STAND. COM. REP. NO. 157

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 257

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 257 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LEASE EXTENSIONS ON PUBLIC LAND,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the Board of Land and Natural Resources to extend commercial, industrial, resort, or governmental leases, other than those to which the University of Hawaii is a party, that have not been sold or assigned within the last ten years, for lessees who commit to substantial improvement to the existing improvements.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources; Prince Kuhio Plaza, LLC; Sand Island Business Association; Stanford Carr Development, LLC; and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Ka Lāhui Hawai‘i, Kūpuna for the Mo‘opuna, and two individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that many of the leases for commercial, industrial, and resort properties on public land statewide may be nearing the end of their lease terms. Faced with the uncertainty of continued tenancy, lessees have little incentive to make major investments in infrastructural improvements and therefore the infrastructure on these properties has been deteriorating. Authorization of lease extensions, like those proposed by this measure, may resolve issues surrounding the future of a tenancy and thereby promote investment in improvements located on currently leased public lands. Your Committee further finds that the extension of mixed use leases of state land in densely populated areas may promote the fullest use of public lands in urban cores.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language to allow for extensions of leases for mixed-development use in addition to commercial, industrial, resort, or governmental uses; and

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

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. 257, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 257, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair