My WebLink
|
Help
|
About
|
Sign Out
Home
DLNR Testimony
PublicDocuments
>
Planning Department
>
Banyan Drive HRA
>
Meeting Materials (Board Packet)
>
2020-02-26 Meeting Documents
>
DLNR Testimony
Metadata
Thumbnails
Annotations
Entry Properties
Last modified
2/14/2020 3:48:23 PM
Creation date
2/14/2020 3:48:02 PM
Metadata
There are no annotations on this page.
Document management portal powered by Laserfiche WebLink 9 © 1998-2015
Laserfiche.
All rights reserved.
/
18
PDF
Print
Pages to print
Enter page numbers and/or page ranges separated by commas. For example, 1,3,5-12.
After downloading, print the document using a PDF reader (e.g. Adobe Reader).
Show annotations
View images
View plain text
including payroll, fringe benefits, hearing officer fees, and other costs and expenses, would be <br /> $500,000 annually. The bill makes an unspecified general fund appropriation to the Waiakea <br /> Peninsula Redevelopment District revolving fund, and then authorizes an unspecified <br /> appropriation out of the fund for Fiscal Year 2020-2021 for purposes of PART III of the <br /> measure. Additional funds would be made available to the planning committee through the <br /> Department's lease revenues in the designated district. <br /> The bill proposes an unnecessary, bureaucratic addition to the Department's operations. As <br /> explained above, the Department has been working with the BDHRA regarding plans for the <br /> Banyan Drive area. Additionally, as mentioned above, the Department has procured consultants <br /> for Banyan Drive to analyze market trends, and explore options for redevelopment and <br /> rehabilitation of specific parcels or areas. After the 2013 legislative session, former Governor <br /> Abercrombie approved the formation of a Banyan Drive Task Force that met a number of times <br /> to discuss many of the issues covered by the bill as they relate to the Banyan Drive area. The <br /> task force members included representatives from local businesses, the former executive director <br /> of the Big Island Visitors Bureau, the executive director of the `Imiloa Astronomy Center of <br /> Hawaii, and representatives from the Hawaii County Mayor's Office and state legislators also <br /> attended the meetings. This informal task force worked well and at limited expense to the State. <br /> There are practical problems with the bill <br /> As noted above, the measure allows the Legislature to designate redevelopment districts on <br /> public lands. As defined in Section 171-2, HRS, public lands exclude lands used as roads and <br /> streets. While the State owns some contiguous parcels in the Banyan Drive area of Hilo, it does <br /> not own or manage the roads, which often include utility lines and other infrastructure. <br /> Accordingly, to the extent the bill seeks to improve infrastructure in a given area, a <br /> redevelopment district designated by the Legislature would likely not include important <br /> infrastructure components. Rather, the district would be confined to the particular parcels under <br /> the Department's management. <br /> The Department relies on the revenues front leases of public lands to fulfill its fiduciary duties <br /> The bill proposes to deposit 50% of the revenues, income and receipts of the Department from <br /> the public lands in the Waiakea Peninsula Redevelopment District into the District's revolving <br /> fund. These lands are ceded and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is currently receiving 20% of the <br /> revenues and is seeking to increase its share above the $15.1 it receives annually. Neither this <br /> bill nor the redevelopment agency bills relieve the Department of the lease management duties. <br /> Therefore, if these measures were all to pass and become law, the Department would be left in <br /> the very unfortunate situation of having to manage all of those leases (bill, collect, inspect, <br /> procure and pay for professionals for rental and reopening valuations) but receive nominal <br /> revenue in return. <br /> The Department and the Board are responsible for managing approximately 1.3 million acres of <br /> public lands comprising sensitive natural, cultural and recreational resources. The Department's <br /> responsibilities include managing and maintaining the State's coastal lands and waters, water <br /> resources, conservation and forestry lands, historical sites, small boat harbors, parks, and <br /> 5 <br />
The URL can be used to link to this page
Your browser does not support the video tag.