RELATING TO SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREAS.

SB755

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

755

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to special management areas
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

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SECTION
1
.
�
Section 205A-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended as follows:

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1.
�

By amending the definition of "development" to read:

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""Development":

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(1)
�
Means
any of the uses, activities, or operations on land or in or under water within
a special management area that are included below:

���������
(A)
�
Placement
or erection of any solid material or any gaseous, liquid, solid, or thermal
waste;

���������
(B)
�
Grading,
removing, dredging, mining, or extraction of any materials;

���������
(C)
�
Change
in the density or intensity of use of land, including but not limited to the
division or subdivision of land;

���������
(D)
�
Change
in the intensity of use of water, ecology related thereto, or of access
thereto; and

���������
(E)
�
Construction,
reconstruction, or alteration of the size of any structure; and

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(2)
�
Does not include the following:

���������
(A)
�
Construction
or reconstruction of a single-family residence that is less than seven thousand
five hundred square feet of floor area; is not situated on a shoreline parcel
or a parcel that is impacted by waves, storm surges, high tide, or shoreline
erosion; and is not part of a larger development;

���������
(B)
�
Repair
or maintenance of roads and highways within existing rights-of-way;

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(C)
�
Routine
maintenance dredging of existing streams, channels, and drainage ways;

���������
(D)
�
Repair
and maintenance of underground utility lines, including but not limited to
water, sewer, power, and telephone and minor appurtenant structures such as pad
mounted transformers and sewer pump stations;

���������
(E)
�
Zoning
variances, except for height, density, parking, and shoreline setback;

���������
(F)
�
Repair,
maintenance, or interior alterations to existing structures;

���������
(G)
�
Demolition
or removal of structures, except those structures located on any historic site
as designated in national or state registers;

���������
(H)
�
Use
of any land for the purpose of cultivating, planting, growing, and harvesting
plants, crops, trees, and other agricultural, horticultural, or forestry
products or animal husbandry, or aquaculture or mariculture of plants or
animals, or other agricultural purposes, including all traditional fishpond and
traditional agricultural practices;

���������
(I)
�
Transfer
of title to land;

���������
(J)
�
Creation
or termination of easements, covenants, or other rights in structures or land;

���������
(K)
�
Subdivision of land into lots greater
than twenty acres in size;

���������
(L)
�
Subdivision
of a parcel of land into four or fewer parcels when no associated construction
activities are proposed; provided that any land that is so subdivided shall not
thereafter qualify for this exception with respect to any subsequent
subdivision of any of the resulting parcels;

���������
(M)
�
Installation
of underground utility lines and appurtenant aboveground fixtures less than
four feet in height along existing corridors;

���������
(N)
�
Structural
and nonstructural improvements to existing single-family residences, where
otherwise permissible;

���������
(O)
�
Nonstructural improvements to existing
commercial or noncommercial structures;

���������
(P)
�
Construction, installation, maintenance,
repair, and replacement of emergency management warning or signal devices and
sirens;

���������
(Q)
�
Installation,
maintenance, repair, and replacement of public pedestrian and bicycle
facilities, including sidewalks, paths, bikeways, crosswalks, stairs, ramps,
traffic control barriers, signs, signals, and associated improvements;

���������
(R)
�
Trash
removal or invasive vegetation removal or control, including incidental ground
disturbance, excluding the use of herbicides;

���������
(S)
�
Installation
of fencing, including associated improvements and incidental structures, for
invasive species control or preservation of native habitats on conservation
land;

���������
(T)
�
Installation,
maintenance, repair, and replacement of lighting, fixtures, and equipment to
establish compliance with current standards at existing public facilities;

���������
(U)
�
Installation,
maintenance, repair, and replacement of security measures, including fencing,
to existing public facilities; and

���������
(V)
�
Hawaiian
traditional and customary practices, including work conducted by traditional
means near, in, or related to loko i
ʻ
a, traditional
Hawaiian fishponds;

provided
that whenever the [
authority
]
county
finds that any excluded use,
activity, or operation may have a cumulative impact, or a significant
environmental or ecological effect on a special management area, that use,
activity, or operation shall be defined as "development" for the
purpose of this part."

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2.
�

By amending the definition of "special management area emergency
permit" to read:

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"
"Special
management area emergency permit" means an action by the [
authority
]

county
authorizing development in cases of emergency requiring immediate
action to prevent substantial physical harm to persons or property or to allow
the reconstruction of structures damaged by natural hazards to their original
form; provided that those structures were previously found to be in compliance
with requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program."

����
3.
�

By amending the definition of "special management area minor
permit" to read:

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""Special management area minor
permit" means an action by the [
authority
]
county

authorizing development the valuation of which is not in excess of $500,000 and
which has no substantial adverse environmental or ecological effect, taking
into account potential cumulative effects."

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4.
�

By amending the definition of "special management area use
permit" to read:

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""Special management area use
permit" means an action by the [
authority
]
county
authorizing
development the valuation of which exceeds $500,000 or which may have a
substantial adverse environmental or ecological effect, taking into account
potential cumulative effects."

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5.
�

By amending the definition of "valuation" to read:

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""Valuation" shall be
determined by the [
authority
]
county
and means the estimated cost
to replace the structure in kind based on current replacement costs, or in the
cases of other development as defined above, the fair market value of the
development."

