Recent Articles

No Contested Case, No Judicial Challenge

February 19, 2012 02:18

In this Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA) unpublished disposition, the court reaffirms that an agency hearing is not a "contested case hearing" if it is not required by statute, rule, or constitutional due process. In Mauna Kea Anaina Hou v. University of Hawaii, No. 30397 (Haw. Jan. 25,...

Eminent Domain & Land Use in Hawaii Conference

February 19, 2012 00:22

Join Program Chair Mark M. Murakami of Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert and our outstanding faculty for Eminent Domain & Land Use in Hawaii organized by The Seminar Group.  Topics covered will include the following: Eminent Domain Update - Public Use and Private Takings;...

Hot Off the Presses: 2012 OEQC Guidance Update

February 16, 2012 00:30

On February 14, 2012, the State of Hawaii, Office of Environmental Quality Control (OEQC) released its updated Guide to the Implementation and Practice of the Hawaii Environmental Policy Act 2012 Edition. The Guide is a revision of the Guidebook for the Hawaii State...

Government's Role in Land Use Development

January 30, 2012 02:14

Slide from recent sustainability workshop partially funded by the EPA.

Our Love Affair with Streamlining

January 21, 2012 06:18

According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, “streamline” is defined as “to make simpler or more efficient.”  When the economy gets tough, it’s no wonder that decision-makers look to streamline land use regulatory processes as a way to move large development projects forward to create...

Panel on Climate Change Adaptation

January 21, 2012 06:14

On December 11, 2011, I joined  Maxine Burkett, Director, Center for Island Climate Adaptation and Policy; John Marra, Climate Services Director for the Pacific Region, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and Deanna Spooner, Coordinator, Pacific Islands Climate Change...

Evolving the Way We Think about Transportation

Hawaii Land Use Law

October 29, 2011 23:12

Article: Tom Downs, Demographics as Destiny, citiwire.net, Sept. 3, 2011, available at http://citiwire.net/post/2912. Summary: Mr. Downs discusses the impact of changing demographics (Baby Boomers and Gen. X and Y) on suburbia. He suggests that "walking, biking and transit are about to become...

TOD, TAD, TAJ: Transit Development Alphabet Soup

October 29, 2011 23:08

You may have heard of transit-oriented development (TOD) in conversations about Honolulu's 20-mile, 21-station rail transit project. But, you may not have heard of TADs and TAJs. The Transit Cooperative Research Program's August 2011 Legal Research Digest defines these terms and more in its...