STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1210

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1371

       H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred H.B. No. 1371, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE SAND ISLAND STATE RECREATION AREA,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Land and Natural Resources to prepare a master plan for the Sand Island State Recreation Area.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Governor, Department of Land and Natural Resources, PA‘I Foundation, Friends of Hanauma Bay, and sixty individuals.

 

     Your Committee finds that residents and visitors alike are seeking additional outdoor recreational opportunities and are attracted to safe and well-maintained parks near the beach and ocean.  Your Committee also finds that the Sand Island State Recreation Area is one such urban park in Honolulu, that accommodates both land- and ocean-based recreational activities.  Presently, there is an undeveloped section of the Sand Island State Recreation Area that abuts the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, which contains hazardous abandoned military infrastructure, illegally dumped waste, and long-thorn Kiawe.  Your Committee finds that the undeveloped portion of the park could potentially be transformed into an open grass area for picnicking, walking and biking paths, and a variety of other recreational uses.  Therefore, this measure requires the Department of Land and Natural Resources to develop a master plan for the Sand Island State Recreation Area that will also incorporate plans for the establishment of a Native Hawaiian arts and cultural center for community uses.

 

     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 H.B. No. 1371, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair