STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3724

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1923

H.D. 1

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1923, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CAMPS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to allow overnight camps in operation prior to January 1, 1961, to be regulated via the special permit process.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture; Office of Planning and Sustainable Development; Boy Scouts of America, Aloha Council; and Maui Chamber of Commerce.

Your Committee finds that in Hoʻomoana Foundation v. Land Use Commission, 152 Haw. 337, 526 P.3d 314 (2023), the Hawaii Supreme Court held that the specific exclusion of overnight camps from permitted uses under section 205-4.5(a)(6), Hawaii Revised Statutes, means that the public and private recreational use of overnight camps in agricultural districts is not permitted, even by special permit, overruling the Hawaii Supreme Court's decision in Mahaʻulepu v. Land Use Commission, 71 Haw. 332, 790 P.2d 906 (1990). Your Committee further finds that there are two campgrounds with special permits expiring within the next two years on Maui and two camps on Oahu that may also be impacted by the ruling in Hoʻomoana Foundation. As a result of Hoʻomoana Foundation, these campgrounds would need to obtain a district boundary amendment to change the land use classification from agricultural to urban, which is an overly burdensome process as these campgrounds are in rural settings with no urban uses in the nearby vicinity. This measure codifies that overnight camps in operation before January 1, 1961, may be regulated via the special permit process.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Making it effective upon its approval; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1923, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1923, H.D. 1, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary,

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KARL RHOADS, Chair