of a Kikala-Keokea Housing Revolving Fund, which is created to provide low interest loans for home construction for Kikala-Keokea leaseholders who have been denied loans from traditional financial institutions. The Kikala-Keokea Housing Revolving Fund is to be administered by the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1026, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1026, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

JONATHAN CHUN, Chair