House defers OHA-land bill in favor of Senate’s version

House lawmakers deferred action Wednesday on the Abercrombie administration’s proposed ceded lands settlement with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, saying they would wait for the Senate version of the bill.

In the Senate, negotiations are under way to amend the proposed settlement.

Sen. Malama Solomon, vice chairwoman of the Senate Water, Land and Housing Committee, has challenged the adequacy of the proposed settlement, which would transfer about 25 acres in Kakaako valued at $200 million to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to settle long-standing ceded lands claims.

Solomon says any settlement that involves a transfer of land also should include the entitlement to the land — the right to develop the property.

Under terms of the proposed settlement, OHA would have ownership of the land and the ability to devise a master plan, but development would remain subject to the rules and zoning of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, an agency created in 1978 to manage the development of Kakaako.

The Senate’s Hawaiian Affairs and Water, Land and Housing committees heard the bill Monday and deferred decision-making until Friday to give lawmakers time to study the entitlement issue.

Rep. Jerry Chang, chairman of the House Water, Land and Ocean Resources Committee, said the House would address the entitlement issue if it is included in the version of the bill passed over from the Senate.

"We’re just waiting for their bill to cross over," said Chang (D, Piihonua-Kaumana).