SR 16: requesting the commander of joint base PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM TO ALLOW THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU TO USE THE RESTRICTED VACANT LAND ON THE PEARL CITY PENINSULA FOR YOUTH BALL PROGRAMS.

SENATE RESOLUTION

requesting the commander of joint base PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM TO ALLOW THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU TO USE THE RESTRICTED VACANT LAND ON THE PEARL CITY PENINSULA FOR YOUTH BALL PROGRAMS.

     WHEREAS, every year, youth ball teams comprising both public and military family volunteer coaches and young children who want to play soccer, baseball, and flag football line up at the office of the Department of Parks and Recreation of the City and County of Honolulu to apply for an annual permit to use city park ball fields for team practices and events; and

     WHEREAS, the city does not have a sufficient number of ball fields to accommodate the demand; and

     WHEREAS, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on the Pearl City Peninsula has about twelve acres of land that has been vacant and restricted from use for the past three decades due to a Fuel Depot Tank Farm Fire on Tank No. 1 that occurred in October of 1985; and

     WHEREAS, the United States Navy Federal Fire Department used per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) fire retardant to put out the fire and the United States Navy later made the decision to close down the tank farm, clearing the land and leaving it vacant since 1985; and

     WHEREAS, the Pearl City Neighborhood Board No. 21 has attended previous Pearl Harbor Restoration and Advisory Board meetings and asked if this land could be used for youth ball fields; and

     WHEREAS, it is the Legislature's understanding that the use of PFAS fire retardant was isolated to the area where Tank No. 1 was located and that the much larger area was not contaminated with PFAS; and

     WHEREAS, the Legislature believes that this larger area of non-contaminated vacant land could be used to build a minimum of three ball fields and land that was contaminated with PFAS could be used to build a parking lot; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2025, that the Commander of Joint Base Pearl-Harbor Hickam is requested to allow the Department of Parks and Recreation of the City and County of Honolulu to temporarily use the restricted vacant land on the Pearl City Peninsula for youth ball programs such as soccer, baseball, and flag football; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Commander of Joint Base Pearl‑Harbor Hickam and Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu.

Report Title: 

Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam; Department of Parks and Recreation of the City and County of Honolulu; Youth Ball Programs

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1466

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.R. No. 16

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred S.R. No. 16 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE COMMANDER OF JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM TO ALLOW THE DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU TO USE THE RESTRICTED VACANT LAND ON THE PEARL CITY PENINSULA FOR YOUTH BALL PROGRAMS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Commander of Joint Base Pearl-Harbor Hickam to allow the Department of Parks and Recreation of the City and County of Honolulu to use the restricted vacant land on the Pearl City Peninsula for youth ball programs.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Pearl City Neighborhood Board No. 21 and two individuals.

     Your Committees find that the promotion of youth sports is an important matter of public health.  Ensuring that children and teenagers in the State have appropriate spaces to play and engage in physical activity is critical to supporting their mental and physical health, as well as helping them to build community connections.  Your Committees further find that the volume of applicants for annual permits to use city park ball fields for team practices and events significantly outnumbers the amount of locations available to the Department of Parks and Recreation of the City and County of Honolulu for this purpose.  Accordingly, this measure requests that a currently unused piece of land on the Pearl City Peninsula temporarily be made available to the Department for the purpose of increasing youth access to outdoor recreation for the surrounding communities.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 16 and recommend its adoption.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Public Safety and Military Affairs and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs,