STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1169

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 1442

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred H.B. No. 1442, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LATERAL PUBLIC ACCESS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require counties to adopt ordinances that require land subdividers or developers to connect existing accesses to the shoreline with lateral public shoreline access as a condition to final subdivision approval.

The County of Kauai, Life of the Land, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, the Sierra Club, and two individuals testified in support of this measure. The City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting, the Hawaii Association of Realtors, Hawaii Resort Developers Conference, and Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii submitted testimony in opposition to this measure. The Department of Land and Natural Resources submitted comments.

Your Committee finds that the public may be able to access shorelines or other coastal areas; however, they may not be able to safely travel from one access point to another due to shoreline erosion or other natural barriers. This measure will require counties to adopt ordinances to address this issue.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Requiring lateral public access to shorelines for subdivisions of five, rather than six, or more lots;

(2) Requiring lateral public access to shorelines for condominium property regimes;

(3) Requiring all final maps for subdivisions and developments to include previous access areas for traditional and customary cultural practices;

(4) Including traditional and customary cultural practices in the definition for lateral public access;

(5) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050 to facilitate further discussions with the counties on this measure; and

(6) Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for style, clarity, and consistency.

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 H.B. No. 1442, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1442, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture,

		____________________________ RUSSELL S. KOKUBUN, Chair