STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2357

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1368

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 1368 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to provide for the development of a use-it-or-lose-it mechanism for land classification to the urban district to ensure more effective timing of development of planned or approved urban or rural capacity.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, Office of Planning, Sierra Club, Hawaii, and one individual.  Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii and Building Industry Association – Hawaii.

     Your Committee finds that there are cases where lands reclassified by the Land Use Commission to the urban district are undeveloped for many years after the reclassification.  Your Committee is concerned that in some cases conditions have changed so significantly that the development proposal as originally conceived may warrant review and reconsideration.  Your Committee also finds that premature urban or rural classification encourages speculative land banking and creates uncertainty in the buildout of planned urban or rural capacity and associated infrastructure.  This measure provides for the development of a use-it-or-lose-it mechanism to ensure more effective timing of development of planned or approved urban or rural capacity.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1368, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1368, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

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

____________________________

CLAYTON HEE, Chair