Bill Text: HI SR18 | 2011 | Regular Session | Amended

---

Bill Title: Important Agricultural Lands; City and County of Honolulu; Mapping

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2011-06-06 - (S) Certified copies of resolutions sent, 06-06-11. [SR18 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2011-SR18-Amended.html

---

THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	18
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU TO EXPEND MONIES ALREADY DEDICATED IN ITS 2010-2011 EXECUTIVE OPERATING BUDGET TO CONDUCT A STUDY TO MAP AND DETERMINE IMPORTANT AGRICULTURAL LANDS ON OAHU, FOR THAT PURPOSE.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the 1978 Constitutional Convention mandated protection of Important Agricultural Lands; and

 

     WHEREAS, article XI, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii requires the State to conserve and protect agricultural lands, promote diversified agriculture, increase agricultural self-sufficiency, and assure the availability of agriculturally suitable lands, and to provide standards and criteria to accomplish those ends; and

 

     WHEREAS, the recent rezoning of agricultural lands at Koa Ridge by the Land Use Commission increases pressure to protect remaining agricultural lands and reduces the possibility of increasing agricultural self-sufficiency; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Land Use Commission reviews petitions to reclassify land use district boundaries; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Land Use Commission has been criticized for subverting land use approvals in favor of the constituencies of development and shutting out the public from its land use reclassification process; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 183, Session Laws of Hawaii 2005, amended chapter 205, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to add a new part relating to Important Agricultural Lands that established requirements necessary to carry out the provisions of article XI, section 3, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii relating to conservation and protection of agricultural lands and agricultural self-sufficiency; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 183 (2005) established a process to designate Important Agricultural Lands, and the first stage of this process, which has already commenced, allows farmers and landowners to voluntarily petition the Land Use Commission to designate their lands as Important Agricultural Lands; and

 

     WHEREAS, the second stage of the designation process requires each county to identify lands for potential designation as Important Agricultural Lands and to petition the Land Use Commission to designate these lands as Important Agricultural Lands, and this process is scheduled to begin on July 1, 2011; and

 

     WHEREAS, each county is required to cooperate with landowners, the Department of Agriculture, agriculture interest groups, including representatives from the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation and other agricultural organizations, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Office of Planning, and other groups as necessary to develop maps of potential Important Agricultural Lands; and

 

     WHEREAS, each county is required to hold a series of public meetings to receive public input in the identification of potential lands and the development of maps of lands to be recommended as Important Agricultural Lands; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Executive Operating Budget and Program for the City and County of Honolulu for the 2010-2011 fiscal year sets aside $500,000 for funding for a study to identify and map potential Important Agricultural Lands on Oahu; and

 

     WHEREAS, extensive county planning and coordination are necessary to implement laws designed to protect agricultural lands and support agricultural viability; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, that the City and County of Honolulu is urged to expend monies set aside in its 2010-2011 Executive Operating Budget and Program to the Department of Planning and Permitting for a study to map and determine Important Agricultural Lands on Oahu; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Chairperson of the Land Use Commission; Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu; and  Director of the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu.

Report Title: 

Important Agricultural Lands; City and County of Honolulu; Mapping