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SECTION
2
.
�
Section 205A-23, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

����
"(c)
�

Nothing in this chapter shall preclude the [
authority
]
county

from amending its special management area boundary at any point in time;
provided that the procedures and requirements outlined in subsection (b) shall
be complied with
;
[
and
] provided further that any future special
management area boundary adjustments shall be restricted to the coastal zone
management area."

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SECTION
3
.
�
Section 205A-26, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:

����
"
�205A-26
�
Special management area
guidelines.
�
In implementing this
part, the [
authority
]
each county
shall adopt the following
guidelines for the review of developments proposed in the special management
area:

����
(1)
�
All development in the special
management area shall be subject to reasonable terms and conditions set by the [
authority
]

county
in order to ensure:

���������
(A)
�
Adequate access, by dedication or other
means, to publicly owned or used beaches, recreation areas, and natural
reserves is provided to the extent consistent with sound conservation
principles;

���������
(B)
�
Adequate and properly located public
recreation areas and wildlife preserves are reserved;

���������
(C)
�
Provisions are made for solid and
liquid waste treatment, disposition, and management that will minimize adverse
effects upon special management area resources; and

���������
(D)
�
Alterations to existing land forms and
vegetation, except crops, and construction of structures shall cause minimum
adverse effect to water resources, beaches, coastal dunes, and scenic and
recreational amenities and minimize impacts from floods, wind damage, storm
surge, landslides, erosion, sea level rise, siltation, or failure in the event
of earthquake.

����
(2)
�
No development shall be approved unless
the [
authority
]
county
has first found:

���������
(A)
�
That the development will not have any
significant adverse environmental or ecological effect, except as any adverse
effect is minimized to the extent practicable and clearly outweighed by public
health, safety, or compelling public interests.
�

Those adverse effects shall include but not be limited to the potential
cumulative impact of individual developments, each of which taken by itself
might not have a significant adverse effect, and the elimination of planning
options;

���������
(B)
�
That the development is consistent with
the objectives, policies, and special management area guidelines of this
chapter and any guidelines enacted by the legislature; and

���������
(C)
�
That the development is consistent with
the county general plan, community plan, and zoning; provided that a finding of
consistency shall not preclude concurrent processing where a general plan,
community plan, or zoning amendment may also be required.

����
(3)
�
The [
authority
]
county

shall seek to minimize, where reasonable:

���������
(A)
�
Dredging, filling or otherwise altering
any bay, estuary, salt marsh, river mouth, slough or lagoon;

���������
(B)
�
Any development that would reduce the
size of any beach or other area usable for public recreation;

���������
(C)
�
Any development that would reduce or
impose restrictions upon public access to tidal and submerged lands, beaches,
portions of rivers and streams within the special management areas and the mean
high tide line where there is no beach;

���������
(D)
�
Any development that would
substantially interfere with or detract from the line of sight toward the sea
from the state highway nearest the coast; and

���������
(E)
�
Any development that would adversely
affect water quality, existing areas of open water free of visible structures,
existing and potential fisheries and fishing grounds, wildlife habitats, or
potential or existing agricultural uses of land."

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SECTION
4
.
�
Section 205A-27, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:

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"
�205A-27
�
Designation of special
management area authority.
�
[
The
authority
]
Each county
is designated the special management area
authority
within the county's respective jurisdiction
and is authorized
to carry out the objectives, policies and procedures of this part."

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SECTION
5
.
�
Section 205A-29, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:

����
"
�205A-29
�
Special management area
use permit procedure.
�
(a)
�
[
The authority in each county,
]
Each
county,
upon consultation with the
county's
central coordinating
agency, shall adopt rules under chapter 91 setting the special management area
use permit application procedures, conditions under which hearings must be
held, and the time periods within which the hearing and action for special management
area use permits shall occur.
�
The [
authority
]

county
shall provide [
for
] adequate notice to individuals whose
property rights may be adversely affected and to persons who have requested in
writing to be notified of special management area use permit hearings or
applications.
�
The [
authority
]
county

shall also provide public notice that is, at a minimum, circulated throughout
the county at least twenty days in advance of the hearing.
�
The [
authority
]
county
may
require a reasonable filing fee which shall be used for the purposes set forth
herein.

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Any rule adopted by the [
authority
]
county

shall be consistent with the objectives, policies, and special management area
guidelines provided in this chapter.
�

Action on the special management permit shall be final unless otherwise
mandated by court order.

����
(b)
�

No agency authorized to issue permits pertaining to any development
within the special management area shall authorize any development unless
approval is first received in accordance with the procedures adopted pursuant
to this part.
�
For the purposes of this
subsection,
the
county general plan, state land use district boundary
amendments, and zoning changes are not permits."

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SECTION
6
.
�
Section 205A-30, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:

����
"
�205A-30
�
Emergency and minor permits.
�
Each county [
authority
] shall
provide specific procedures consistent with this part for the issuance of
special management area emergency permits or special management area minor
permits, pursuant to the procedural requirements within this part, and judicial
review from the grant and denial thereof.
�

The lead agency shall file notice of special management area minor
permits in the next available issue of the periodic bulletin of the office of
planning and sustainable development."

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SECTION
7
.
�
Section 205A-30.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes,
is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

����
"(c)
�

The [
authority
]
county
shall adopt rules under chapter 91
setting forth procedures for implementing this section."

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SECTION 8.
�

Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory material is underscored.

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SECTION 9.
�

This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Special
Management Areas; Counties; Jurisdiction

Description:

Designates
each county as the special management area authority within the county's
respective jurisdiction.
�
Makes
conforming amendments.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.