Report Title:

Waimano Ridge; Development Prohibition; Established

Description:

Prohibits development of state-owned land on Waimano ridge until an updated master plan is developed. Requires community approval of master plan.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1141

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2005

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to Waimano ridge.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that certain uses of state-owned lands in the Waimano ridge area of Oahu have created unnecessary friction between the state administration and the surrounding community residents. Over the past five years, the state administration has systematically increased the use of state-owned lands in the Waimano ridge area in ways that have disenfranchised the surrounding community residents and potentially placed them in harm's way.

In 2000, the state administration announced that it would be operating a juvenile sex offender treatment facility at the site of the former Waimano home for the developmentally disabled. The announcement was given without prior notice to the community. In fact, there are reports that the department of health selected the site as early as 1998, without informing the community of its intentions.

After consistent public pressure, the state administration consented to holding public hearings in the Waimano ridge community. After receiving overwhelming community opposition to the project, then-governor Cayetano promised the Waimano ridge community that the siting of the treatment facility would only be temporary.

In 2001, in anticipation of governor Cayetano proceeding with the relocation of the sex offender treatment facility, the legislature appropriated funds to move the treatment facility to another location. However, the move never occurred, leaving area residents to believe that they had been misled.

In 2003, rather than follow through with the administration's promise to relocate the facility, the department of health announced that it planned on expanding the facility and its uses to include a drug treatment center. The administration also stated that it would not guarantee that the juvenile sex offender treatment center would ever be relocated.

More recently, testing of viruses and other potentially dangerous specimens have occurred at the department of health's laboratory located on state-owned Waimano ridge lands. While the original master plan for the area did envision the laboratory being built there, area residents were led to believe that the laboratory was to be used primarily to test water quality and food samples. Due to the heightened state of terrorism awareness and recent outbreaks of Norovirus, West Nile virus, and bird flu, testing for these potentially fatal diseases have been occurring without the knowledge of area residents. In fact, the Waimano community has not been briefed by the department of health on the safety protocols it is utilizing to safeguard the health and safety of the surrounding community, nor has the department been forthcoming in exactly what it is testing in its laboratory.

The legislature also finds that all these potentially dangerous activities are being conducted within a close proximity to public schools. These activities place children at risk, and the legislature believes that the concerns of these students and their parents have gone unheeded by the department of health and the state administration for too long.

The legislature further finds that in the early 1990s, there was a collaborative government and community effort to establish a master plan for the Waimano ridge area. This master plan was formulated by the department of health with community input and was designed to create a "totally integrated community" where activities on the state-owned Waimano ridge lands would be community friendly. Unfortunately, the legislature finds that the department of health and the state administration have strayed from the original intent of the master plan and have approved uses of the Waimano ridge lands without the consent of and without regard to the Waimano community. As such, the legislature finds it necessary to arrest the development of the state-owned Waimano ridge lands until such time as the department of health and the area residents can come to an accord on its use.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to prohibit the expanded use and further development of state-owned land in the Waimano ridge area of Oahu until an updated master plan that meets with community approval is developed, recommended by the neighborhood board or boards in the Waimano ridge area for approval by the legislature, and approved by the legislature.

SECTION 2. (a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, no state or county agency, commission, or department shall grant, approve, or issue any lease or permit that authorizes the new or expanded use or further development of existing leased lands or facilities on state-owned land in the Waimano ridge area of Oahu until a master plan is developed and approved in accordance with section 3 of this Act.

(b) The prohibition established under this section shall apply to state and county agencies and private lessees of state-owned lands in the Waimano ridge area as identified in Executive Order No. 1020, dated May 10, 1943, as amended by Executive Order No. 1319, dated March 30, 1949, as amended by Executive Order No. 1334, dated July 14, 1949, as amended by Executive Order No. 2273, dated May 2, 1966, as amended by Executive Order No. 2287, dated September 7, 1966.

(c) For purposes of this section, "development" includes:

(1) Any grubbing, earth-moving, building, or mining operation;

(2) Any new use, material change in use, intensity of use, or appearance of any structure or land; or

(3) The division of land into two or more parcels;

provided that the term shall not include basic repair and maintenance activities taken to avoid the degradation or disrepair of existing lands and facilities.

SECTION 3. (a) The department of health, in consultation with the department of land and natural resources, Waimano ridge homeowners, interested members of the Pearl City community, and other stakeholders, shall prepare an updated master plan for the future use of the state-owned Waimano ridge lands.

(b) The department of health shall conduct public hearings in accordance with chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, in the Waimano ridge community to garner public input on formulating the updated master plan.

(c) Upon the completion of a draft updated master plan, the department of health shall submit the draft master plan to the neighborhood board or boards representing the Waimano ridge area for their review and recommendation. If any of the neighborhood boards, by majority vote, recommends any amendments to the draft updated master plan, the department of health shall conduct another public hearing to obtain public input on the amendment. Upon the completion of any revisions to the draft updated master plan, the department of health shall resubmit the plan to the neighborhood board or boards representing the Waimano ridge area for their review and recommendation.

If no agreement can be reached between the neighborhood board or boards and the department of health regarding any proposed future use of the state-owned Waimano ridge lands contained in the draft updated master plan, the department shall append documentation and supporting information of the disagreement to the plan and the reasons for the disagreement. The department of health shall allow the neighborhood board or boards representing the Waimano ridge area to append any documentation supporting their reasons for disagreement to the draft updated master plan.

(d) Any recommendation of the neighborhood board or boards representing the Waimano ridge area to have the legislature approve the draft updated master plan shall be by a majority vote to which the neighborhood board or boards are entitled. The department of health shall not submit a draft updated master plan to the legislature for its approval without first obtaining a recommendation for approval from the neighborhood board or boards representing the Waimano ridge area.

(e) Upon finalizing the draft updated master plan, the department of health shall submit the plan, a proposed concurrent resolution requesting the approval of the draft updated master plan, and any proposed legislation necessary to effectuate the updated master plan and repeal the prohibition established under this Act to the legislature at least twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session immediately following the completion of the draft updated master plan.

(f) If the legislature adopts the concurrent resolution requesting the approval of the draft updated master plan and any proposed legislation necessary to effectuate the updated master plan and repeal the prohibition established under this Act, the prohibition shall be repealed and development of the state-owned Waimano ridge lands may proceed in accordance with the updated master plan and any other laws to which the development of the lands may be subject.

(g) If the legislature does not approve the legislation necessary to approve the draft updated master plan, effectuate the updated master plan, or repeal the development prohibition established under section 2 of this Act, then the development prohibition shall remain in full force and effect until such time that the legislature repeals the prohibition.

SECTION 4. The department of health shall submit an interim report at least twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session, commencing with the 2006 regular session, during each year that the draft updated master plan and the legislation required under section 3 of this Act have not been submitted to the legislature for its review and approval. Each interim report shall include but not be limited to the department's actions to update and formulate a master plan for the Waimano ridge lands described in section 2(b) of this Act.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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