STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3550

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2617

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 2617, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LAND USE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to address district boundary amendments.

     More specifically, this measure:

     (1)  Requires the counties to petition the Land Use Commission for regional district boundary amendments needed after adopting updates to their respective general plans;

     (2)  Provides additional flexibility to the Land Use Commission in addressing failure to perform in accordance with representations made to the commission or failure to comply with conditions imposed by the commission in its decisions and orders, regardless of whether there has been substantial commencement of use of the land; and

     (3)  Defines "substantial commencement" for purposes of land use.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the state Land Use Commission, and the state Office of Planning.

     Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from a member of the Maui County Council, the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu, the Planning Department of the County of Hawaii, the Building Industry Association of Hawaii, The Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, the Hawaii Association of Realtors, the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board, Hawaii Laborers Union Local 368, the Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference, the Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, and W.H. Shipman Limited.

     Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Planning Department of the County of Kauai.

     Your Committee finds that the state Land Use Commission was established to ensure proper conservation, control, and development of Hawaii's land resources.  The commission operates within a framework of statutes and rules that is periodically reviewed and revised to allow the commission to more efficiently and effectively manage the State's land resources.  Your Committee further finds that existing law unduly limits the remedies that may be utilized when parties fail to comply with conditions of use imposed by the commission.  This measure is intended to clarify the commission's powers to address these compliance issues.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by changing the effective date to July 1, 2076, to facilitate further discussion on the measure.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2617, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2617, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair