Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 255 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this short form bill is to amend the law relating to agriculture.

Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting substantive provisions to prevent agricultural uses from being restricted by any servitudes placed on lands classified as agricultural, unless the restrictions are to protect environmental or cultural resources.

Your Committee finds that the amended measure prohibits subdivision covenants from restricting normal farming practices in the agricultural districts. For example, in a region of Kauai, a covenant restricts farmers from growing anything above a certain height. This type of covenant is normally found only in housing subdivisions and is overly restrictive for a normal farming operation in the agricultural district.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 255, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 255, S.D. 1, and be recommitted to your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, for further consideration.