STAND. COM. REP. NO.  665

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

RE:   H.B. No. 520

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources, to which was referred H.B. No. 520 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BUILDINGS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to repeal the law requiring property owners of "historic buildings" that are over fifty years old or listed or eligible for listing on the Hawaii or national register of historic places, to submit archival quality photographs prior to demolishing, constructing, or making other alterations to the building.  

     The Hawaii Developers' Council, General Contractors Association of Hawaii, The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Building Industry Association of Hawaii, and Hawaii Association of REALTORS testified in support of this bill.  Historic Hawaii Foundation, the Hawaiian Electric Company, Hawaii Electric Light Company, and Maui Electric Company opposed this measure.  The Department of Land and Natural Resources, Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu, and Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii provided comments.

     Your Committee recognizes that there is much support for the concept of preserving records of truly historic properties and seeks to find parameters that are neither overly broad nor too narrow.  However, as this bill is the only one that is currently advancing through the Legislature and given the time constraints, your Committee has amended this bill by changing the effective date to July 1, 2020, to encourage further discussion.

     Technical, nonsubstantive amendments were also made for clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 520, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 520, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources,

____________________________

KEN ITO, Chair