Imposes a 4-year moratorium on the reclassification of agricultural, conservation, and rural lands to a designation other than agricultural, conservation, or rural.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to: (1) discourage any further noncontiguous urban development (i.e., urban sprawl); (2) encourage reinvestment in and the revitalization of existing urban lands; (3) protect existing agricultural, conservation, and rural lands; and (4) provide government and private entities and citizens time to systematically reexamine our overall land use policies and plans and to reestablish overall statewide land use priorities, by temporarily halting the urbanization of all agricultural, conservation, and rural lands.

Consequently, this Act temporarily prohibits the land use commission and the county land use decision-making authorities from accepting or approving petitions to reclassify lands presently classified as agricultural, conservation, or rural where the change would result in a designation other than agricultural, conservation, or rural.

SECTION 2. Section 205-3.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) Any department or agency of the State, and department or agency of the county in which the land is situated, or any person with a property interest in the land sought to be reclassified may petition the appropriate county land use decision-making authority of the county in which the land is situated for a change in the boundary of a district involving lands less than fifteen acres presently in the agricultural, rural, and urban districts.

After June 30, 2001, the county land use decision-making authority shall not accept or approve petitions to reclassify lands presently classified as agricultural, conservation, or rural, where the change would result in a designation other than agricultural, conservation, or rural; provided that this moratorium on the urbanization of agricultural, conservation, and rural lands shall be repealed on June 30, 2005."

SECTION 3. Section 205-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) Any department or agency of the State, any department or agency of the county in which the land is situated, or any person with a property interest in the land sought to be reclassified, may petition the land use commission for a change in the boundary of a district.

After June 30, 2001, the land use commission shall not accept or approve petitions to reclassify lands presently classified as agricultural, conservation, or rural, where the change would result in a designation other than agricultural, conservation, or rural; provided that this moratorium on the urbanization of agricultural, conservation, or rural lands shall be repealed on June 30, 2005.

This section applies to all petitions for changes in district boundaries of lands within conservation districts and all petitions for changes in district boundaries involving lands greater than fifteen acres in the agricultural, rural, and urban districts, except as provided in section 201G-118. The land use commission shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to implement section 201G-118."

SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.