REPORT TITLE:
Kaneohe Bay; Illegal Piers


DESCRIPTION:
Exempts owners of legal piers in Kaneohe Bay from the payment of
fees for a 2-year period.  Requires owners of illegal piers to
pay fees according to a fee schedule adopted by DLNR with the
approval of the legislature.  Grandfathers certain illegal piers
as nonconforming structures.  Provides for the removal of illegal
piers for those owners who elect not to participate in the
department's one-time amnesty program.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           1210
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO KANEOHE BAY.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  According to the department of land and natural
 
 2 resources, there are nearly two hundred shoreline structures on
 
 3 submerged lands in Kaneohe Bay, including piers, docks, and
 
 4 platforms.  The majority of these structures, however, were built
 
 5 without state, county, or federal permits and are considered
 
 6 illegal.
 
 7      These illegal piers present several problems.  One is the
 
 8 issue of fairness with respect to those individuals who have been
 
 9 in compliance, obtained the necessary permits, and have been
 
10 paying monthly fees for years, while others who have constructed
 
11 or used illegal piers have never bothered to apply for permits
 
12 and have not been paying monthly fees.
 
13      In addition to the equitable use of public lands and the
 
14 collection of permit and rental fees, another major problem is
 
15 that the impact of these illegal piers on the State's
 
16 conservation resources may be unclear.  Since some of the piers
 
17 were built illegally on state conservation lands, and no
 
18 conservation district use permit was applied for, there is no way
 
19 to assess the impact that these piers have done.
 

 
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 1      To resolve this problem, the department of land and natural
 
 2 resources has proposed a one-time opportunity to participate in
 
 3 an amnesty program, which is being offered to pier owners who
 
 4 choose to participate.  The program's primary objective is to
 
 5 resolve the illegal pier problem in Kaneohe Bay by offering all
 
 6 owners of those piers an alternative process for obtaining
 
 7 compliance with state land use laws.  Upon consent to a land
 
 8 disposition with the department for the use of state land, these
 
 9 individuals will be permitted to keep and maintain the piers.
 
10      Pier owners who choose not to participate in the amnesty
 
11 program will be placed as a group into a separate category and
 
12 the violations processed separately, which may include the
 
13 removal of illegal structures, at considerable cost and time to
 
14 the State, and the imposition of fines in excess of those imposed
 
15 under the program.
 
16      The legislature agrees with the intent of the department's
 
17 amnesty program to bring unauthorized piers into conformance with
 
18 the laws, while generating revenue and establishing equity in the
 
19 use of public lands within Kaneohe Bay.  To assist in the
 
20 implementation of that plan and resolve remaining issues, the
 
21 purpose of this Act is to:
 
22      (1)  Provide for the waiver of all fees for a two-year
 
23           period for those pier owners in Kaneohe Bay who have
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           1210
                                                        
                                                        


 1           obtained all of the necessary permits and have been
 
 2           paying monthly fees and rents.  After that period,
 
 3           these owners will be required to pay fees under a fee
 
 4           schedule pursuant to rules adopted by the department.
 
 5           with the approval of the legislature;
 
 6      (2)  With respect to the owners of illegal piers in Kaneohe
 
 7           Bay who agree to participate in the amnesty program,
 
 8           allow the department to assess fees in accordance to
 
 9           the department's fee schedule, and provide for the
 
10           grandfathering of those illegal piers as nonconforming
 
11           uses; and 
 
12      (3)  With respect to the owners of illegal piers in Kaneohe
 
13           Bay who do not agree to participate in the amnesty
 
14           program, provide for the removal of those illegal
 
15           piers.  If the owner has a valid claim, for example, if
 
16           they had no notice that the pier was illegal when they
 
17           purchased the property, their claims are against the
 
18           previous owner.
 
19      While there may be other areas in the State with similar
 
20 problems as those in Kaneohe Bay, the legislature finds that the
 
21 problem in Kaneohe Bay is serious enough to constitute a problem
 
22 on the state level.  The counties have no jurisdiction over these
 
23 piers, since they were built on state conservation lands.  The
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           1210
                                                        
                                                        


 1 legislature recommends that future inventories be conducted of
 
 2 other potential areas in the State that have piers to protect the
 
 3 State's coastal waters and ensure fairness in the application of
 
 4 state laws.
 
