RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, at a meeting of the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) on December 13, 2002, former BLNR chairperson Gilbert Coloma-Agaran requested and received approval from BLNR to transfer by executive order approximately 350 acres of public lands at Kealakehe, North Kona, Hawaii, to the Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation (DOBOR) for the expansion of the Honokohau Small Boat Harbor; and

WHEREAS, in 2002 and 2003, DOBOR surveyed and inspected all of the 11 small boat harbors statewide and determined that approximately $250,000,000 will be required to repair the neglected and deteriorated small boat harbor facilities; and

WHEREAS, DOBOR proposed to negotiate a lease with a lessee/developer who would construct a second marina at Honokohau using the existing channel entrance, increase the number of boat slips at Honokohau at least threefold, and build a maritime commercial complex, a commercial/retail center, golf course, county recreational park, fishing village, Hawaiian wellness and healing center, yacht club, restaurant, residential complex, park, and canoe halau, among other things, at an initial cost of $500,000,000; and

WHEREAS, DOBOR estimated that a percentage of the gross proceeds from lease revenues generated by its marina development project, when fully developed, would be sufficient to cover the debt service for most of the $250,000,000 in capital improvement project (CIP) funds needed to repair small boat harbors statewide; and

WHEREAS, at a BLNR meeting on April 25, 2003, BLNR, at the request of the current administration, rescinded its prior action of December 13, 2002, and approved the transfer by executive order of the approximately 350 acres of public lands at Kealakehe to the Land Division for the purpose of negotiating a master lease with a lessee/developer through a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the development of a mixed-use marina that would include expansion of the Honokohau Small Boat Harbor; and

WHEREAS, the proposed marina development was then awarded under an RFP to a developer who will be issued a long-term lease enabling the development of the marina project; and

WHEREAS, in February of 2006, the current administration and BLNR approved a 35 percent increase in small boat harbor moorage fees, which would generate between $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 in revenue and approximately $7,000,000 to 10,000,000 in CIP funds, which is less than 5 percent of the CIP funds needed to repair small boat harbors statewide; and

WHEREAS, there is concern that the present DLNR administration does not have a strategic plan to remedy the current unacceptable and deplorable conditions of the State's small boat harbors other than the proposed 35 percent increase in moorage fees; and

WHEREAS, if DLNR has no strategic plan, recreational boaters need other assistance to resolve the deplorable condition of the State's small boat harbors; and

WHEREAS, revenues from the marina development originally proposed by DOBOR could be used to make necessary repairs to the State's small boat harbors without placing upon recreational boaters the burden of an unreasonable increase in moorage fees; and

WHEREAS, the marina development is consistent with the statutory responsibilities of DOBOR and development of the approximately 350 acres of public lands at Kealakehe should be administered and managed by DOBOR as an expansion of the Honokohau Small Boat Harbor; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature urges BLNR to:

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chairperson of BLNR is requested to submit a report to the Legislature on the actions taken by BLNR to have the approximately 350 acres of public lands at Kealakehe transferred to DOBOR by executive order at least 20 days prior to the Regular Session of 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chairperson of BLNR, and each member of BLNR.

Report Title:

Small Boat Harbors; Marina; Honokohau