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GENERAL PLAN County Council members will have extra time, until September 8, to propose amendments to the Gen- eral Plan. COUNTY OF HAW All GENERAL PLAN FEBRUARY 2005 (As Amended) The General Plan is Hawai'i County's policy document for the long range development of Hawai'i Island. The last comprehensive review was in 2005, when it established the vari- ous community development plans that now guide growth and land use patterns around the island. A number of interim amendments have been made since then. However, the time has come again for a comprehensive review of the Gen- eral Plan. Planning Director Duane Kanuha opened the 120-day period for the Council to review and sug- gest amendments, with the deadline originally scheduled for June 6, 2015. Council member Greggor Ilagan, as Chair of the Planning Committee, originally asked Director Kanuha for a two-month extension of the dead- line, because no council members had proposed any amendments to SQUATTING AND ADVERSE POSSESSION TASK FORCE Council member Greggor Ilagan has received a number of com- plaints about squatters living in va- cant, bank-owned homes through- out Puna. He is working to start a public discussion on squatting and adverse possession that will result in legislation to address this prob- lem. Squatting occurs when a person wrongfully settles on the real prop- erty of another without permission. In Puna, where there are a large num- ber of vacant, bank-owned proper- ties, squatting is a huge problem. lla- gan's office often receives complaints about people living in vacant homes, and causing headaches for neigh- bors. At the same time, Ilagan is aware that the discussion needs to include the role of adverse possession. Adverse possession is defined as a doctrine under which a person in possession of land owned by some- one else may acquire valid title to it, so long as certain common law re- quirements are met, and the adverse possessor is in possession for a suffi- cient period of time - in Hawaii, the requirement is 20 years if the land in question is five acres of property or less. "What we see as a problem (with squatting) is that people are going into other people's property with the intent to live in there and reducing the quality of life around the area;' Ilagan said. "But the other end of that spec- trum is adverse possession, when the person is living there and increasing the quality around the area:' the General Plan. Kanuha instead pro- vided a three-month extension. "I wanted to take my chairmanship se- riously;' Ilagan said in the June 2 Plan- ning Committee meeting. "And when I sat down and really thought about it, what is the main goal for the PC and what is the most integral document for the committee? It's the General Plan. That's big; the biggest piece of Plan- ning:' He asked Council members to take ad- vantage of this opportunity to provide initial input. After review by the Plan- ning Director, the public workshops in 2017, and the public hearings by the planning commissions in 2017-2018, the Council will not take up the issue on the agenda again until early 2018. Director Kanuha emphasized that the September 8 deadline only applies to the County Council, and that the pub- lic may provide input to the Planning Department at multiple hearings and workshops during the next three years. Ilagan has reached out to police and prosecutors to find a solution. He is put- ting together a draft of a bill to prohibit squatting in a residential dwelling. But there are a lot of issues that remain un- resolved, regarding enforcement, imple- mentation or similar issues, so he would like to convene a task force that will work together to address the squatting issue and come up with a workable solution. The goal of this effort is to discuss and allow input for some of the challenges faced related to dealing with squatters. What remedies do aggrieved neighbors have? Who owns a foreclosed home and what happens if that owner cannot be reached? When someone calls police for assistance with getting a suspected squatter out of a house, what happens next? What are the County's responsibili- ties and roles regarding squatting as it relates to the state? These are some of the difficult issues that need to be addressed, and there are no easy answers. But by bringing the is- sue to the fore front, Ilagan would like to consider all options and find the best possible solution.