STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2525

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3288

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 Water, Land, Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 3288 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE COUNTRY CLUB APARTMENT BUILDING, HILO, HAWAII,"

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 demolish and remove the Country Club Apartment Building and related structures and utilities located at 121 Banyan Drive, Hilo Hawaii, on the parcel designated as tax map key: (3) 2-1-005:020.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaii Community Development Authority, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that the Hawaii Community Development Authority is currently preparing a community master plan for the Waiakea area in Hilo, known as Banyan Drive. To repurpose the land for future public uses that include a cultural center and other community improvements, it is critical that the State acquire and reposition key parcels of land. The Country Club Apartment Building sits on a key parcel and its removal will support improved site conditions and better opportunities for revitalization consistent with the master plan. This measure will appropriate funds to the Department of Land and Natural Resources to purchase the parcel on which the Country Club Apartment Buildings sit to support the redevelopment of underutilized lands and optimize public land assets for the benefit of the community.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the appropriation amount from $15,000,000 to an unspecified amount, to encourage further discussion;

(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, Land, Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3288, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3288, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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CHRIS LEE, Chair