STAND. COM. REP. NO. 28-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: H.B. No. 2529

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2529 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HAZARDOUS LAND,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to protect lives and property from falling rocks and landslides by requiring each county to:

(1) Inventory all lands that are or may be placed under urban use to determine whether any of these lands are hazardous land areas;

(2) Adopt standards for urban development in hazardous land areas; and

(3) Enact zoning, subdivision, and building ordinances to implement these hazardous land area standards.

Three Nuuanu residents testified in support of this bill. The Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii offered comments. The City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting opposed this measure.

Earlier, your Committee also approved a similar measure, H.B. No. 2530, which directs each county to enact zoning ordinances prohibiting the residential use of lands deemed subject to landslides and rock slides. Your Committee encourages the members of the Judiciary Committee to carefully compare the merits of these two approaches.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2529 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs,

 

____________________________

EZRA R. KANOHO, Chair