WAINIHA — Past the idyllic surf haven of Hanalei town, Kauai’s two-lane highway winds and dips before it stops abruptly at Kee Beach, the “end of the road.” Shiny new Mustangs, Sebrings and Jeeps — and other typical rental cars — are packed into the small parking lot at the base of the Kalalau trail […]
Development
Posted inDevelopment
UPDATE: Hawaii Supreme Court Rejects Beach Ownership Case
A month ago, we asked “Who owns the sand?” and on Thursday the Hawaii Supreme Court gave us the answer [pdf] — and it’s complicated. Basically, in declining to review the appeals court ruling in Maunalua Bay Beach Ohana vs. State of Hawaii, the Supreme Court, by a 3-2 vote, left the lower court’s opinion […]
Posted inAgriculture, Development
Federal Definition Of ‘Farm’ Sheds Light On Honolulu Debate
What is a farm, anyway? Last week, Civil Beat published a story titled “Tightening Farm Rules Might Sound Good, But Could Hurt Real Farmers” that jumped into the debate over a controversial proposed Honolulu ordinance. After the story published on June 2, Civil Beat member Rory Flynn emailed me to alert me to the federal […]
Posted inDevelopment
HC&S Manager: No Plans To Develop Sugar Lands
Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Co. is in the middle of a controversial hearing process over water rights in central Maui. The company says it won’t survive if the state water commission returns water from its irrigation system to streams. On May 28, Civil Beat published a story titled “What Rules Maui Water, Law or Sugar?” […]
Posted inDevelopment
UPDATE: A Long History Of Requests To Develop Farmland
A list of petitions to change land use designations from Agricultural and Conservation to Urban starts to fill in the where, when and who of 50 years of growth.
Posted inDevelopment
As Beaches Grow, Do Property Rights Grow With Them?
The Hawaii Supreme Court is being asked to weigh in on a state law that established public ownership of accumulated sand. Beachfront homeowners have called the law an unfair land grab.
Posted inDevelopment
UPDATE: State Has Shifted More Than 80,000 Acres to Urban Uses Since 1964
Responding to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Hawaii Land Use Commission has provided documents that show how land originally placed in the agricultural and conservation districts has been urbanized in the last half-century.
Posted inDevelopment, Hawaiʻi
Hawaii Takes Ad Hoc Approach to Preserving Farmland
A proposed community in Central Oahu is the latest example of Hawaii’s case-by-case approach to development in agricultural areas that has conservationists worried about our future prospects for food and fuel self-sufficiency.