§53-6  Initiation and approval of
redevelopment plan.  (a)  Before adopting a redevelopment plan, the
redevelopment agency shall be assured that satisfactory housing facilities are
available or that reasonable provisions will be made for the temporary housing
of individuals and families displaced by the removal of living facilities from
the redevelopment project.  In making the determination the agency may confer
with the Hawaii public housing authority with respect to the possible placement
of displaced families in projects owned and operated by the authority.



(b)  The agency shall submit the redevelopment
plan to the planning commission for study and approval thereof.  The planning
commission may approve, amend and approve, or disapprove the plan.  If the
planning commission disapproves the plan or amends the plan and the amendment
is not approved by the agency, the agency may submit the plan as disapproved or
amended to the council which may nevertheless approve or amend and approve the
plan by resolution, but only by the affirmative vote of at least five of its
members, after holding a public hearing and subject to the procedure set forth
in the next paragraph.



After the planning commission has approved a
redevelopment plan, and upon acceptance thereof by the agency if amended, the
agency shall submit the plan to the council which shall hold a public hearing
thereon, after giving published notice thereof on three separate days, the
first publication to be at least ten days before the date of the hearings, and
may approve, amend and approve, or disapprove the plan by resolution; provided
that the council shall not approve, or amend and approve, the plan unless it
finds that the redevelopment project area is a blighted area within the urban
limits of the county; and provided further that any amendment made by the
council must be accepted by the agency before final approval by the council. 
If the council approves a redevelopment plan, published notice of the approval
shall be given by at least three publications and further proceedings with
respect to the redevelopment project covered by the plan shall be stayed for a
period of thirty days after the first publication of the notice.  Actions,
suits, or proceedings to contest the validity of the proceedings prescribed by
the foregoing provisions of this chapter or of the redevelopment plan shall be
barred upon the expiration of the period of thirty days, and no action
thereafter commenced shall raise any question concerning the validity of the
proceedings provided by the foregoing provisions of this chapter or of the
redevelopment plan, and in all actions, suits, or proceedings commenced after
the expiration of the period of thirty days, except as to matters affecting
jurisdiction, the validity of the proceedings prescribed by the foregoing
provisions of this chapter and of the plan shall be conclusively presumed. 
Upon the expiration of the thirty-day period, the agency may further proceed
with the redevelopment project or projects covered by the redevelopment plan. 
Upon acquisition of the lands in the redevelopment project by the agency, the
lands shall automatically be rezoned as to land use in conformance with
provisions of the approved redevelopment plan.



(c)  [L 2004, c 202, §7 amendment repealed
June 30, 2010.  L 2006, c 94, §1.]  Hearings and trial upon any issue
raised in any action, suit, or proceeding in any court involving the
construction, interpretation, or validity of this chapter, or involving the
legality or validity of any action taken or proposed to be taken under or
pursuant to this chapter, whether by way of injunction, suit for declaratory
judgment, submission on agreed statement of facts, or otherwise, shall be given
precedence in the trial courts and, on appeal.  An appeal to the intermediate
appellate court, subject to chapter 602, shall lie from any decision of any
trial court holding valid or invalid any provision of this chapter, or any
contract made or proposed, or other action taken or proposed to be taken, under
or pursuant to this chapter.



(d)  Whenever the agency determines that a
proposed redevelopment project or an auxiliary redevelopment project initiated
pursuant to this chapter may be undertaken by the owners of project lands
therein or by developers of the owners as effectively, expeditiously, and
economically as if undertaken as a public undertaking by the agency itself,
then the redevelopment plan for the project approved and adopted pursuant to
this section shall include a provision for the execution of the project by an
alternative method of private development thereof on the basis of an agreement
between the agency and the owners or developers and imposing such requirements,
restrictions, and sanctions as the agency may deem necessary to effectuate the
basic purposes of this chapter and to assure the successful completion of the
project by private development.



If at any time after the initial adoption of
the redevelopment plan, the agency determines that a change in the plan is in
the public interest and in furtherance of the purpose of redevelopment, the
plan or any part thereof may be amended by following the same procedure as set
forth above for the adoption of the original plan. [L 1949, c 379, pt of §4; am
L 1951, c 244, pt of §3; am L 1955, c 271, §1(g); RL 1955, §143-7; am L 1959, c
63, §1 and c 214, §1; am L 1965, c 101, §1(f) and (g); HRS §53-6; am L 1987, c
337, §5(1); am L 1997, c 350, §14; am L 2004, c 202, §7; am L 2005, c 196,
§26(a); am L 2006, c 180, §16]



 



Note



 



  L 2004, c 202, §82 provides:



  "SECTION 82.  Appeals pending in the supreme court as of
the effective date of this Act [July 1, 2006] may be transferred to the
intermediate appellate court or retained at the supreme court as the chief
justice, in the chief justice's sole discretion, directs."