HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

185

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

Requesting the Department of Land and Natural Resources to reactivate its amnesty program for one year in order to allow the owners of noncommercial residential piers on kaneohe bay to obtain the necessary permits.

 

WHEREAS, there are a large number of noncommercial residential piers on Kaneohe Bay constructed by residents living on Kaneohe Bay for use in ocean-related activities such as fishing, boating, and swimming in the Bay; and

WHEREAS, a number of these piers were constructed decades before the Department of Land and Natural Resources began mandating that pier owners apply for permits with the Department and enter into leases for state-owned submerged lands underneath these residential piers in order to legalize these structures; and

WHEREAS, in response to concerns from Kaneohe residents regarding the imposition of large back fines and penalties as well as the possible dismantling of these noncommercial residential piers, the Department of Land and Natural Resources proposed an amnesty program in May 1998; and

WHEREAS, under this amnesty program, the Department of Land and Natural Resources waived back fines and penalties for the owners of noncommercial residential piers in order to encourage these pier owners to acquire the necessary permits and enter into private lease agreements with the State for the submerged lands beneath these piers; and

WHEREAS, the Kaneohe residents that own these noncommercial residential piers understand the need to legalize these piers by acquiring the necessary permits, but there continues to exist many unresolved issues surrounding the lease of state-owned submerged lands in conjunction with this permitting process; and

WHEREAS, given that the concerns raised by these pier owners over this lease program have only begun to be addressed by the Department of Land and Natural Resources, many of these pier owners were not able to take advantage of the Department of Land and Natural Resources' amnesty program which expired in 2001; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-Second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, that the Department of Land and Natural Resources is requested to reactivate this amnesty program in order for pier owners to apply for the necessary permits to legalize their noncommercial residential piers with a new expiration date of June 2005 for this amnesty program; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this June 2005 deadline coincides with the expiration of the Act 261, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, which authorized the Department of Land and Natural Resources to enter into private leases with the owners of private residential noncommercial piers for state submerged lands underneath these piers, and therefore, the requested activation of this amnesty program for one year to allow this permitting process to continue is not unreasonable; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that by reactivating this amnesty program, this will enable additional pier owners to apply for the necessary permits to legalize their noncommercial residential piers, thereby saving the Department of Land and Natural Resources valuable time and resources it would otherwise have to expend in enforcing this permitting requirement; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Department of Land and Natural Resources Amnesty Program for the permitting of piers