Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 2774, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of the measure is to assist families who may lose their homes due to the closure of plantations such as Del Monte Fresh Produce by making plantation community subdivisions a permitted use in the state agricultural land use district.

Your Committee finds that the employees and former employees who live in plantation communities must be assured that their homes are secure and protected from any action that might declare them to be an impermissible or illegal land use, in the event that those units may require permits for renovation or reconstruction at some time in the future.

Your Committee further finds that the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu is concerned that as drafted, plantation dwellings could be demolished, rebuilt, and sold or rented to others, thus erasing all elements of plantation camp or rural living without providing the current residents a means to address the existing substandard infrastructure. However, your Committee finds that these concerns can be addressed in the county planning and permitting process, and by the residents' plan to establish cooperative ownership under a restrictive covenant that would restrict sale or even rental of the homes. Your Committee is fundamentally concerned that the residents will have major difficulties seeking funds to upgrade substandard plantation camp infrastructure if the use itself remains nonconforming under state law.

Your Committee has amended this measure to change the effective date to upon approval.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2774, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2774, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, C.D. 1.