Report Title:

Kikala-Keokea Subdivision

 

Description:

Appropriates funds to place water infrastructure in the Kikala-Keokea subdivision. (SD1)

 

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

1441

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR THE KIKALA-KEOKEA SUBDIVISION.

 

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

SECTION 1. 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 department of land and natural resources 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 department of land and natural resources 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 department of land and natural resources 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 because it lacks water.

The purpose of this Act is to make an appropriation for water infrastructure so the leases can be honored and the community reestablished.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general funds of the State of Hawaii the sum of $2,400,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2001-2002, to complete infrastructure for waterlines into the Kikala-Keokea subdivision.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of land and natural resources for the purposes of this Act; provided that no funds shall be released unless matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis by the office of Hawaiian affairs.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2001.