STAND. COM. REP. NO. 545

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2021

RE: H.B. No. 1029

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water & Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 1029 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LIVING PARK PLANNING COUNCILS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to repeal Act 15, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2009, which, among other things, authorized the establishment of living park planning councils to develop a state living park master plan.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Your Committee finds that according to the testimony of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Act 15, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2009, directly applied to Ahupua‘a ‘O Kahana State Park, which has an embedded residential leasehold community within the park. However, your Committee finds that after ten years and numerous meetings, the community-based planning council could not develop the framework for a master plan for the park.

Subsequently, the Department of Land and Natural Resources engaged the services of a private planning contractor to initiate the master planning process. Your Committee finds that a report was finalized in 2019, with three issues that needed resolution before proceeding on a master plan. To date, there has been no further discussion on a master plan or future date to reconvene the living park planning council. Your Committee finds that the foregoing reasons, coupled with other pressing state priorities and limited resources in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, support the repeal of Act 15, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 2009.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water & Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1029 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water & Land,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair