Report Title:
Nonrenewal of Hawaiian Home Lands leases and revocable licenses.
Description:
Prohibits the renewal of Hawaiian Home Lands leases and revocable licenses that expire within five years.
|
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2040 |
|
TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002 |
||
|
STATE OF HAWAII |
||
|
|
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT, 1920, AS AMENDED.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1.
Section 204.5 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended to read as follows:"§204.5. Additional powers. In addition and supplemental to the powers granted to the department by law, and notwithstanding any law to the contrary, except section 205(b), the department may:
(1) With the approval of the governor, undertake and carry out the development of any Hawaiian home lands available for lease under and pursuant to section 207 of this Act by assembling these lands in residential developments and providing for the construction, reconstruction, improvement, alteration, or repair of public facilities therein, including, without limitation, streets, storm drainage systems, pedestrian ways, water facilities and systems, sidewalks, street lighting, sanitary sewerage facilities and systems, utility and service corridors, and utility lines, where applicable, sufficient to adequately service developable improvements therein, sites for schools, parks, off-street parking facilities, and other community facilities;
(2) With the approval of the governor, undertake and carry out the development of available lands for homestead, commercial, and multipurpose projects as provided in section 220.5 of this Act, as a developer under this section or in association with a developer agreement entered into pursuant to this section by providing for the construction, reconstruction, improvement, alteration, or repair of public facilities for development, including, without limitation, streets, storm drainage systems, pedestrian ways, water facilities and systems, sidewalks, street lighting, sanitary sewerage facilities and systems, utility and service corridors, and utility lines, where applicable, sufficient to adequately service developable improvements therein, sites for schools, parks, off-street parking facilities, and other community facilities;
(3) With the approval of the governor, designate by resolution of the commission all or any portion of a development or multiple developments undertaken pursuant to this section an "undertaking" under part III of chapter 39, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and
(4) Exercise the powers granted under section 39-53, Hawaii Revised Statutes, including the power to issue revenue bonds from time to time as authorized by the legislature.
All provisions of part III of chapter 39, Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall apply to the department and all revenue bonds issued by the department shall be issued pursuant to the provisions of that part, except these revenue bonds shall be issued in the name of the department, and not in the name of the State.
As applied to the department, the term "undertaking" as used in part III of chapter 39 shall include a residential development or a development of homestead, commercial, or multipurpose projects under this Act. The term "revenue" as used in part III of chapter 39, shall include all or any portion of the rentals derived from the leasing of Hawaiian home lands or available lands, whether or not the property is a part of the development being financed."
SECTION 2.
Section 205 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended to read as follows:"§205. Sale or lease, limitations on. (a) Available lands shall be sold or leased only:
(1) In the manner and for the purposes set out in this title; or
(2) As may be necessary to complete any valid agreement of sale or lease in effect at the time of the passage of this Act;
except that such limitations shall not apply to the unselected portions of lands from which the department has made a selection and given notice thereof, or failed so to select and give notice within the time limit, as provided in paragraph (3) of section 204 of this title.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in this Act, including sections 204, 204.5, 207, 207.5, and 208, all general leases and revocable licenses that expire within five years from the effective date of this Act shall not be renewed or extended in any manner. This subsection shall not apply to homestead leases."
SECTION 3.
Section 207 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:(c)(1) The department is authorized, subject to section 205(b), to grant licenses as easements for railroads, telephone lines, electric power and light lines, gas mains, and the like. The department is also authorized to grant licenses for lots within a district in which lands are leased under the provisions of this section, for:
(A) Churches, hospitals, public schools, post offices, and other improvements for public purposes; and
(B) Theaters, garages, service stations, markets, stores, and other mercantile establishments (all of which shall be owned by native Hawaiians or by organizations formed and controlled by native Hawaiians).
(2) The department is also authorized, subject to section 205(b), to grant licenses to the United States for reservations, roads, and other rights-of-way, water storage and distribution facilities, and practice target ranges.
(3) Any license issued under this subsection shall be subject to such terms, conditions, and restrictions as the department shall determine and shall not restrict the areas required by the department in carrying on its duties, nor interfere in any way with the department's operation or maintenance activities."
SECTION 4.
Section 208 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended to read as follows:"§208. Conditions of leases. Each lease made under the authority granted the department by section 207 of this Act, and the tract in respect to which the lease is made, shall be deemed subject to section 205(b) and the following conditions, whether or not stipulated in the lease:
(1) The original lessee shall be a native Hawaiian, not less than eighteen years of age. In case two lessees either original or in succession marry, they shall choose the lease to be retained, and the remaining lease shall be transferred, quitclaimed, or canceled in accordance with the provisions of succeeding sections.
(2) The lessee shall pay a rental of $1 a year for the tract and the lease shall be for a term of ninety-nine years[; except that the department may extend the term of any lease, provided that the approval of any extension shall be subject to the condition that the aggregate of the initial ninety-nine year term and any extension granted shall not be for more than one hundred ninety-nine years].
(3) The lessee may be required to occupy and commence to use or cultivate the tract as the lessee's home or farm or occupy and commence to use the tract for aquaculture purposes, as the case may be, within one year after the commencement of the term of the lease.
(4) The lessee thereafter, for at least such part of each year as the department shall prescribe by rules, shall occupy and use or cultivate the tract on the lessee's own behalf.
(5) The lessee shall not in any manner transfer to, or otherwise hold for the benefit of, any other person or group of persons or organizations of any kind, except a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians, and then only upon the approval of the department, or agree so to transfer, or otherwise hold, the lessee's interest in the tract; except that the lessee, with the approval of the department, also may transfer the lessee's interest in the tract to the following qualified relatives of the lessee who are at least one-quarter Hawaiian: husband, wife, child, or grandchild. Such interest shall not, except in pursuance of such a transfer to or holding for or agreement with a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians or qualified relative who is at least one-quarter Hawaiian approved of by the department or for any indebtedness due the department or for taxes or for any other indebtedness the payment of which has been assured by the department, including loans from other agencies where such loans have been approved by the department, be subject to attachment, levy, or sale upon court process. The lessee shall not sublet the lessee's interest in the tract or improvements thereon; provided that a lessee may be permitted, with the approval of the department, to rent to a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians, lodging either within the lessee's existing home or in a separate residential dwelling unit constructed on the premises.
(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (5), the lessee, with the consent and approval of the commission, may mortgage or pledge the lessee's interest in the tract or improvements thereon to a recognized lending institution authorized to do business as a lending institution in either the State or elsewhere in the United States; provided the loan secured by a mortgage on the lessee's leasehold interest is insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other federal agency and their respective successors and assigns, which are authorized to insure or guarantee such loans, or any acceptable private mortgage insurance as approved by the commission. The mortgagee's interest in any such mortgage shall be freely assignable. Such mortgages, to be effective, must be consented to and approved by the commission and recorded with the department.
Further, notwithstanding the authorized purposes of loan limitations imposed under section 214 of this Act and the authorized loan amount limitations imposed under section 215 of this Act, loans made by lending institutions as provided in this paragraph, insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other federal agency and their respective successors and assigns, may be for such purposes and in such amounts, not to exceed the maximum insurable limits, together with such assistance payments and other fees, as established under section 421 of the Housing and Urban Rural Recovery Act of 1983 which amended Title II of the National Housing Act of 1934 by adding section 247, and its implementing regulations, to permit the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to insure loans secured by a mortgage executed by the homestead lessee covering a homestead lease issued under section 207(a) of this Act and upon which there is located a one to four family single family residence.
(7) The lessee shall pay all taxes assessed upon the tract and improvements thereon. The department may pay such taxes and have a lien therefor as provided by section 216 of this Act.
(8) The lessee shall perform such other conditions, not in conflict with any provision of this Act, as the department may stipulate in the lease; provided that an original lessee shall be exempt from all taxes for the first seven years after commencement of the term of the lease."
SECTION 5. The amendments made by this Act are declared to be severable, and if any of them, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held ineffective because there is a requirement of having the consent of the United States to take effect, then, that portion only shall take effect upon the granting of consent by the United States and the effectiveness of the remainder of these legislative amendments or the application thereof shall not be affected.
SECTION 6. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
|
INTRODUCED BY: |
_____________________________ |