Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources, to which was referred H.B. No. 864 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to affirm the commitment of the State to protect and preserve its outstanding scenic vistas and natural beauty by prohibiting all off-site outdoor advertising. This bill closes any potential loophole in the law governing billboards and outdoor advertising by making it clear that county ordinances regulating billboards and outdoor advertising also apply to any advertising devices that are physically situated in the airspace or waters beyond the land borders of the county if those devices are visible from any public location within the county.

Protecting Hawaii's world-renowned scenery is not only essential to protect and promote our visitor industry, but it is also important to promote the well-being of our residents. It has been documented that scenic natural vistas promote a sense of happiness, health, and well-being, and that natural scenery increases commercial and residential property values. Because outdoor advertising is inherently distracting, a prohibition on outdoor advertising also promotes traffic and pedestrian safety as well as the safety of those engaging in water activities in our beaches and coastal areas.

The City and County of Honolulu Department of the Corporation Counsel, Na Leo Pohai, Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, Life of the Land, and an individual testified in support of this bill.

According to the Corporation Counsel, this bill would address a potential loophole that had been raised in the case of Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, Inc. v. City and County of Honolulu, which is now on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The plaintiffs had argued that Honolulu's ordinance prohibiting aerial advertising could not be enforced against a tow-banner aircraft that, for example, departed from Molokai and remained over the ocean waters while displaying its banner to beachgoers in Waikiki. Although the Corporation Counsel believed that the plaintiff's argument would ultimately be unsuccessful, this bill will eliminate any ambiguity and save the City from further expensive litigation.

Your Committee also discussed prohibiting billboards on vehicles. Although considered a subject worthy of pursuit, its inclusion in this bill would have distracted attention from the prohibition on aerial advertising.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 864 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.