STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2256

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2204

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 2204 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize a county to initiate a land use boundary amendment to implement the county's general plan.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting, Mayor of the County of Hawaiʻi, County of Hawaiʻi Planning Department, Mayor of County of Kauaʻi, one member of the Hawaiʻi County Council, one member of the Maui County Council, Hawaiʻi Association of Realtors, and two individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi, Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, Free Access Coalition, Kupuna for the Moʻopuna, Life of the Land, and thirty-eight individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, Land Use Commission, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the current state-level process for reclassifying lands according to county general plans has become time consuming and costly. This measure will allow the counties to take the lead in aligning state land use classification with their general plans, which would streamline the process and enhance government efficiency.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that technical archaeological, cultural, and biological survey studies shall be required for land reclassifications from agricultural or conservation to urban;

(2) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) 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. 2204, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2204, 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