Hawaii Reporter posts “Kauai Springs: Still Open for Business,” a story about the injunction preventing the County of Kauai from shutting down the island’s only drinking water company while its appeal is pending. Full story here.
▪ Government’s Creative Assault on Property Tax Relief
California Political Review has posted an op-ed about the Kauai real property tax appeal, currently awaiting a decision by the Hawaii Supreme Court.
Californians will recall that Proposition 13, with its promise of relief from crushing property taxation, was opposed by most of the state’s political establishment. Even after its approval by voters at
▪ Preliminary Injunction in Kauai Zoning Permit Case
A story from today’s Garden Island News, about the Kauai Springs case, reporting that the circuit court has granted the company’s request for a preliminary injunction, preventing the County from putting Kauai Springs out of business while the appeal is being considered.
The case is the appeal by Kauai’s only bottled water company of
▪ More on Kauai Zoning Permit Case
The Star-Bulletin also reports on the Kauai Springs litigation, a case challenging the Kauai Planning Department’s denial of a request to use land zoned “Agriculture” on grounds wholly outside its authority or jurisdiction:
The lawyer for Kauai Springs, however, said that water is a food like any other agricultural product and that closing down an
▪ Kauai Zoning Permit Case Reported
Kauai’s newspaper, in a story entitled “Kauai Springs operating for now,” reports on a case:
“We’re in a holding pattern,” said Robert Thomas, an attorney with Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert representing Kaua‘i Springs.
In March, Kaua‘i Springs appealed the Planning Commission’s decision to deny its request for a use permit, special permit
▪ Amicus Brief in Accretion Appeal: Heads, the State Wins; Tails You Lose
Today, I filed an amicus brief (750k pdf) in the appeal regarding “Act 73,” the state statute (codifed here and here) which declared that shoreline land naturally accreted belongs to the State of Hawaii and is public property.
Act 73 overturned the age-old rule of shoreline accretion and erosion, which held that beachfront owners
▪ What is “Developed” Property?
The Washington (state) Supreme Court, in Sleasman v. City of Lacey (No. 77590-7, Feb. 8, 2007), decided what it means to have a developed parcel. Actually, the court determined what the terms “undeveloped” and “partially developed” mean within the context of a local ordinance that regulates tree removal on such property. The opinion is a
▪ It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over: Transcript of Argument in Attorney’s Fees Case
The transcript of the oral argument in Sole v. Wyner (No. 06-531) (docket listing here) has been posted on the SCOTUS web site here. That case presents the issue of whether a party who wins apreliminary injunction — but ultimately loses the case — has”prevailed” under a federal statute that allows a
▪ HAWSCT: Venue in Declaratory Actions on Legality of Agency Rules is Jurisdictional
In Hawaii Home Infusion Assoc. v. Befitel, (No. 27256, Apr. 16, 2007), the Hawaii Supreme Court held that the venue provisions in the declaratory judgment section of the Hawaii Administrative Procedures Act, Haw. Rev. Stat. § 91-7, are jurisdictional, and such actions must be brought in the judicial circuit in which the petitioner
▪ Federal Circuit Arguments on the Penn Central Factors (mp3)
Oral arguments in Cienega Gardens v. United States (Fed. Cir. No. 06-5051, Apr. 2, 2007), a case involving the application of the Penn Central ad-hoc test for regulatory takings, have been posted in two parts on the Federal Circuit’s web site: part 1 (68mb mp3), and part 2 (7mb mp3).
Also posted is the oral