Less than a month after the inauguration of Hawaiʻi County Mayor Mitch Roth, his nominee for planning director, Kendo Zern, has reversed the county’s long-standing position that work on the long-stalled ʻAina Leʻa project would not be allowed until a … Continued
Big Island Dairy: The cows are gone and the site has been cleaned up, at least to the satisfaction of the state Department of Health. The Big Island Dairy near O‘okala, on the Hamakua Coast of the Big Island, has been … Continued
Land Board Fines Trash Hauler $62,000 for Leaving Full Roll-Offs On State Land Being contrite might have helped, but John Guinan, Jr., owner of The Trash Man, LLC hauling company, chose to fight. He ended up with a fine nearly … Continued
For years, the various owners of land in South Kohala where the ʻAina Leʻa development is proposed have struggled to move forward with their plans. The problems they have faced related to permitting and entitlements, but also to finances. The … Continued
It has been more than a year since the Big Island Dairy in Oʻokala, along the Hamakua Coast of the Big Island, shut down. The closure followed a series of disastrous spills of manure into streams that outraged residents and … Continued
Last month, Environment Hawai‘i reported on a $423,000 settlement the state Board of Land and Natural Resources approved to resolve several damage claims brought by its lessee, Pacific Marine Partners, LLC. The company had won a 10-year lease at public auction in the … Continued
Danny Julkowski threw himself on the mercy of the Leeward Planning Commission of Hawai‘i County last month. And as sympathetic as the commissioners were to his plight, their mercy was more limited. Julkowski was asking the commissioners to recommend that the … Continued
In July and August, both the Leeward and Windward Planning Commissions of Hawaiʻi County approved a recommendation that the County Council change the county’s zoning ordinance and county code to allow for a range of activities at the county’s two … Continued
Over the past several years, members of the state Board of Land and Natural Resources have questioned Ross Smith of the Department of Transportation’s Airports Division about some of his requests for board approval of direct leases. Why, they wondered, … Continued
On August 13, the state Land Use Commission unanimously approved a petition from Hawaiʻi County for a declaratory order confirming that short-term vacation rentals (STVR) are not acceptable uses of farm dwellings in the Agricultural District. The commission also denied … Continued