Opinion ID: 1191919
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Hawai`i County Council Properly Approved Chalon's Boundary Amendment.

Text: Lastly, Citizens contends that the circuit court erred in concluding, as a matter of law, that the Hawai`i County Council properly processed Chalon's boundary amendment because the land area to be redistricted was fifteen acres or less. HRS § 205-3.1(a) (1993) expressly states that [d]istrict boundary amendments involving land areas greater than fifteen acres shall be processed by the land use commission pursuant to section 205-4. (Citation omitted.) Subsection (c) provides that [d]istrict boundary amendments involving land areas of fifteen acres or less, except in conservation districts, shall be determined by the appropriate county land use decision-making authority for said district and shall not require consideration by the land use commission pursuant to section 205-4. (Citation omitted.) In the instant case, Chalon submitted its petition for change of zone requesting that 14.5± acres of its Mahukona property be rezoned from agricultural to urban. Because our sole duty is to give effect to a statute's plain and obvious meaning, see Shin v. McLaughlin, 89 Hawai`i 1, 4, 967 P.2d 1059, 1062 (1998) (citing Ross v. Stouffer Hotel Co., 76 Hawai`i 454, 461, 879 P.2d 1037, 1044-45 (1994) (citation omitted)), we are not at liberty to circumvent HRS chapter 205's express mandate. Therefore, inasmuch as HRS § 205-3.1 requires county review of Chalon's 14.5± acre change of zone request, the circuit court did not err in concluding that the Hawai`i County Council properly approved Chalon's Boundary Amendment.