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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBIL 078 Draft 03 2004-2006 COUNTY OF HAWAII STATE OF HAWAII BILL NO. 78 Draft 3 ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 2 OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PUBLIC ACCESS, OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION FUND. BE IT ORDAINEll BY THF, COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF HAWAII: SECTION 1. The purpose of this ordinance is to: 1) provide a permanent funding source to be used for acquiring lands or property entitlements for: land protection; public outdoor recreation and education, including access to beaches and mountains; preservation of historical or culturally important land areas and sites; protection of natural resources, including buffer zones; preservation of forests, beaches, coastal areas and agricultural lands; and protection of watershed lands to preserve water quality and water supply; and public access to, and enjoyment of public lands and open space; 2) to establish the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission, and the Commission's duties; and, 3) to establish the protocol necessary to carry out the requirements of this ordinance. SECTION 2. The Hawaii County Code. Chapter 2, is hereby amended by adding a new article to read as follows: Article 41. Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Fund Section 2-225 Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Fund. (a) A Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Fund is hereby established. This special fund shall be administered and managed by the finance department. (b) The fund shall consist of monies from: (1) The proceeds from the sale of any general obligation bonds, authorized and issued for the purposes of this article; (2) Council appropriations for the purposes of this article; (3) Any source of revenue dedicated by the Hawaii County Charter or the Hawaii County Code for the purposes of this article; and (4) Grants and private contributions intended for the purposes of this article. (c) In adopting each fiscal year's operating budget, the council shall appropriate a minimum of $250,000 to the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Fund. (l) When the unencumbered balance in the fund (exclusive of bond proceeds) equals or exceeds $5,000,000, no further county appropriations shall be made until the balance falls below $5,000,000. (2) Nothing in this section shall prevent the Counci] from appropriating amounts in excess of the above minimum amounts to this fund. (d) The fund shall be used for acquiring lands or property entitlements in the county of Hawaii for the following purposes: (1) Public outdoor recreation and education, including access to beaches and mountains. (2) Preservation of historic or culturally important land areas and sites. (3) Protection of natural resources, including buffer zones. (4) Preservation of forests, beaches, coastal areas, natural beauty and agricultural lands. (5) Protection of watershed lands to preserve water quality and water supply. (e) There is established a Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission. There shall be nine members on this commission, appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the Council. One member shall reside in each county council district. Staff support shall be provided by the Finance Department. The duties and responsibilities ofthis commission are: (1) To develop an initial island-wide prioritized list of qualifying lands worthy of preservation and submit it to the mayor. Priorities shall be listed on an island- wide rather than district basis. "fhe list shall include the significance of each parcel or entitlement identified, the reason for its priority, and its anticipated use after acquisition; (2) To update this list at any time, but at least annually by December 31 of each year; and (3) To explore methods of funding land acquisition and make recommendations to the Mayor. (4) The commission shall give emphasis to land acquisitions where the county's contribution can be leveraged to obtain state, federal, and/or private funds. (f) The prioritized list developed by the commission shall be submitted to the Mayor for comments and recommendation. Within 60 days after receipt, the Mayor will submit the list to the council with comments and recommendations. The Council shall, by resolution, select the land or lands to be preserved. Under no circumstances shall the purchase price paid for a property exceed the appraised value as prepared by an independent appraiser engaged by the county. Where there arc multiple lands under consideration at any one time, priority shall be given to coastal lands and lands where matching funding is available to leverage the county contribution. 2 (g) Negotiations for acquisition of lands to be preserved shall occur between the County and the seller or its commissioned agent, or a licensed broker only. The Commission shall have no role in the negotiations other than in its advisory capacity. (h) Appraisals, title reports, surveying acid other costs incidental to the acquisition of land shall be permitted uses of this fund. These costs shall be allocated equally between the seller and the buyer. (i) Adequate staff to carry out the provisions of this article and to manage the land acquired shall be provided in the Department of Finance to maximize the use of available funds by minimizing the payment of commission to outside agents to put together funding plans and to ensure that the county is a good steward of any land that comes under its control through this articlc. SECTION 3. For initial members of the Public Access, Open Space, and Natural Resources Preservation Commission, the terms shall range in length from one to five years. Initial members of~this commission shall be appointed by the Mayor no later than August 31, 2005. Within six months of appointment of the commission, anisland-wide prioritized list of qualifying lands worthy of preservation shall be developed by the commission. SECTION 4. If any provision of this ordinance or the application thereof is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end, the provisions of this ordinance are declared to be severable. SECTION 5. This ordinance shall take effect upon its approval. INTRODUCED BY: COUNCIL ER, COUNTY OF HAWAII Hilo, Hawaii Date of Introduction: Date of l~' Reading: Date of 2"d Reading: Effective Date: REFERENCE: COMM. 208.121 3