STAND. COM. REP. NO. 648

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 629

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 629, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE LAND USE COMMISSION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide the Land Use Commission (Commission) with the power to amend, revise, or modify a decision and order granting a land use district boundary amendment when the Commission finds that a petitioner or its successors or assigns has not adhered to the conditions previously imposed by the Commission.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Land Use Commission, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the Office of Planning.

 

     Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu and the Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii.

 

     Your Committee finds that the enforcement powers of the Commission are currently not sufficient or flexible enough to address the varied compliance issues it must confront.  The only enforcement mechanism currently available to the Commission for noncompliance with the conditions or requirements of a district boundary amendment is the issuance of an order to show cause, which may result in a reversion to the former land use classification.  However, even that mechanism is available only prior to substantial commencement of use of the land, and reversion is not always an appropriate solution.

 

Your Committee further finds that this measure would provide the Commission with additional authority and enforcement tools, providing the flexibility to amend, modify, or vacate conditions, or impose fines, with respect to conditions that are within the public trust, concern state expenditures, or have cultural or environmental significance.

 

     Your Committee requests that as this measure continues to move through the legislative process, proponents of this measure consider recommendations from the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu and other concerned parties to clarify or modify certain provisions of the measure.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 629, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

 

 

 

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair