HILO — The Thirty Meter Telescope’s land use permit isn’t the only thing the state Land Board is being asked to reconsider for the $1.4 billion project.
In April, Third Circuit Court Judge Greg Nakamura officially remanded the project’s Mauna Kea sublease to the panel for additional review.
But a Department of Land and Natural Resources spokesman was unable to say when that review will occur.
“Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura’s remand to the Land Board contained instructions regarding the TMT Sublease that are now within the jurisdiction of the Board,” Senior Communications Manager Dan Dennison said in an email. “The Board will comply with those instructions.”
He told a reporter to check future Land Board agendas when asked if the department can estimate when the sublease remand will be addressed.
Nakamura remanded the sublease with University of Hawaii for 6 acres below the mountain’s summit following the state Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the project’s Conservation District use permit last December. The justices ruled the Land Board erred by voting to approve the permit before a contested case hearing was held.
Board Chairwoman Suzanne Case selected retired judge Riki May Amano as the next TMT hearings officer who is preparing to host another contested case hearing in Hilo.
In his order, Nakamura is asking the board to address the following questions:
1. Since the permit no longer exists, should consent for the sublease be withdrawn?
2. If the sublease remains in place pending the outcome of the contested case, is the Board again placing the “cart before the horse”?
3. Should parties in the contested case for the land use permit be given similar standing regarding the sublease?
4. How will the Board fulfill its “affirmative duty to fulfill the state’s constitutional obligations” in absence of a contested case for the sublease?
E. Kalani Flores, a contested case petitioner who filed the lawsuit regarding the sublease, said Thursday he had not notified when the board will address those questions.