STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1184

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  H.B. No. 1711
                                        H.D. 2
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Water, Land, and Hawaiian Affairs and
Economic Development, to which was referred H.B. No. 1711,
H.D. 2, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO KANEOHE BAY,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to resolve longstanding
problems associated with private residential noncommercial piers
in Kaneohe Bay.

     Specifically, the measure affects any existing private
residential noncommercial pier in Kaneohe Bay, located offshore
of property between Kealohi Point and Nuupia Pond by:

     (1)  Designating any unpermitted pier in Kaneohe Bay
          existing in whatever form on the effective date of this
          Act as a nonconforming use;

     (2)  Eliminating the requirement that all sunbathing and
          swimming piers built on submerged lands have signs
          placed on them indicating the public's right to use the
          pier;

     (3)  Including private residential noncommercial piers as
          items not requiring prior legislative and gubernatorial
          approval on easement dispositions; and


 
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     (4)  Expunging any related penalties assessed prior to
          enactment of the measure.

     Testimony in support of the measure was received from the
Department of Land and Natural Resources, Protect Our Shoreline
Ohana, Boats/Hawaii, Inc., and a number of concerned citizens.  A
private citizen testified in opposition to the measure.

     Your Committees understand that the State has an interest in
regulating submerged lands to protect and preserve the
environment and ecosystem that exist there.  There are more than
two hundred piers on state submerged lands in the Kaneohe and
Kahaluu area, of which only approximately twenty are paying rent
to the State.

     Many piers in the affected area were built prior to
October 1, 1964, the effective date of the first regulatory
measures concerning piers.  Other piers built after this date
were built in compliance with other regulations that were in
effect at the time of construction.  Piers constructed prior to
October 1, 1964, and those built subsequent to that date in
compliance with regulations adopted after that date are
nonconforming uses pursuant to section 183C-5, Hawaii Revised
Statutes, and the legislature has previously stated that no rules
may be adopted which shall prohibit the continued use of such
structures.

     Some piers, however, were built without complying with any
permitting requirements whether at the time of construction or
any time thereafter.  These piers are illegal.  Unfortunately,
the official records that would help to identify nonconforming
piers and illegal piers are scattered among various state and
federal departments and agencies or have been destroyed.

     Your Committees also find that pier owners have
overwhelmingly expressed their desire to pay a reasonable amount
to the State for their continued use of submerged lands.  The
Auditor has previously found that the cost to account for monthly
rent for piers has exceeded the revenues realized to the State.

     Your Committees further find that the State has already sold
more than fifty easements for the use of submerged lands, many of
which are for piers in the same area.  The issuance of easements
for a period of not less than fifty-five years, pursuant to
section 171-36(a)(2), Hawaii Revised Statutes, would result in a
substantial return to the State while significantly reducing the
accounting costs to the State as provided in sections 171-13 and
190D-21, Hawaii Revised Statutes.


 
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     Lessees of state land are required pursuant to chapter 171,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, to indemnify the State against
liability.  Section 171-36(a)(9), Hawaii Revised Statutes, as now
constructed, requires lessees to open their piers to the public
at large.  This provision creates a problem for pier lessees
because it makes obtaining liability insurance prohibitively
expensive and difficult to obtain and, moreover, interferes with
pier owners' ability to maintain their structures and implied
right to quiet enjoyment.  Your Committees believe that repealing
this requirement as to private residential noncommercial piers is
in the best interests of the State.

     Your Committees have amended the measure by:

     (1)  Establishing a lease rent moratorium on the submerged
          lands and the private residential noncommercial piers
          thereon in Kaneohe Bay, located offshore of property
          between Kealohi Point and Nuupia Pond, until the
          department of land and natural resources adopts a
          residential pier lease rent formula;

     (2)  Requiring the department of land and natural resources
          to establish an equitable solution for lessees who have
          been paying lease rent on submerged lands and the
          private residential noncommercial piers thereon in
          Kaneohe Bay, located offshore of property between
          Kealohi Point and Nuupia Pond, which may include the
          issuance of a lease rent credit; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity
          and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your
Committees on Water, Land, and Hawaiian Affairs and Economic
Development that are attached to this report, your Committees are
in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1711, H.D. 2,
as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in
the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1711, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.


 
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                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committees on Water, Land, and
                                   Hawaiian Affairs and Economic
                                   Development,



____________________________       ______________________________
LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair          COLLEEN HANABUSA, Chair

 
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