STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1268

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

 

RE:   S.B. No. 1152

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Agriculture and Water, Land, & Ocean Resources, to which was referred S.B. No. 1152 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL LANDS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to preserve agricultural lands for agricultural use by imposing a 100 year moratorium on certain building and development projects on agricultural lands located in the 22nd and 23rd Senatorial Districts on Oahu.

 

     HPC Foods, Ltd., and numerous concerned individuals supported this bill.  The Office of Planning, Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu, Kamehameha Schools, Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, and Bank of Hawaii opposed this bill.  The Department of Agriculture and Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation submitted comments.

 

     Your Committees note that significant issues were raised in testimony submitted for this measure.  Concerns were raised regarding the long duration of the moratorium which may be perceived as a permanent restriction on private land, the lack of legal or factual justification for the moratorium, the lack of a variance process, and potential for litigation.  Concerns were also raised regarding whether the provisions of this bill are sufficient to carry out the intent of preserving agricultural lands for agricultural use.  This bill appears to remain silent on whether a landowner faced with the moratorium may simply petition to reclassify lands out of the agricultural district, and the measure also does not address some of the critical needs of many agricultural operations, including the need to access reliable and stable sources of water.  This measure may also have the unintended consequence of hampering efforts by landowners and farmers to subdivide their property to build employee housing and farm dwellings.

 

     In light of these concerns, your Committees have amended this measure by changing its effective date to July 1, 2109.  Other technical, nonsubstantive amendments have been made for style, clarity, and consistency.

    

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Agriculture and Water, Land, & Ocean Resources that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1152, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1152, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Agriculture and Water, Land, & Ocean Resources,

 

 

____________________________

KEN ITO, Chair

 

____________________________

CLIFT TSUJI, Chair