“If you don’t make a credible case, you’re not going to get the water,” Water Commissioner Aurora Kagawa-Viviani said November 18 of the permit applications submitted two years ago for water from the streams and aquifers of West Maui, also … Continued
Tantalus Couple Seeks Damages, Fights Enforcement Regarding Land Boards’ Conservation District Decisions A couple that owns an old two-story house on rainy Tantalus Drive reached out a few years ago to the state Office of Conservation and Coastal Lands to … Continued
At a hearing of the Hawaiʻi County Board of Appeals last August, neighbors of a 10,000-square-foot house in the state Agricultural Land Use District challenged the decision of the planning director dismissing their complaints that the fellow who managed the … Continued
What, exactly, is going on in Hawaiʻi County? Its own laws and rules specifically forbid the operation of vacation rentals on properties that lie within the state Agricultural District. It passed an ordinance in 2018 that limits these uses to … Continued
Here’s a puzzle. A large house on a five-acre lot in the state Agricultural District is rented out to tourists for more than $700 a night, according to a recent listing on the VRBO website. Inside, near the kitchen door, … Continued
On October 21, U.S. District Judge Jill A. Otake granted the motion for summary judgment brought by the City & County of Honolulu and Department of Planning and Permitting Director Dawn Apuna in a case brought two years ago by … Continued
More than a year ago – September 2024 – the state Supreme Court issued a ruling on the question of whether short-term vacation rentals are allowed on land in the state Agricultural District. The answer was a resounding no. The … Continued
Trail Contract: After a jury found in April 2014 that the state — not Haleakala Ranch Company — owns the historic Haleakalā bridle trail, plaintiff David Brown, the executive director of Public Access Trails Hawaiʻi, stated,“We have a moral obligation … Continued
Land Board Calls For Two Appraisals To Determine Rent for Maui Wind Farm At its September 26 meeting, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources did something unusual. It directed its appraiser to prepare two appraisals for a proposed … Continued
Should the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting’s delay in acting on an agricultural subdivision permit for lands result in an automatic approval? And is there a process by which a landowner can appeal a determination by the DPP that … Continued