REPORT TITLE:
Ag to Rural Land Use Authority


DESCRIPTION:
Allows the counties to decide on redesignating agricultural lands
of 75 acres or less to rural.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           111
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT
RELATING TO LAND USE.
 


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

 1      SECTION 1.  Chapter 205, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
 2 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
 3 read as follows:
 
 4      "§205-    Reclassification of agricultural lands of seventy-
 
 5 five acres or less to rural; county jurisdiction.  (a)
 
 6 Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, any department or
 
 7 agency of the State, any department or agency of the county in
 
 8 which the land is situated, or any person or persons having not
 
 9 less than one hundred per cent interest in a parcel of land of
 
10 seventy-five acres or less sought to be reclassified from
 
11 agricultural to rural, may petition the county planning
 
12 commission in which the land is situated for a change of
 
13 classification.
 
14      (b)  Upon proper filing of a petition pursuant to subsection
 
15 (a), the appropriate county planning commission, within not less
 
16 than sixty and not more than one hundred eighty days, shall
 
17 conduct a hearing on the appropriate island in accordance with
 
18 sections 91-9, 91-10, 91-11, 91-12, and 91-13, as applicable.
 
19      (c)  Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, notice
 

 
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 1 of the hearing together with a copy of the petition shall be
 
 2 served to all persons with a property interest in the land as
 
 3 recorded in the county's real property tax records.  In addition,
 
 4 notice of the hearing shall be mailed to all persons who have
 
 5 made a timely written request for advance notice of
 
 6 reclassification proceedings, and notice shall be published at
 
 7 least once in a newspaper in the county in which the land sought
 
 8 to be reclassified is situated as well as once in a newspaper of
 
 9 general circulation in the State at least thirty days in advance
 
10 of the hearing.  The notice shall comply with section 91-9, shall
 
11 indicate the time and place that maps showing the proposed
 
12 reclassification may be inspected, and shall inform all
 
13 interested persons of their rights under subsection (e).
 
14      (d)  Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, prior to
 
15 the hearing of a petition, the county planning commission and its
 
16 staff may view and inspect any land which is the subject of the
 
17 petition.
 
18      (e)  Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, agencies
 
19 and persons may intervene in the proceedings in accordance with
 
20 this subsection.
 
21      (1)  The petitioner and the county planning department, in
 
22           every case, shall appear as parties and make
 

 
 
 
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 1           recommendations relative to the proposed boundary
 
 2           change;
 
 3      (2)  All departments and agencies of the State and of the
 
 4           county in which the land is situated shall be admitted
 
 5           as parties upon timely application for intervention;
 
 6      (3)  All persons who have a property interest in the land,
 
 7           who lawfully reside on the land, or who otherwise can
 
 8           demonstrate that they will be so directly and
 
 9           immediately affected by the proposed reclassification
 
10           that their interest in the proceeding is clearly
 
11           distinguishable from that of the general public shall
 
12           be admitted as parties upon timely application for
 
13           intervention;
 
14      (4)  All other persons may apply to the county planning
 
15           commission for leave to intervene as parties.  Leave to
 
16           intervene shall be freely granted; provided that the
 
17           county planning commission or its hearing officer, if
 
18           one is appointed, may deny an application to intervene
 
19           when in the county planning commission's or hearing
 
20           officer's sound discretion it appears that:
 
21           (A)  The position of the applicant for intervention
 
22                concerning the proposed change is substantially
 

 
 
 
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 1                the same as the position of a party already
 
 2                admitted to the proceeding; and
 
 3           (B)  The admission of additional parties will render
 
 4                the proceedings inefficient and unmanageable.
 
 5           A person whose application to intervene is denied may
 
 6           appeal the denial to the circuit court pursuant to
 
 7           section 91-14;
 
 8      (5)  Each county planning commission shall adopt rules
 
 9           pursuant to chapter 91 governing the intervention of
 
10           agencies and persons under this subsection.  The rules
 
11           without limitation shall establish:
 
12           (A)  The information to be set forth in any application
 
13                for intervention;
 
14           (B)  Time limits within which the applications shall be
 
15                filed; and
 
16           (C)  Reasonable filing fees to accompany the
 
17                applications.
 
18      (f)  Together with other witnesses that the county planning
 
19 commission may desire to hear at the hearing, the commission
 
20 shall allow a representative of a citizen or a community group to
 
21 testify who indicates a desire to express the view of the citizen
 
22 or community group concerning the proposed reclassification.
 

 
 
 
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 1      (g)  Within a period of not more than three hundred sixty-
 
 2 five days after the proper filing of a petition, unless otherwise
 
 3 ordered by a court, or unless a time extension, which shall not
 
 4 exceed ninety days, is granted by a two-thirds vote of the
 
 5 members of the county planning commission, the commission, by
 
 6 filing findings of fact and conclusions of law, shall act to
 
 7 approve the petition, deny the petition, or to modify the
 
 8 petition.  The commission may modify the petition by imposing
 
 9 conditions necessary to uphold the intent and spirit of this
 
10 chapter or the policies and criteria established pursuant to
 
11 section 205-17 or to assure substantial compliance with
 
12 representations made by the petitioner in seeking a
 
13 reclassification.  The county planning commission may provide by
 
14 condition that absent substantial commencement of use of the land
 
15 in accordance with representations made by the petitioner, the
 
16 county planning commission shall issue and serve upon the party
 
17 bound by the condition an order to show cause why the property
 
18 should not revert to its former agricultural land use
 
19 classification or be changed to a more appropriate
 
20 classification.  These conditions, if any, shall run with the
 
21 land and be recorded in the bureau of conveyances.
 
22      (h)  No reclassification of land under this section shall be
 

 
 
 
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 1 approved unless the county planning commission finds upon the
 
 2 clear preponderance of the evidence that the proposed
 
 3 reclassification is reasonable, not violative of section 205-2,
 
 4 and consistent with the policies and criteria established
 
 5 pursuant to sections 205-16 and 205-17.
 
 6      (i)  Parties to proceedings to reclassify land under this
 
 7 section may obtain judicial review thereof in the manner set
 
 8 forth in section 91-14; provided that the court may also reverse
 
 9 or modify a finding of a county planning commission if the
 
10 finding appears to be contrary to the clear preponderance of the
 
11 evidence.
 
12      (j)  At the hearing, all parties may enter into appropriate
 
13 stipulations as to findings of fact, conclusions of law, and
 
14 conditions of reclassification.  The county planning commission
 
15 may, but shall not be required to approve, any stipulations based
 
16 on the evidence adduced."
 
17      SECTION 2.  Section 205-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
18 amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
 
19      "(a)  Any department or agency of the State, any department
 
20 or agency of the county in which the land is situated, or any
 
21 person with a property interest in the land sought to be
 
22 reclassified, may petition the land use commission for a change
 

 
 
 
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 1 in the boundary of a district.  This section applies to all
 
 2 petitions for changes in district boundaries of lands within
 
 3 conservation districts and all petitions for changes in district
 
 4 boundaries involving lands greater than fifteen acres in the
 
 5 agricultural, rural, and urban districts, except as provided in
 
 6 [section] sections 201E-210[.] and 205-  .  The land use
 
 7 commission shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to implement
 
 8 section 201E-210."
 
 9      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
10 New statutory material is underscored.
 
11      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
12 
 
13                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________