For years now, an issue that has stymied efforts to protect false killer whales from the often fatal interactions with the gear of non-longline commercial fishers has been the fact that there are no reliable figures on just how often … Continued
Waikoloa Project 2.0: The proposed affordable housing project on 11.7 acres of land near the Big Island community of Waikoloa is going back to the drawing board. Two bills that would have allowed the development of commercial space, affordable housing … Continued
The U.S. Supreme Court has laid to rest, once and for all, the claim of Bridge ʻAina Leʻa that the state of Hawaiʻi owes it money for a temporary taking. That “taking” claim arises from the Land Use Commission’s 2011 … Continued
On December 30, the members of the state Land Use Commission gathered, via Zoom, for what was expected to be a fairly brief hearing to review and approve an agreement among Maui County, property owners, and the state Office of … Continued
Since acquiring about 79 acres of land north of Wailuku, Maui, Vernon Lindsey has racked up a number of complaints from neighbors and Maui County. Winn V. Lindsey Peter Winn, a neighbor who co-owns a 42-acre parcel with Lindsey’s wife, … Continued
Much of the Land Use Commission’s attention focused on the apparent inability and unwillingness of the Wailuku Plantation and its owner, Vernon Lindsey, to fulfill conditions of a 1990 district boundary amendment. However, RCFC Kehalani, LLC, which assumed obligations under … Continued
When Vernon Lindsey and his Wailuku Plantation, LLC, purchased the property that was part of the 1990 boundary amendment petition, the property consisted of seven discrete legal parcels, part or all of which were within the petition area. Among them … Continued
Less than a month after the inauguration of Hawaiʻi County Mayor Mitch Roth, his nominee for planning director, Kendo Zern, has reversed the county’s long-standing position that work on the long-stalled ʻAina Leʻa project would not be allowed until a … Continued
The Hawai‘i Supreme Court has rendered a decision that closes a chapter in the ongoing litigation over the planned ‘Aina Le‘a development. On December 17, the court ruled that the statute of limitations under a “catch-all” provision in state law … Continued
The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council held its 184th meeting in December – virtually, as necessitated by the ongoing pandemic. None of the highly dramatic and controversial issues that have characterized many of the council’s meetings over the decades were … Continued