STAND. COM. REP. NO. 988

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2021

RE: S.B. No. 186

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water & Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 186 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RESTRICTIONS ON AGRICULTURAL USES AND ACTIVITIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit the enforcement of a re-recorded homeowners' association restriction if the restriction prohibits bona fide agricultural uses and activities on agricultural land.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Planning, Hawai‘i Farm Bureau, and Wootens Produce of Kauai. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Agriculture.

Your Committee finds that restrictive covenants that limit agricultural uses on agricultural lands undermine the State's interest in protecting and preserving agricultural resources and promoting agricultural self-sufficiency and contravene public policy.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing its effective date to January 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water & Land that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 186, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 186, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Agriculture.

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

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair