HILO — Hawaii County is not going to fight an appeals court ruling invalidating a South Kona development and requiring the county to treat Community Development Plans as law.
The county Board of Appeals voted at a special meeting Tuesday not to challenge the Intermediate Court of Appeals ruling in the state Supreme Court, said Chairman Dean Au. County Planning Director Michael Yee also doesn’t intend to appeal, Corporation Counsel attorneys said.
The ICA ruling invalidates a stance by former Mayor Billy Kenoi’s administration that plans put forth by community groups organized to address their specific community’s interests were advisory in nature but didn’t have the force of law.
The CDPs create in-depth plans that are then adopted by the County Council as part of its general plan.
Kona had the first CDP action committee, and other communities have followed suit. Most are in their final stages of completion, except for Hilo. As the most established community, Hilo’s CDP will be completed after the newer, faster-growing communities.
The nine members of each CDP committee are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the County Council.
Mayor Harry Kim, who had begun the CDP process in 2005 during his first administration, had said on the campaign trail that Kenoi wasn’t taking the county’s community development plans seriously. Kim said Hawaii was one of the few states in the country where there is no level of government below counties or municipalities. He pushed for more local input into local problems.
“We want people to have a voice in their community and their lifestyle,” Kim said Wednesday.
He said the Kona group held more than 137 community meetings in developing its plan.
The ICA decision upheld a 2013 ruling by 3rd Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra, who said former Planning Director Bobby Jean Leithead Todd and the county Board of Appeals failed to uphold the county’s duty to protect natural resources in awarding a planned unit development permit to a South Kona developer.
The planned unit development, known as Waikakuu Ranch, sought to subdivide a 72-acre lot with current zoning that allows 5-acre lots, into 13 2-acre lots and one large lot making up the balance of the property. Patricia and Richard Missler, who live in a neighborhood adjacent to the proposed project, sued after the board ruled the project was not subject to the Kona CDP.
The property has since changed hands, and it’s not known if the new owners will pursue the PUD that was invalidated.
“We have to make sure the applicant presents this information so the county can analyze whether or not its duties will be fulfilled,” said Deputy Corporation Counsel Amy Self, who represents the planning director. “They’ll have to do a new PUD application, go through the whole process.”
