§205A-22  Definitions.  As used in thispart, unless the context otherwise requires:

"Applicant" means any individual,organization, partnership, or corporation, including any utility and any agencyof government.

"Authority" means the county planningcommission, except in counties where the county planning commission is advisoryonly, in which case "authority" means the county council or such bodyas the council may by ordinance designate.  The authority may, as appropriate,delegate the responsibility for administering this part.

"Department" means the planningdepartment in the counties of Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii, and the department ofland utilization in the city and county of Honolulu, or other appropriateagency as designated by the county councils.

"Development" means any of the uses,activities, or operations on land or in or under water within a specialmanagement area that are included below:

(1)  Placement or erection of any solid material orany gaseous, liquid, solid, or thermal waste; 

(2)  Grading, removing, dredging, mining, orextraction of any materials;

(3)  Change in the density or intensity of use ofland, including but not limited to the division or subdivision of land;

(4)  Change in the intensity of use of water, ecologyrelated thereto, or of access thereto; and

(5)  Construction, reconstruction, demolition, oralteration of the size of any structure.

"Development" does not include thefollowing:

(1)  Construction of a single-family residence that isnot part of a larger development;

(2)  Repair or maintenance of roads and highwayswithin existing rights-of-way;

(3)  Routine maintenance dredging of existing streams,channels, and drainage ways;

(4)  Repair and maintenance of underground utilitylines, including but not limited to water, sewer, power, and telephone andminor appurtenant structures such as pad mounted transformers and sewer pumpstations;

(5)  Zoning variances, except for height, density,parking, and shoreline setback;

(6)  Repair, maintenance, or interior alterations toexisting structures;

(7)  Demolition or removal of structures, except thosestructures located on any historic site as designated in national or stateregisters;

(8)  Use of any land for the purpose of cultivating,planting, growing, and harvesting plants, crops, trees, and other agricultural,horticultural, or forestry products or animal husbandry, or aquaculture ormariculture of plants or animals, or other agricultural purposes;

(9)  Transfer of title to land;

(10)  Creation or termination of easements, covenants,or other rights in structures or land;

(11)  Subdivision of land into lots greater than twentyacres in size;

(12)  Subdivision of a parcel of land into four orfewer parcels when no associated construction activities are proposed; providedthat any land which is so subdivided shall not thereafter qualify for thisexception with respect to any subsequent subdivision of any of the resultingparcels;

(13)  Installation of underground utility lines andappurtenant aboveground fixtures less than four feet in height along existingcorridors;

(14)  Structural and nonstructural improvements toexisting single-family residences, where otherwise permissible;

(15)  Nonstructural improvements to existing commercialstructures; and

(16)  Construction, installation, maintenance, repair,and replacement of civil defense warning or signal devices and sirens;

provided that whenever the authority finds that anyexcluded use, activity, or operation may have a cumulative impact, or asignificant environmental or ecological effect on a special management area,that use, activity, or operation shall be defined as "development"for the purpose of this part.

"Special management area" means theland extending inland from the shoreline as delineated on the maps filed withthe authority as of June 8, 1977, or as amended pursuant to section205A-23.

"Special management area emergencypermit" means an action by the authority authorizing development in casesof emergency requiring immediate action to prevent substantial physical harm topersons or property or to allow the reconstruction of structures damaged bynatural hazards to their original form; provided that such structures werepreviously found to be in compliance with requirements of the Federal FloodInsurance Program.

"Special management area minorpermit" means an action by the authority authorizing development thevaluation of which is not in excess of $125,000 and which has no substantialadverse environmental or ecological effect, taking into account potentialcumulative effects.

"Special management area use permit"means an action by the authority authorizing development the valuation of whichexceeds $125,000 or which may have a substantial adverse environmental orecological effect, taking into account potential cumulative effects.

"Structure" includes but is notlimited to any building, road, pipe, flume, conduit, siphon, aqueduct,telephone line, and electrical power transmission and distribution line.

"Valuation" shall be determined bythe authority and means the estimated cost to replace the structure in kindbased on current replacement costs, or in the cases of other development asdefined above, the fair market value of the development. [L 1975, c 176, pt of§1; am L 1977, c 188, §6; am L 1979, c 200, §7; am L 1982, c 126, §1; am L1983, c 124, §8; am L 1984, c 113, §1; am L 1991, c 129, §1; am L 1993, c 258,§4; am L 2001, c 169, §6; am L 2004, c 76, §2]

 

Attorney General Opinions

 

  "Special management area" must be shoreline orcoastal water related land.  Att. Gen. Op. 75-18.

 

Case Notes

 

  Where no express procedure provided in Maui charter or Mauispecial management area rules for appeal of Maui planning director's decisionon a minor permit application to the Maui planning commission, and commissiondelegated authority to render final decision on minor permit applications todirector pursuant to this section, director's decision not to processdeveloper's application was a final decision equivalent to a denial of theapplication and was thus appealable under §91-14(a).  88 H. 108, 962 P.2d 367.

  Where defendant's tour boat operation changed the intensityof use of water in the Hanalei special management area, defendant's tour boatoperation constituted a "development", within the meaning of thissection, that was not exempt from the coastal zone management act or specialmanagement area rules.  89 H. 400, 974 P.2d 40.

  Special management area minor permit issued by county topublic utility invalid and public utility required to obtain special managementarea use permit for its cellular telephone tower where county board of appealsfinding that valuation of tower development did not exceed $125,000 was clearlyerroneous.  90 H. 384, 978 P.2d 822.

  Where land lease did not constitute a "development"under this chapter, trial court erred in ruling that valuation of cellulartelephone tower development must include value of the land lease; instead,valuation consisted of the "current replacement cost" of thestructures built.  90 H. 384, 978 P.2d 822.

  Where developer's proposed subdivision fell within thedefinition of "development" found in this section, trial courtcorrectly determined that a special management area use permit was required. 109 H. 384, 126 P.3d 1071.

  "Development" includes that which is planned.  4 H.App. 304, 666 P.2d 177.