Intermediate Court of Appeals Land Use Decision Summarized

Thanks to Professor Patty Salkin for posting a summary of the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals decision in Pono v. Molokai Ranch, Ltd., 119 Haw. 163, 194 P.3d 1126 (2008), in which "the court concluded, a private citizen does not have standing to enforce the land-use law, because such authority is not explicitly or implicitly contained in the law, and implying such authority would be contrary to the legislature’s intent in enacting the law." 

Pono has since applied to the Hawaii Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, asserting that the statewide zoning law is a "law relating to environmental quality."  We filed filed a response for Molokai Ranch. Both briefs are posted here. 

Also of interest is the recent New York Times story about land use issues on Molokai.