Streamlines the boundary amendment process for petitions filed by a county or the state office of planning.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to streamline the process used by the land use commission when a county or the state office of planning petitions for boundary amendments that implement county plans.

The counties have general plans and, in some cases, community development plans, and regional or district development plans. These result from their long-range planning efforts and have been adopted after local community input. To guide growth and development to areas designated by these county planning documents, it is often necessary to redistrict land to encourage a more compact development pattern and to discourage sprawl and leap-frog development.

Under current law, however, all boundary amendments at the land use commission go through the "contested case" hearing format, which allows intervention by third parties, formal trial-type hearings, preparation of findings of fact and conclusions of law, and the possibility of judicial appeal. As a result, the counties have rarely initiated boundary amendments because they must go through the same process as private applicants.

Under this Act, the land use commission would decide the application through a quasi-legislative process, similar to the process used by a county council in deciding a rezoning or a boundary amendment of less than fifteen acres. The commission would take public testimony and the commissioners would have to decide based on the record. As with current law, the boundary amendment would need six affirmative votes of the commission to pass. This procedure would be tied to a comprehensive boundary review that the counties or the office of planning could initiate only once every five years to encourage a more comprehensive, planning-driven, and proactive approach.

SECTION 2. 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. This section applies to all petitions for changes in district boundaries of lands within conservation districts, lands designated or sought to be designated as important agricultural lands, and lands greater than fifteen acres in the agricultural, rural, and urban districts, except as provided in section 201G-118[.] and section 205-18. The land use commission shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to implement section 201G-118."

SECTION 3. Section 205-18, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§205-18 Periodic review of districts. [The office of planning shall undertake a review of the classification and districting of all lands in the State, within five years from December 31, 1985, and every fifth year thereafter. The office, in its five-year boundary review, shall focus its efforts on reviewing the Hawaii state plan, county general plans, and county development and community plans. Upon completion of the five- year boundary review, the office shall submit a report of the findings to the commission. The office may initiate state land use boundary amendments which it deems appropriate to conform to these plans. The office may seek assistance of appropriate state and county agencies and may employ consultants and undertake studies in making this review.] (a) Each county and the office of planning may submit an application containing boundary amendments that shall be separately listed within the application. Each county may submit not more than one application for any island every five years, and the office of planning may submit not more than one application for any island every five years. Each proposed boundary amendment shall be consistent with a land use map contained in a general plan, community development plan, regional development plan, district development plan, or other similar comprehensive plan adopted by ordinance.

(b) Upon proper filing of an application, the commission, within not less than thirty and not more than ninety days, shall conduct a hearing or hearings on the affected island. Chapter 92 shall apply, but the petition shall not be a "contested case" under chapter 91. Sections 91-9, 91-10, 91-11, 91-12, 91-13, and 91-14 shall not apply. The commission and its members shall decide the petition solely on matters presented in the record and on testimony at the hearing. Ex parte contacts with the members of the commission on the subject matter of the application shall be prohibited.

(c) Any other provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, notice of the hearing or hearings shall be served on the office of planning, county planning commission, county planning department of the county in which the land is located, and all persons with a property interest in the land as recorded in the county's real property tax records. In addition, notice of the hearing shall be mailed to all persons who have made a timely written request for advance notice of boundary amendment proceedings. Public notice shall be given at least once in the county in which the land sought to be redistricted is situated as well as once statewide at least thirty days in advance of the hearing or hearings. The notice shall indicate the time and place that maps showing the proposed district boundary may be inspected.

(d) Any other provisions of law notwithstanding, prior to the hearing of an application, the commission and its staff may view and inspect any land that is the subject of the application.

(e) The commission may take action separately on areas contained within the application or act on the application as a whole. No boundary amendment shall be approved unless the commission finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the proposed boundary amendment is reasonable, not violative of section 205-2, and consistent with the policies and criteria established pursuant to section 205-16 and section 205-17(1) and (2). Six affirmative votes of the commission shall be necessary to enact a boundary amendment under this section. Within three hundred sixty-five days after the filing of an application, the commission shall either approve or deny the application as a whole or approve or deny, in part or whole, the individual boundary amendments contained within the application. Any land that is denied reclassification under this section may be the subject of a petition under section 205-3.1 or section 205-4, as applicable, six months after the date of denial.

(f) Any subsequent county rezoning of property that is the subject of a boundary amendment under this section shall contain conditions that address the concerns listed in section 205-17(3). The counties shall give the appropriate state agencies the opportunity to comment upon any such rezoning action. The rezoning process shall incorporate the requirements for the protection of historic sites and burials contained in sections 6E-42 and 6E-43 and any rules enacted thereunder; provided that any applicable studies shall be done in the rezoning process and not during the periodic boundary amendment process."

SECTION 4. Section 343-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) Except as otherwise provided, an environmental assessment shall be required for actions that:

provided that any state land use boundary amendment initiated by the State or county under section 205-18 shall be exempt from this chapter, except for amendments that reclassify land from the conservation district."

SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.