STAND. COM. REP. NO. 834-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 1615

H.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1615 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NORTH KOHALA,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to provide public access to the Kohala Historical Sites State Monument in North Kohala, Hawaii, and to protect this historical site by providing adequate buffers.

This bill:

(1) Directs the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to purchase additional lands through its eminent domain powers; and

(2) Appropriates an unspecified sum for acquisition purposes.

Mookini Luakini, Inc., the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and Kamehameha Schools testified in support of this measure. DLNR opposed this bill.

Act 166, Session Laws of Hawaii 1992, established the Kohala Historical Sites State Monument which consisted of the following State properties: Mookini Luakini, Kamehameha birthsite, and Kukuipahu Heiau. Act 166 also directed the State to acquire additional parcels of land through gifts or land exchanges to preserve and protect the historical sites with adequate buffers and public access. Since then, however, the State has been unable to acquire these parcels from the private landowner through either a purchase or land exchange.

Your Committee notes that DLNR opposed this measure on the basis that an administrative solution can be arranged and that legislation is not necessary to achieve the stated purpose of this bill. However, the inability to administratively resolve this issue since similar legislation was enacted but vetoed last year indicates that legislation may be required to help promote needed action.

Your Committee finds that the eight parcels identified for acquisition total about 250.5 acres. While such a sizable buffer area may be desirable or deemed necessary, the inability to acquire these lands in the past through exchange or purchase strongly suggests that other alternatives should be explored. One option is to initially reduce the size of the area to be acquired to those lands immediately abutting the monument. Acquisition would be less difficult and if successful, assures a minimum buffer in perpetuity. Subsequent acquisition may be effected as the state's financial situation improves.

It is your Committee's understanding that Kamehameha Schools, in recognition of the heiau's historical significance, as well as its cultural and educational value, may be considering a land exchange or purchase to provide the needed access and buffers.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this bill by deleting its contents and replacing it with language that:

(1) Directs DLNR to acquire the lands adjacent to the Kohala Historical Sites State Monument through a land exchange; and

(2) Designates the Mo'okini Luakini Corporation as the official protector and caretaker of Mo'okini Heiau.

Your Committee suggests that DLNR consult and share any information with Kamehameha Schools which may assist in the acquisition of these lands.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1615, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1615, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land Use, and Hawaiian Affairs,

 

____________________________

EZRA R. KANOHO, Chair