STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 515-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: H.B. No. 2166

H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs and Agriculture, to which was referred H.B. No. 2166 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LAND USE COMMISSION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to exclude certain nonagricultural uses on lands with soil classified by the Land Study Bureau's Detailed Land Classification as overall (master) productivity rating class A or B. Specifically, this bill establishes a presumption that a subdivision or development is not agricultural, and does not consist of farm dwellings if it includes any of the following features:

(1) A golf course with lots situated along fairways;

(2) A gated entry, including but not limited to automatic or manual gates and security guard stations limiting access to residents and guests only;

(3) Restrictive covenants that restrict agricultural uses otherwise permitted by zoning laws; or

(4) Private country club facilities, members' accommodations, hotels, or other resort facilities.

This bill also allows the presumption to be rebutted if the subdivision or development has developed and maintained an agricultural plan that demonstrates that agriculture is an actual and significant component of each lot.

The Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, Hawaii Audubon Society, Life of the Land, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs testified in support of this measure. The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, Department of Agriculture, and Hawaiian Marine Enterprises supported the intent of this measure. The Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, Department of Land and Natural Resources, Land Use Commission, County of Hawaii Planning Department, Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference, Big Island Business Council, and Protect Kahoolawe testified in opposition to this bill.

Your Committees believe that gated, luxury subdivisions and other nonagricultural uses on prime agricultural lands should be prohibited unless provided for in the respective county's approved general plan. In such cases, the agricultural lands should be rezoned or reclassified to rural or urban, as appropriate, through established land use procedures.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the gated entry must be to a residential subdivision thereby excluding legitimate farming operations with fences and gated areas to keep livestock in and to protect against theft; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs and Agriculture that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2166, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2166, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs and Agriculture,

____________________________ FELIPE P. ABINSAY, JR., Chair		____________________________ EZRA R. KANOHO, Chair