STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3009

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3231

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 3231 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require condominium maps for lands within an agricultural district to include a letter signed by an appropriate county official or agency certifying that the condominium property regime will conform to county zoning laws; and

(2) Authorize counties to require the county's approval of the subdivision of parcels of land larger than ten acres prior to the effective date of the condominium property regime.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, Animal Rights Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau, and one individual.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaiʻi Real Estate Commission.

Your Committee finds that condominium property regimes can be used to circumvent the subdivision review process for agricultural lands. Your Committee further finds that it is important to retain agricultural land in the State for bona fide agricultural production. This measure aims to preserve the integrity of agricultural lands in the State by protecting them from fragmentation and misuse.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that an application for registration of a project in an agricultural district larger than ten acres shall include certain additional information;

(2) Deleting language that would have authorized a county to require an applicant to obtain approval from the county for a subdivision of the land before the condominium property regime effective date for projects involving parcels of land larger than ten acres; and

(3) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3231, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3231, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection,

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JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair