A group of state senators wants the state to explore the possibility of swapping the site of the Oahu Community Correctional Center for agricultural and conservation lands between Wahiawa and the North Shore.
State Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz (D, Wahiawa-Whitmore-Mililani Mauka), the bill’s lead author, said the swap would allow what are largely former pineapple lands to remain in agriculture and conservation designations. At the same time, it could generate enough additional revenues from the owners of the lands — due to the value of the OCCC property, which sits on prime urban real estate in Kalihi along the city’s rail route, and other nearby state land — to pay for a replacement to OCCC on property adjacent to the existing Halawa Correctional Facility, he said.
"This bill is the beginning of the process of due diligence; it’s not the end," Dela Cruz said. "There’s a concept, and now we have to fund the due diligence."
On Friday three Senate committees heard Senate Bill 1374, which appropriates up to $500,000 from the Land Conservation Fund for a study to investigate the potential deal. The roughly 15,000 acres of agricultural and conservation lands is owned by Dole Food Co. Hawaii. Much of the land is being leased to farmers on short-term agreements as Dole is actively seeking to sell the property to potential developers.
The Senate Water and Land and Agriculture committees are scheduled to vote on the bill Wednesday, while the Public Safety Intergovernmental and Military Affairs Committee will take it up Thursday.
Brian Miyamoto, executive director of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, told senators Friday that there are many parties interested in acquiring the land.
"We would rather have the state have these lands versus private landowners who may develop it," Miyamoto said. "One of the challenges for our farmers is obtaining long-term leases."
The state is in the best position to help provide such leases that, in turn, "would result in farmers being able to invest in the infrastructure and operations and grow the operations," he said.
A bill last year calling on the state to obtain the lands, which was killed during the waning hours of the 2014 Legislature, looked at the possibility of obtaining 20,000 acres, Miyamoto said. This year’s bill contemplates the purchase of 15,000 acres.
No Dole official attended Friday’s meeting. But in written testimony, Dole operations director Dan Nellis said the company supports a plan to study a possible swap as proposed by Dela Cruz.
"We are willing to further discuss the state’s interest in purchasing, or exchanging for fully entitled state lands, Dole Food Co.’s excess acreage to support the state’s mandate of promoting diversified agriculture and preserving conservation lands and habitats," Nellis wrote.
The bill was also backed by the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Land Use Research Foundation, Hawaii Aquaculture and Aquaponics Association and Hawaii Cattlemen’s Council.
But not all parties support the measure.
Marjorie Ziegler, an official with the Conservation Council for Hawaii, said in written testimony that the Land Conservation Fund and the affiliated Legacy Land Conservation Program were established by the Legislature to purchase lands of public interest and that using the fund for a possible land exchange would be a "raid."
Since the 1990s the fund "has leveraged millions of dollars in private, county and federal funds to protect valuable lands for the people and generations to come," Ziegler said. Those moneys "should not be used to fund a potential land exchange between the state and a private property owner," she said.
Similar concerns were raised in written testimony by the Trust for Public Land and the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust, as well as individuals who objected to the use of the fund to explore a potential prison site.
The different state agencies that would be involved in the intricate deal submitted diverse testimony.
The Department of Agriculture and Agribusiness Development Corp. backed the bill, while the Department of Land and Natural Resources echoed the concerns of those who don’t think a study would be the proper use of the Land Conservation Fund.
Public Safety Director-designate Nolan Espinda observed Friday’s hearing but did not testify. Afterward, Espinda told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that his agency is "just in listening mode."
"Anything that has to do with locations outside of our current facilities really requires a lot of public discussion and (involvement by) all the interested parties at the table," he said.
At this point the state is still evaluating its entire corrections system and has not yet made any decisions about any sites, he said.
Dela Cruz, in addressing concerns about the use of Land Conservation Fund money, said the source of funding for the study is secondary to the ultimate goal of protecting agricultural and conservation lands. "I’m more concerned about making sure that we can get all the land that’s for sale into the state inventory," he said, noting the same language appeared in last year’s bill with the consent of the Department of Attorney General.
Seventeen of Dela Cruz’s 24 Senate colleagues co-authored the bill.
