SB2531

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that certain lands in Hawaii are classified as urban district lands at the state land use district boundary level but are designated by the counties as lands within the preservation or agricultural zoning districts. For example, in the early 1960s, to accommodate the projected increase in its population with the sugar cane industry still thriving in the Ewa region, the city and county of Honolulu directed its urban development to the Koolau Poko region. Heeia was planned to become a resort area with a golf course and marina surrounded by multi- and single-family homes. Development of a nuclear power plant was also considered for Heeia as well as a possible industrial zone in Kahaluu in competition with Campbell Industrial Park. However, after facing strong community opposition and the peaking of the sugar cane industry, the city and county of Honolulu revised its general plan in 1977, redirecting development to its primary urban center and the Ewa region.

Today, the city and county of Honolulu's general plan for population distribution is to facilitate the full development of its primary urban center and encourage development within the secondary urban center at Kapolei and the urban-fringe areas of the Ewa and Central Oahu regions to relieve developmental pressures in the remaining urban-fringe and rural areas and to meet housing needs not readily provided in the primary urban center.

The legislature also finds that the Koolau Poko region is expected to experience essentially no growth over the twenty-five-year projection horizon of the sustainable communities plan for that region, which was adopted by the city and county of Honolulu in 2017. The vision for Koolau Poko's future is shaped around the protection of its natural, scenic, cultural, historic, and agricultural resources, and the potential for expansion of the region's housing stock, commercial centers, and economic activity are limited.

The legislature further finds that as remnants of the city and county of Honolulu's plans to direct development to Koolau Poko in the 1960s, certain land in Heeia and Kahaluu that are within the county's preservation or agricultural zoning districts are classified as urban districts at the state land use district boundary level.

The purpose of this Act is to correct the inconsistencies between the land use district classifications at the state level and the zoning district designations at the county level by requiring the state land use district boundaries of lands that are classified as state urban district lands but are located within the county's preservation or agricultural zoning districts to be amended or reverted to the state conservation district or the state agricultural district, as applicable, to conform to the zoning district classifications designated by the county in which the land is situated.

SECTION 2. (a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, state land use district boundaries for lands classified as state urban district lands but located within the preservation or agricultural zoning districts of the county in which the land is situated shall be amended or reverted to the state conservation district or the state agricultural district, as applicable, to conform to the zoning district classifications designated by the county, provided that:

(1) District boundary amendments or reversion of district boundaries for land areas greater than fifteen acres shall be processed by the land use commission pursuant to section 205-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

(2) District boundary amendments or reversion of district boundaries for land areas of fifteen acres or less shall be determined by the county land use decision-making authority of the county in which the land is situated consistent with chapter 205, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and the applicable zoning ordinances, codes, and rules of the county;

(3) The amendment or reversion of state land use district boundaries pursuant to this section shall not result in spot zoning that is inconsistent with the general plan of the county in which the land is situated;

(4) In the event a person with a property interest in land that is subject to an amendment or reversion of its state district boundary under this Act has substantially commenced use of the land in accordance with the person's representations pertaining to the person's use of the land to the land use commission or the county land use decision-making authority, as applicable, the land use commission and the county land use decision-making authority shall follow the applicable procedures and decision-making criteria under section 205-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, or the applicable zoning ordinances, codes, and rules of the county, respectively, including providing the affected person with notice and opportunity to participate in a hearing held for the proposed district boundary amendment or reversion;

(5) A person with a property interest in the land of which the state land use district boundary was amended or reverted pursuant to this Act, who was a party to the hearing therefor pursuant to paragraph (3), may appeal the decision of the land use commission or the county land use decision-making authority to the circuit court of the circuit in which the land is situated; provided that the appeal shall be made pursuant to the Hawaii rules of civil procedure; and

(6) The office of planning and sustainable development shall provide the land use commission and the county land use decision-making authorities with information necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

(b) For the purposes of this Act, unless otherwise required by the context:

"Agricultural zoning district" includes the agricultural, agriculture, and intensive agricultural districts of the counties, as applicable;

"County" means the city and county of Honolulu and the counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui; provided that the county of Maui shall include the county of Kalawao;

"Preservation zoning district" includes the open and open-spaced districts of the counties, as applicable; and

"Spot zoning" means amending the state land use district boundary of a particular parcel of land or a portion thereof without regard for the state land use district of the larger area surrounding the land.

SECTION 3. The amendment or reversion of state land use district boundaries pursuant to section 2 of this Act shall begin with lands located in Heeia and Kahaluu of the city and county of Honolulu, identified by Tax Map Key Zone 4, Sections 2 through 9.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2531
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII