§174-17  Formation of a project oninitiative of board; notice and hearing; protests.  The board of land andnatural resources may organize projects upon its own initiative.  In thisevent, it shall fix a date for public hearing upon the proposed project, whichdate shall not be less than sixty days after the first public notice thereof inthe county in which the project is proposed.  The notice shall be given once ineach of four successive weeks, and shall include notice of the area to beincluded in and general details of the proposed project, stating the time andplace of the public hearing.  If the owners of fifty-five per cent of theacreage of lands proposed to be organized into a project at the hearing orprior thereto shall file written protest against the proposed project, theproject shall not be made and proceedings shall not be renewed within twelvemonths from the date of closing the public hearing, unless each and every ownerprotesting withdraws each and every owner's protest; provided that any lesseeof any lands included within the proposed project, who, by the express terms ofthe lessee's lease must pay the assessment contemplated hereunder shall besubrogated to all the rights of the owner to protest by filing at the hearingor prior thereto written protest against the proposed project, the writtenprotest to be accompanied by a certified copy of the lease; provided furtherthat any lessor, at any time before the closing of the public hearing, may voidthe protest of the lessor's lessee on consideration of the filing with theboard a duly acknowledged waiver of the provision in the lease which requiresthe lessee to pay the assessment, and a written undertaking of the lessor topay the assessment to be made on account of the proposed project; and furtherprovided that a project may be instituted without further public notice for asmaller acreage within the acreage described in the original public notice inthe event the board determines the smaller project to be economically feasible,if written protests by the owners, or lessees subrogated to the right toprotest, of fifty-five per cent of the smaller acreage shall not be filed.  Thedepartment shall assure that adequate water is reserved for future developmentand use on Hawaiian home lands that could be served by the proposed waterproject. [L 1961, c 166, pt of §3; Supp, §86-16; HRS §174-17; gen ch 1985; am L1987, c 306, §10; am L 1991, c 325, §5; am L 1998, c 2, §41]

 

Law Journals and Reviews

 

  Native Hawaiian Homestead Water Reservation Rights: Providing Good Living Conditions for Native Hawaiian Homesteaders.  25 UH L.Rev. 85.