 5      SECTION 2.  Department of land and natural resources;
 
 6 amnesty program for illegal piers constructed in Kaneohe Bay.
 
 7 (a)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, owners of legal
 
 8 piers, docks, and platforms on Kaneohe Bay from Kealohi Point to
 
 9 Nuupia Pond that have been in substantial compliance with all
 
10 applicable state laws relating to those structures, including
 
11 obtaining necessary permits and paying fees and rents, as
 
12 appropriate, shall be exempt from the payment of any fees or
 
13 rents for those structures for a two-year period beginning from
 
14 the effective date of this Act.  Following that two-year period
 
15 each of these owners shall pay fees in accordance with a fee
 
16 schedule adopted by the department of land and natural resources
 
17 pursuant to subsection (c).
 
18      (b)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, owners of
 
19 piers, docks, and platforms on Kaneohe Bay from Kealohi Point to
 
20 Nuupia Pond that have not been in substantial compliance with all
 
21 applicable state laws relating to those structures, including
 
22 obtaining necessary permits and paying fees and rents, as
 
23 appropriate, and are considered illegal piers by the department,
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           1210
                                                        
                                                        


 1 may participate in the department's one-time amnesty program,
 
 2 which establishes an alternative process for obtaining compliance
 
 3 with state land use laws to resolve the illegal pier problem in
 
 4 Kaneohe Bay.
 
 5      (1)  Owners of illegal piers who participate in the
 
 6           department's amnesty program shall be assessed fees in
 
 7           accordance with the department's fee schedule adopted
 
 8           pursuant to subsection (c).  Any illegal pier owned by
 
 9           an individual who participates in the department's
 
10           amnesty program that was in existence on January 1,
 
11           1999, shall be deemed a nonconforming structure.
 
12      (2)  Owners of illegal piers who elect not to participate in
 
13           the department's amnesty program shall have those piers
 
14           removed by the department.
 
15      (c)  The department of land and natural resources shall
 
16 adopt a schedule of fees to implement this section, and shall
 
17 submit a copy of that fee schedule to the legislature no later
 
18 than twenty days before the convening of the regular session of
 
19 2000.  The fees schedule shall be drafted, to the greatest extent
 
20 possible, to have statewide application in situations involving
 
21 illegal piers or other structures on state lands.  Within thirty
 
22 calendar days after the convening of the 2000 regular session,
 
23 the legislature, by concurrent resolution, may disapprove the
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           1210
                                                        
                                                        


 1 schedule of fees required to be submitted to it by this section.
 
 2 If no action is taken by the legislature within the thirty-day
 
 3 period, the schedule of fees shall be deemed approved.  If the
 
 4 legislature disapproves the schedule within the thirty-day
 
 5 period, the department shall develop a new schedule of fees in
 
 6 accordance with this section within thirty calendar days of the
 
 7 disapproval.  Pending the development of a new schedule, the
 
 8 schedule submitted to the legislature shall remain in full force
 
 9 and effect.
 
10      (d)  The department shall not increase any fees by rule
 
11 under chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, until the department's
 
12 schedule of fees has been approved in accordance with this
 
13 section.  Any rule adopted under chapter 91, Hawaii Revised
 
14 Statutes, to the contrary is superseded by this section.
 
15      SECTION 3.  The department shall review other areas in the
 
16 State in which illegal piers and other structures have been built
 
17 on state conservation district lands, provide for an inventory of
 
18 those illegal structures, and report its findings and
 
19 recommendations regarding the need for additional legislation, if
 
20 necessary, to the Legislature no later than twenty days before
 
21 the convening of the Regular Session of 2000.
 

 
 
 
 
 
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                                     S.B. NO.           1210
                                                        
                                                        


 1      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 2 
 
 3                           INTRODUCED BY:_________________________
 
 4