REPORT TITLE:
Conservation District


DESCRIPTION:
Prohibits granting of land use permits in the conservation
district for projects which will encroach on scenic views.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                            826         
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO CONSERVATION. 


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Section 183C-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 2 amended by adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted
 
 3 and to read as follows:
 
 4      ""Scenic view" means any public view of a natural landscape
 
 5 that exhibits a high degree of vividness or intactness."
 
 6      SECTION 2.  Section 183C-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 7 amended to read as follows:
 
 8      "�183C-6  Permits and site plan approvals.(a)  The
 
 9 department shall regulate land use in the conservation district
 
10 by the issuance of permits.
 
11      (b)  The department shall render a decision on a completed
 
12 application for a permit within one-hundred-eighty days of its
 
13 acceptance by the department.  If within one-hundred-eighty days
 
14 after acceptance of a completed application for a permit, the
 
15 department shall fail to give notice, hold a hearing, and render
 
16 a decision, the owner may automatically put the owner's land to
 
17 the use or uses requested in the owner's application.  When an
 
18 environmental impact statement is required pursuant to chapter
 
19 343, or when a contested case hearing is requested pursuant to
 

 
Page 2                                         826         
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 chapter 91, the one-hundred-eighty days may be extended an
 
 2 additional ninety days at the request of the applicant.  Any
 
 3 request for additional extensions shall be subject to the
 
 4 approval of the board.
 
 5      (c)  The department shall hold a public hearing in every
 
 6 case involving the proposed use of land for commercial purposes,
 
 7 at which hearing interested persons shall be afforded a
 
 8 reasonable opportunity to be heard.  Public notice of the time
 
 9 and place of the hearing shall be given at least once statewide
 
10 and in the county in which the property is located.  The notice
 
11 shall be given not less than twenty days prior to the date set
 
12 for the hearing.  The hearing shall be held in the county in
 
13 which the land is located and may be delegated to an agent or
 
14 representative of the board as may otherwise be provided by law
 
15 and in accordance with rules adopted by the board.  For the
 
16 purposes of its public hearing or hearings, the department shall
 
17 have the power to summon witnesses, administer oaths, and require
 
18 the giving of testimony.  As used in this subsection, the term
 
19 "commercial purposes" shall not include the use of land for
 
20 utility purposes.
 
21      (d)  The department shall regulate the construction,
 
22 reconstruction, demolition, or alteration of any structure,
 
23 building, or facility by the issuance of site plan approvals.
 

 
Page 3                                         826         
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (e)  Any permit for the reconstruction, restoration, repair,
 
 2 or use of any Hawaiian fishpond exempted from the requirements of
 
 3 chapter 343 under section 183B-2 shall provide for compliance
 
 4 with the conditions of section 183B-2.
 
 5      (f)  No permit shall be granted in the conservation district
 
 6 for a use that will encroach upon a scenic view."
 
 7      SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.
 
 8      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
 9 
 
10                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________