Report Title:

Hawaiian Homes Commission Act

 

Description:

Authorizes the department of Hawaiian home lands to issue long term commercial leases.  Effective 07/01/2020.  (HB949 HD1)

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

949

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT


 

 

RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT.

 

 

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

 


     SECTION 1.  Development by the government is often viewed as a way to stimulate the economy during economic recessions or depressions.  The economic effects of construction projects are widespread, as they create other types of jobs to support the construction industry.

     The department of Hawaiian home lands is a state agency that has the ability to create construction projects in residential and commercial markets.  Specifically, there are areas that the department has identified as areas of commercial growth.  The legislature finds that it is in the State's best interest to attract and secure private sector commercial development projects to these areas.  These developments would support the department's homesteading programs, benefit the increasing population base in the area of the commercial development by creating additional jobs, and create residential communities surrounding the commercial development.

     The legislature declares that providing the department of Hawaiian home lands with the authority to issue long-term commercial leases is in the interest of the Hawaiian home lands trust fund and the public. 

     The purpose of this Act is to grant the department of Hawaiian home lands the authority to negotiate and extend commercial leases for aggregate lease terms of up to ninety-nine years.

     SECTION 2.  Section 204 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

     "§204.  Control by department of "available lands," return to board of land and natural resources, when; other lands, use of.  (a)  Upon the passage of this Act, all available lands shall immediately assume the status of Hawaiian home lands and be under the control of the department to be used and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of this Act, except that:

     (1)  In case any available land is under lease by the Territory of Hawaii, by virtue of section 73 of the Hawaiian Organic Act, at the time of the passage of this Act, such land shall not assume the status of Hawaiian home lands until the lease expires or the board of land and natural resources withdraws the lands from the operation of the lease.  If the land is covered by a lease containing a withdrawal clause, as provided in section 73(d) of the Hawaiian Organic Act, the board of land and natural resources shall withdraw such lands from the operation of the lease whenever the department gives notice to the board that the department is of the opinion that the lands are required by it for the purposes of this Act; and such withdrawal shall be held to be for a public purpose within the meaning of that term as used in section 73(d) of the Hawaiian Organic Act.

     (2)  Any available land, including lands selected by the department out of a larger area, as provided by this Act, not leased as authorized by section 207(a) of this Act, may be returned to the board of land and natural resources as provided under section 212 of this Act, or may be retained for management by the department.  Any Hawaiian home lands general lease issued by the department after June 30, 1985, shall contain a withdrawal clause allowing the department to withdraw the land leased at any time during the term of the lease for the purposes of this Act.

          In the management of any retained available lands not required for leasing under section 207(a), the department may dispose of those lands or any improvements thereon to the public, including native Hawaiians, on the same terms, conditions, restrictions, and uses applicable to the disposition of public lands in chapter 171, Hawaii Revised Statutes; provided that [the]:

          (A)  The department may not sell or dispose of such lands in fee simple except as authorized under section 205 of this Act; [provided further that the]

          (B)  The department is expressly authorized to negotiate, prior to negotiations with the general public, the disposition of Hawaiian home lands or any improvements thereon to a native Hawaiian, or organization or association owned or controlled by native Hawaiians, for commercial, industrial, or other business purposes, in accordance with the procedures set forth in chapter 171, Hawaii Revised Statutes[.]; and

          (C)  Notwithstanding sections 171-36(a)(2) and 171-95(a)(2), Hawaii Revised Statutes, the term of any existing lease or lease hereafter entered into pursuant to this section, including any extensions or renewals thereof, shall not exceed ninety-nine years in the aggregate.

     (3)  The department, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, in order to consolidate its holdings or to better effectuate the purposes of this Act, may exchange the title to available lands for land, privately or publicly owned, of an equal value.  All lands so acquired by the department shall assume the status of available lands as though the [land] lands were originally designated as available lands under section 203 of this Act, and all lands so conveyed by the department shall assume the status of the land for which it was exchanged.  The limitations imposed by section 73(l) of the Hawaiian Organic Act and the land laws of Hawaii as to the area and value of land that may be conveyed by way of exchange shall not apply to exchanges made pursuant hereto.  No such exchange of land publicly owned by the State shall be made without the approval of two-thirds of the members of the board of land and natural resources.  For the purposes of this paragraph, lands "publicly owned" means land owned by a county or the State or the United States."

     SECTION 3.  Chapter 220.5 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

     "(d)  [Any] The term of any project developer agreement entered into pursuant to this section may [provide for options for renewal of the term of the project developer agreement;] be extended or renewed; provided that:

     (1)  The term of any one project developer agreement, including any extensions or renewals thereof, whether such project developer agreement is existing or hereafter entered into pursuant to this section,  shall not exceed [sixty-five] ninety-nine years[;] in the aggregate;

     (2)  Any lands disposed of under a project developer agreement shall be subject to withdrawal at any time during the term of the agreement, with reasonable notice; and

     (3)  The rental shall be reduced in proportion to the value of the portion withdrawn and the developer shall be entitled to receive from the department the proportionate value of the developer's permanent improvements so taken in the proportion that they bear to the unexpired term of the agreement, with the value of the permanent improvements determined on the basis of fair market value or depreciated value, whichever is less; or the developer, in the alternative, may remove and relocate the developer's improvements to the remainder of the lands occupied by the developer."

     SECTION 4.  The provisions of the amendments made by this Act to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, are declared to be severable, and if any section, sentence, clause, or phrase, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held ineffective because there is a requirement of having the consent of the United States to take effect, then that portion only shall take effect upon the granting of consent by the United States and effectiveness of the remainder of these amendments or the application thereof shall not be affected.

     SECTION 5.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2020.