HomeMy WebLinkAboutComm No 0021.116 - Testimony - CA-7 - PONC fund and Maintenance fund
THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND’S TESTIMONY IN OPPOSITION TO COMM.
NO. 21.55 TRANSMITTING CA-7, DRAFT 2 FOR FIRST READING:
PROPOSAL TO AMEND SECTION 10-15 AND SECTION 10-16, BY
REPEALING AND REPLACING PROVISIONS FOR THE PUBLIC ACCESS,
OPEN SPACE, AND NATURAL RESOURCES PRESERVATION FUND AND
MAINTENANCE FUND, RESPECTIVELY, AS SUBMITTED BY
COMMISSIONER HAMANO
1003 Bishop St.
HAWAII COUNTY CHARTER COMMISSION
Pauahi Tower, Ste. 740
11:00 A.M., FEBRUARY 8, 2019
Honolulu, HI 96813
25 Aupuni Street, Hilo, Hawaii
T: 808.524.8694
Hawaii County Building, Room 1401, Council Chambers
F: 808.524.8565
Aloha Chair Adams and Commission Members:
The Trust for Public Land opposes advancing CA-7 through first reading. The Trust for
Public Land was originally involved in and supported the creation of the PONC fund
through its 501(c)(4) organization, the Conservation Campaign. The Trust for Public
Land thanks the staff of the PONC 2% fund and the volunteers who serve on the PONC
Commission for their hard work in advancing the wishes of the voters of Hawaii County
who voted for the 2% Fund.
We appreciate the work of the Ad Hoc Committee in reviewing Charter provisions that
established the 2% fund, but recommend that more work and analysis be completed –
interviewing the staff of the 2% fund, the volunteers of the PONC commission, the
groups who have applied is maintenance/management funding, and other stakeholders
with special expertise in land conservation such as The Trust for Public Land, The Nature
Conservancy, and The Hawaiian Islands Land Trust.
As discussed below, The Trust for Public Land in opposes passing CA-7 through first
reading. Specifically,
The Trust for Public Land opposes reductions to land acquisition fund amount
and opposes capping the amount. Land is very expensive in Hawaii and where
opportunities arise where land that the community wants to preserve is available
for sale, the County needs to be prepared to act. If the fund’s balances had not
built up, it would never have been able to purchase the seven Kaiholena parcels
in North Kohala for $10.5 million. The Trust for Public Land works with
conservation partners throughout the nation to conserve land. A steady source of
funding is necessary to build up sufficient capital to quickly move on significant
properties that the community wants to protect. We know from working with
Kauai County, which has a lower percentage for its open space fund, that it takes
many years for the fund to build up enough money to purchase land or contribute
to a purchase of land that the community wants very badly to preserve.
Landowners are not willing to wait for the fund’s reserves to build up and
opportunities for conservation have been lost. The Trust for Public Land also understands that there
are competing budgetary priorities. There will always be competing budget priorities. But the
voters and taxpayers of Hawaii County have repeatedly re-affirmed that land protection and
conservation is a very high priority.
The Trust for Public Land opposes reducing the maintenance fund amount. Interviewing applicants
for maintenance funds would have been helpful in understanding how difficult the application
process is for maintenance funds –- while the use of public funds should always be monitored and
best practices followed, the County process needs to be simplified. The complicated and adversarial
process does not encourage groups to apply.
The Trust for Public Land opposes the provision allowing the Council to suspend the fund. The
voters in Hawaii County have already voted several times in prior elections that conservation of
land is a high priority for them.
The Trust for Public Land thanks the Commission for deleting proposed changes to Section 10-16 of
the Charter that would have potentially expanded use of the maintenance fund to large capital project
that could have depleted the fund, and clarifying that any maintenance or improvements be for land
conservation purposes.
The Trust for Public Land opposes removing the protective covenant. This could affect the County’s
ability to secure matching funding, which accounts for approximately one-third of the County’s
funding to date. Further research would be required to determine if it would be permissible to allow
transfer of the protected to land to qualified partners like the National Park Service, the State, or land
trusts like the Nature Conservancy or the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust, subject to permanent
restrictions preventing development that run with the land.
The Trust for Public Land supports the Ad Hoc Committee and PONC Commission’s
recommendation that dedicated full-time staff is needed to support PONC’s work. PONC has
accomplished incredible conservation work. The Trust for Public Land is eager to work with PONC
to help leverage other funding – federal, state, and private – to stretch PONC dollars further and to
have a greater impact. Recently, The Trust for Public Land assisted the State of Hawaii in acquiring
2,900 former pineapple lands in Central Oahu for over $15.1 million – only $1.5 million of those
funds were State funds. The Trust for Public Land hopes that it use its national expertise in land
conservation to assist the County of Hawaii in meeting its conservation and preservation goals.
The Trust for Public Land also supports The PONC Commission’s recommendation that
jurisdiction/administration of PONC be moved from the Department of Parks & Recreation to the
Department of Finance.
Mahalo for this opportunity to testify. Unfortunately, we will not be able to testify in person due to scheduling
conflicts.
Mahalo –
Lea Hong
State Director
Edmund C. Olson Trust Fellow