Bill Text: HI HB975 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Bill 975 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Agricultural Leases; Duration Limits

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-12-01 - Carried over to 2012 Regular Session. [HB975 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-HB975-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	975
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to agricultural leases.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that currently agricultural leases generally are limited to a maximum of thirty-five years. This limitation is a serious hardship for farmers and other agricultural businesses that must rely on farm loan programs, some of which have terms longer than thirty‑five years.

In 2010, the senate committee on economic development and technology and the house committee on economic revitalization, business, and military affairs convened an informal small business discussion group to address the most critical issues facing the small business sectors within Hawaii's economy. Representatives from the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, construction and trades industries, community nonprofits, the agricultural sector, food and restaurant industries, retailing, the science and technology sector, the commercial transportation industry, and interested stakeholders developed a package of bills that address the most pressing problems facing Hawaii's small business community.

The purpose of this Act is to support the findings of the small business working group and recommendations to increase the length of those agricultural leases with a thirty-five-year maximum duration to fifty‑five years.

SECTION 2. Section 171-37, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§171-37 Lease restrictions; intensive agricultural and pasture uses. In addition to the restrictions provided in section 171-36, the following restrictions shall apply to all leases for intensive agricultural and pasture uses:

(1) The lease term shall be not less than fifteen years nor more than [~~thirty-five~~] fifty-five years, except that if the type of disposition requires the lessee to occupy the premises as the lessee's own personal residence, it may be longer than [~~thirty-five~~] fifty‑five years, but not in excess of seventy-five years, and except in the case of a tree-crop orchard lease the term of which shall not be in excess of [~~forty-five~~] fifty-five years.

(2) If the land being leased is not immediately productive and requires extensive expenditures for clearing, conditioning of the soil, the securing of water, the planting of grasses, or the construction of improvements, as the result of which a longer term is necessary to amortize the lessee's investment, then the lease term may be longer than [~~thirty-five years, but not in excess of~~] fifty-five years.

(3) The land leased hereunder, or any portion thereof, shall be subject to withdrawal by the board of land and natural resources at any time during the term of the lease with reasonable notice and without compensation, except as provided herein, for public uses or purposes, including residential, commercial, industrial, or resort developments, for constructing new roads or extensions, or changes in line or grade of existing roads, for rights-of-way and easements of all kinds, and shall be subject to the right of the board to remove soil, rock, or gravel as may be necessary for the construction of roads and rights-of-way within or without the demised premises; provided that upon the withdrawal, or upon the taking which causes any portion of the land originally demised to become unusable for the specific use or uses for which it was demised, the rent shall be reduced in proportion to the value of the land withdrawn or made unusable, and if any permanent improvement constructed upon the land by the lessee is destroyed or made unusable in the process of the withdrawal or taking, the proportionate value thereof shall be paid based upon the unexpired term of the lease; provided further that no withdrawal or taking shall be had as to those portions of the land which are then under cultivation with crops until the crops are harvested, unless the board pays to the lessee the value of the crops; and provided further that upon withdrawal any person with a long-term lease shall be compensated for the present value of all permanent improvements in place at the time of withdrawal that were legally constructed upon the land by the lessee to the leased land being withdrawn. In the case of tree crops, the board shall pay to the lessee the residual value of the trees taken and, if there are unharvested crops, the value of the crops also.

"Tree-crop", as used in this section, shall be exclusive of papaya and banana."

SECTION 3. Section 171-59, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) Disposition of public lands for airline, aircraft, airport-related, agricultural processing, cattle feed production, aquaculture, marine, maritime, and maritime-related operations may be negotiated without regard to the limitations set forth in subsection (a) and section 171-16(c); provided that:

(1) The disposition encourages competition within the aeronautical, airport-related, agricultural, aquaculture, maritime, and maritime-related operations;

(2) The disposition shall not exceed a maximum term of [~~thirty-five~~] fifty-five years, except in the case of maritime and maritime-related operations, which may provide for a maximum term of seventy years; and

(3) The method of disposition of public lands for cattle feed production as set forth in this subsection shall not apply after December 31, 1988.

For the purposes of this subsection:

"Agricultural processing" means the processing of agricultural products, including dairying, grown, raised, or produced in Hawaii.

"Airport-related" means a purpose or activity that requires air transportation to achieve that purpose or activity.

"Maritime-related" means a purpose or activity that requires and is directly related to the loading, off-loading, storage, or distribution of goods and services of the maritime industry."

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Agricultural Leases; Duration Limits

Description:

Increases the length of agricultural leases with a thirty-five limit to fifty-five years.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.