§183C-6  Permits and site planapprovals.  (a)  The department shall regulate land use in the conservationdistrict by the issuance of permits.

(b)  The department shall render a decision ona completed application for a permit within one-hundred-eighty days of itsacceptance by the department.  If within one-hundred-eighty days afteracceptance of a completed application for a permit, the department shall failto give notice, hold a hearing, and render a decision, the owner mayautomatically put the owner's land to the use or uses requested in the owner'sapplication.  When an environmental impact statement is required pursuant tochapter 343, or when a contested case hearing is requested pursuant to chapter91, the one-hundred-eighty days may be extended an additional ninety days atthe request of the applicant.  Any request for additional extensions shall besubject to the approval of the board.

(c)  The department shall hold a public hearingin every case involving the proposed use of land for commercial purposes, atwhich hearing interested persons shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity tobe heard.  Public notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given atleast once statewide and in the county in which the property is located.  The noticeshall be given not less than twenty days prior to the date set for thehearing.  The hearing shall be held in the county in which the land is locatedand may be delegated to an agent or representative of the board as mayotherwise be provided by law and in accordance with rules adopted by theboard.  For the purposes of its public hearing or hearings, the departmentshall have the power to summon witnesses, administer oaths, and require thegiving of testimony.  As used in this subsection, the term "commercialpurposes" shall not include the use of land for utility purposes.

(d)  The department shall regulate theconstruction, reconstruction, demolition, or alteration of any structure,building, or facility by the issuance of site plan approvals.

(e)  Any permit for the reconstruction,restoration, repair, or use of any Hawaiian fishpond exempted from therequirements of chapter 343 under section 183B-2 shall provide for compliancewith the conditions of section 183B-2. [L 1994, c 270, pt of §1; am L 1995, c177, §4; am L 1998, c 2, §50]

 

Case Notes

 

Decisions under prior law (§183-41).

  Where a majority of the board (pre-2001 amendment to §171-5)did not affirmatively approve or disapprove of electric company's applicationto modernize and expand electric generating station on conservation land withinthe time established, the board failed to render a "decision" so asto avoid the 180-day default mechanism of §183-41; thus, electric company wasallowed to subject land to the use applied for.  102 H. 257, 75 P.3d 160.