STAND. COM. REP. NO. 898-24

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2024

RE: H.B. No. 1542

H.D. 2

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1542, H.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to authorize each county planning commission, between July 1, 2024, and December 31, 2026, to petition for the redistricting of land from an agricultural district to a rural district through the Land Use Commission's declaratory ruling process.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from four individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Agriculture and Land Use Commission.

Your Committee finds that the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development's report, "State Land Use Review of Districts," found that the reclassification of established rural subdivisions and rural centers from agricultural districts to rural districts accommodates lower density rural settlement patterns and subsistence farming lifestyles. Your Committee further finds that there are existing residential communities that are classified as agricultural districts. This measure will allow the counties to efficiently reclassify these communities to align with state and county land use policy.

Your Committee has amended this measure by 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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1542, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1542, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair