THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

138

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

RESOLUTION TO FORMALIZE THE ONGOING EFFORTS OF THE AGRICULTURE AND LAND USE WORKING GROUP IN ADDRESSING THE MANDATE OF ARTICLE XI, SECTION 3 OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION AND RELATED AGRICULTURAL AND LAND ISSUES.

 

 

WHEREAS, in August through October 2001, the House Committees on Agriculture and Water and Land Use conducted a series of hearings in an effort to gain information and consensus from which legislation could be drafted for enactment to fulfill the constitutional mandate adopted twenty-five years ago by the 1978 Constitutional Convention to protect and conserve important agricultural lands; and

WHEREAS, as a direct result of these hearings, an agriculture and land use working group or coalition was independently and successfully organized, primarily to advance agricultural activity in the State and, in so doing, to address two specific aspects of the constitutional mandate: to promote diversified agriculture and to increase agricultural self sufficiency; and

WHEREAS, significant and extensive legislation was introduced and passed by the House of Representatives during the 2002 legislative session but failed to gain conference committee approval; and

WHEREAS, similar House bills introduced during the 2003 legislative session were heard by the House committees on Agriculture and Water, Land Use and Hawaiian Affairs, but the difficulty in resolving these complex issues in the relatively short and formal legislative hearing process dictated that this matter be deferred and subjected to further in-depth discussion and interaction on the part of the agricultural coalition; and

WHEREAS, this agricultural coalition representing all involved segments of the community comprises of Agribusiness Development Corporation, Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., Business Retention and Expansion, Brigham Young University Farms, Castle & Cooke, Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, Department of Agriculture, City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting, Maui Planning Department, Kauai Planning Department, Hawaii Planning Department, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Grove Farms, Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, Hawaii's Thousand Friends, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar, Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation-Kauai, Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference, HPC Foods, Ltd., Jefts Farms, Kahili Farm Kauai, Kamehameha Schools, Kauai County Council, Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, Lanihau Partners, Life of the Land, Mark A. Robinson Trust, Matsuda-Fukuyama Farms, Maui County Farm Bureau, Maui Land & Pineapple Co., Inc., Mountain View Dairy, Inc., Nalo Farms, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, Okudara & Associates, Inc., Parker Ranch, Princeville Corp., Royal Coast Tropical Fruit Company, state Land Use Commission, state Office of Planning, The Estate of James Campbell, The Nature Conservancy, The Outdoor Circle, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Public Policy Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Volcano Island Fruit Co., W.T. Haraguchi Farm, Inc., and Waialua Coffee Farm; and

WHEREAS, the agriculture coalition, having met productively in 2001, 2002 and on February 8 and 28, 2003 on this matter, is the perfect entity to continue to address this entire subject during the remainder of this regular legislative session and throughout the forthcoming legislative interim; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2003, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislature formally recognizes the agriculture coalition and expresses its deep appreciation to all of its members and particularly to its facilitator, Dr. Andrew Hashimoto, Dean, University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, for the time, effort and resources expended, and which it was assured will continue to be willingly given toward the formulation of appropriate land use policies; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the agriculture coalition is requested to continue with its efforts to assist the State and the Legislature in fulfilling the constitutional mandate of:

(1) Conserving and protecting agricultural lands;

(2) Promoting diversified agriculture;

(3) Increasing agricultural self-sufficiency;

(4) Assuring the availability of agriculturally suitable lands; and

(5) Establishing standards and criteria by which important agricultural lands are to be identified and the conditions under which these lands may be subsequently reclassified and rezoned;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the agriculture coalition is further requested to continue to address all pertinent issues it deems appropriate, including:

(1) Attracting Hawaii's youth to farming by helping to provide educational assistance, land, start-up capital and business acumen;

(2) The reclassification of certain marginal agricultural lands to rural so as to serve identified housing needs and in so doing avoid the pressures of development and increasing costs of important agricultural lands;

(3) The one-time reclassification of lands now classified as agriculture but utilized entirely as residential subdivisions of one-third and one-half acre lot sizes; and

(4) The appropriateness of increasing minimum agricultural lot sizes from one acre to two, three or five acres;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state Office of Planning is requested to provide support to the agriculture coalition in the preparation of proposed legislation for consideration in the 2004 regular legislative session; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Office of Planning, all members of the agriculture coalition, and the President of the University of Hawaii.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Recognizing the efforts of the agricultural coalition in addressing the mandates of article XI, section 3 of the state constitution.