STAND. COM. REP. NO.521

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 703

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred S.B. No. 703 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LAND USE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to allow the counties to petition the Office of Planning to conduct a boundary review by resolution adopted by the appropriate city or county council, if the Office does not conduct required reviews every five years.

Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by Hawaii's Thousand Friends. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism's Office of Planning.

Your Committee finds that the five-year boundary review provides for long-range planning and allows the State to check its land use plans against the counties' plans. Boundary reviews also identify unique and special areas that are part of our heritage: native forest, wetland and stream ecosystems, flora and fauna, historic sites, coastal areas, and scenic and open space resources that must be protected for future generations. The last five-year boundary review was conducted in the early 1990s. It is unfair to all parties -- State, counties, residents, and private developers -- to not have a "big picture" understanding of the direction of growth. A statewide boundary review allows the counties and the State to plan for infrastructure needs and costs, and gives developers and landowners some certainty on how to proceed with future plans.

Your Committee also finds, however, that the cost of such an extensive review is beyond the current resources of the Office of Planning, which is why a statewide boundary review has not been conducted since 1992. The Office testified that by removing the word "mandatory" from the original measure, the intent of the measure would continue without requiring the Office to do what it could not without also appropriating funds. Counties would still be able to request boundary reviews and start discussions with the Office about why and where, specifically, they need the review, and would allow counties to share the costs.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended the measure to reflect this suggestion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 703, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 703, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, and Agriculture,

____________________________

LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair