Opinion ID: 870822
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The 2005 Subdivision Application

Text: As the ICA further summarized: On November 8, 2005, Kuilima submitted a Site Development Division Master Application Form ([s]ubdivision [a]pplication) to the DPP, seeking subdivision approval for approximately 744 acres of its 808-acre property. In response to the [s]ubdivision [a]pplication, the DPP received two letters in January 2006, asking that the DPP require the preparation of a [SEIS] before approving the [s]ubdivision [a]pplication. In a January 5, 2006 letter, Eric Gill, the treasurer of UNITE HERE! Local 5, asserted that a[] SEIS was required because twenty years had passed since the [1985] EIS and changes had occurred in the traffic, water availability, hotel and housing needs, endangered species habitat needs, and the like. North Shore resident Ben Shafer submitted a January 6, 2006 letter, stating that [m]uch had changed since the approval of the [1985] EIS some twenty years ago and a[] SEIS needed to be prepared to allow for some community input and to address new concerns regarding [t]ransportation, sewage, housing, water, cultural [issues], [and] the Master Plan for the Ko`olauloa region. The DPP responded to the Shafer and Gill letters that[,] because no specific time limit had been imposed on the [p]roject at the time of the [p]roject's initial approval, the DPP felt it could not require a[] SEIS to address changes in the conditions surrounding the [p]roject caused by the passage of time. Although DPP planner James Peirson (Peirson) drafted the January 19, 2006 reply letter to Shafer, the letter was signed by Eng. The DPP's letter to Shafer stated: No time frame for development was either implied or imposed by the City Council as part of its approval. Accordingly, the developer is entitled to proceed with the project as approved. By not imposing any time limits at the time, the City Council indicated that the project could be developed at its own pace. Further, as a matter of law, the [County] cannot retroactively impose time limits or unilaterally rescind an entitlement like an approved discretionary permit. . . . . The DPP's reply letter to Gill, dated January 31, 2006, was prepared by DPP planner Mario Siu-Li (Siu-Li) and signed by Eng. The letter explained that a[] SEIS was not required because[,] as long as Kuilima was following the appropriate subdivision rules and regulations, the [County] was obligated to continue to process the [s]ubdivision [a]pplication. The DPP provided Gill a copy of its letter to Shafer. [DPP Planner] Peirson explained . . . that[,] when determining whether to require a[] SEIS, DPP looked to see if there had been any substantive changes to a project. [Planner] Siu-Li similarly stated that the reason why the DPP did not require a[] SEIS for the [p]roject was because the [s]ubdivision [a]pplication was not changing the existing condition of the properties. On March 8, 2006, the [Environmental Council] heard testimony from members of the North Shore community regarding the SEIS issue. On March 22, 2006, the Environmental Council wrote to the DPP requesting clarification as to why the [p]roject did not require a[] SEIS considering the changes in timing since 1985, especially with respect to cumulative impacts and mitigative measures articulated in the original accepted [1985 EIS]. In an April 4, 2006 letter, the Department of Corporation Counsel for [the County] responded that the DPP would not comment on the Environmental Council's concerns because the issue of requiring a[] SEIS had become the subject of litigation. The Environmental Council sent a follow-up letter to the DPP dated June 14, 2006, expressing the [C]ouncil's concern that the DPP was placing the burden on others to prove a[] SEIS was required instead of making its own independent determination: The Council is concerned that DPP has not made an independent determination of whether a[] SEIS is required. Rather, it appears as though DPP believes that it should not require a[] SEIS unless some third party proves to DPP that it is required. This does not appear to be correct. The Environmental Council also stated that[,] based on the information available to it regarding changing environmental conditions in the [p]roject over the last twenty years and changes in the [p]roject's timing and scope, it believed the DPP should require Kuilima to prepare a[] SEIS for the [p]roject. As part of its subdivision review process, the DPP circulated Kuilima's [s]ubdivision [a]pplication to various interested departments and agencies of [the County] and the State of Hawai`i for review, comment, and approval. The State of Hawai`i Department of Transportation (DOT) was among the departments and agencies that reviewed the [s]ubdivision [a]pplication. The DOT accepted Kuilima's [r]oadway [i]mprovements [i]mplementation and [p]hasing [p]lan after Kuilima agreed to revise its [t]raffic [i]mpact [a]nalysis report to address the DOT's concerns. On September 29, 2006, without requiring a[] SEIS, the DPP tentatively approved the [s]ubdivision [a]pplication. Unite Here!, 120 Hawai`i at 461-62, 209 P.3d at 1275-76 (underscored emphasis in original) (original ellipses omitted) (some brackets in original).