STAND. COM. REP. NO. 971

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1053

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 1053, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EMINENT DOMAIN,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to prohibit a county to condemn and transfer private property to a private entity if that private entity expressed interest in purchasing the property for development, commercial purposes, or private use.  Exceptions are provided for public utilities, irrigations systems, affordable housing, community developments, and development tracts.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Association of Realtors and a concerned citizen.  The Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu and the Office of the Corporation Counsel of the County of Hawai`i opposed this measure.  The National Federation of Independent Businesses in Hawaii testified in support of the intent of the measure.  The Department of the Corporation Counsel of the City and County of Honolulu offered comments and suggested revisions.

 

     Your Committee finds that this measure addresses a concern about overbroad government authority to take property from one private owner and transfer it to another private entity under the guise of urban renewal or economic development.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1053, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

 

 

 

____________________________

CLAYTON HEE, Chair