The ABA Section on State & Local Government has published my article “Because They Can: Judicially Excising the People from the Definition of “County” in the Hawaii Constitution” in the State & Local Government Law News (Spring 2008).
The article is a summary and analysis of County of Kauai ex rel. Nakazawa v.
[This article was originally published in Vol. 31 of the State & Local Law News by the ABA Section on State & Local Government (Spring 2008). ABA members can access it here. More on the case here.]
The Hawaii Constitution empowers “the counties” to determine propertytaxes.[1] On issues of local concern, theConstitution’s
In a very short (17 page) petition, the State of Hawaii has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision by the Hawaii Supreme Court regarding “ceded lands.” The petition argues that by basing its decision in Office of Hawaiian Affairs v. Housing and Community Dev. Corp. of Hawaii, No. 25570 (Jan. 31
In Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005), the majority opinion authored by Justice Stevens, framed the issue presented in terms of the validity of “the development plan,” and not whether the particular takings at issue were “for public use.”
The disposition of this case therefore turns on the question whether
Today we filed the Opening Brief in Kauai Springs‘ appeal from the January 2007 decision by the Kauai Planning Commission to deny three zoning permits to the small, Kauai-family-owned water bottling company.
The case is an appeal from an agency decision under the Hawaii Administrative Procedures Act (a procedure known in other jurisdictions as
The County of Maui has filed a motion for summary judgment in the federal court challenge to the County’s affordable housing exaction ordinance. The memorandum in support of the motion is posted here (215k pdf).
The Maui ordinance, enacted last year, imposes a 40% to 50% affordablerequirement on new housing developments. I posted on the
Head’s up to two upcoming seminars worth attending: “Planning Zoning and Eminent Domain” (May 8-9, 2008), and “Planning and Zoning 101” (May 7, 2008), both of which will be put on by the Center for American and International Law, in Plano, Texas. Registration information for both seminars is here. The
Eminent Domain Use and Abuse: Kelo in Context, Dwight H. Merriam editor (American Bar Ass’n 2007).
Review coming soon.
In the meantime, the book is available from Amazon.
A Lahaina business owner has sued the County of Maui in federal court in Honolulu. In Goo v. County of Maui, CV 08-00172 DAE (filed Apr. 17, 2008), the Complaint alleges the County and Planning Department officials drove the International Open Market Place, a gift and craft fair, out of business by deliberately favoring
The City and County of Honolulu has filed a petition for writ of certiorari in Matsuda v. City and County of Honolulu, No. 06-15337 (9th Cir. Jan. 14, 2008), asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. We don’t have a copy of the cert petition yet, but when we do, we’ll post