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



(b)  The department shall render a decision on
a completed application for a permit within one-hundred-eighty days of its
acceptance by the department.  If within one-hundred-eighty days after
acceptance of a completed application for a permit, the department shall fail
to give notice, hold a hearing, and render a decision, the owner may
automatically put the owner's land to the use or uses requested in the owner's
application.  When an environmental impact statement is required pursuant to
chapter 343, or when a contested case hearing is requested pursuant to chapter
91, the one-hundred-eighty days may be extended an additional ninety days at
the request of the applicant.  Any request for additional extensions shall be
subject to the approval of the board.



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



(d)  The department shall regulate the
construction, 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 the
requirements of chapter 343 under section 183B-2 shall provide for compliance
with the conditions of section 183B-2. [L 1994, c 270, pt of §1; am L 1995, c
177, §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 application
to modernize and expand electric generating station on conservation land within
the time established, the board failed to render a "decision" so as
to avoid the 180-day default mechanism of §183-41; thus, electric company was
allowed to subject land to the use applied for.  102 H. 257, 75 P.3d 160.