Opinion ID: 4534857
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Initial Proceedings and the 1991 LUC Order

Text: This case began in November 1989, when Lānaʻi Resorts (the Resort) filed a Petition for Land Use District Boundary Amendment (Petition) with the Land Use Commission of the State of Hawaiʻi (LUC).1 The Petition sought “to effect district reclassification” of a large tract of rural and agricultural land so that the Resort could build an eighteen-hole golf course in Mānele on the island of Lānaʻi. The LUC permitted Lānaʻians for Sensible Growth (LSG) to intervene in the matter.2 In April 1991, after six days of hearings, the LUC issued an order approving the Resort’s Petition subject to several conditions (1991 LUC Order). Among these conditions was Condition 10, which gave rise to the litigation now before this court. Condition 10 states that the Resort is not allowed to use potable water to irrigate the golf course: 1 Several entities have owned the Resort since the original boundary amendment proceedings in 1989. For clarity, these entities are collectively referred to as “the Resort.” 2 LSG is “an unincorporated association of Lanai residents” who “used the subject property for hiking, subsistence and recreational fishing, and for the enjoyment and appreciation of the ancient Hawaiian archaeological sites located there.” 3 FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST’S HAWAI‘I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER 10. [The Resort] shall not utilize the potable water from the high-level groundwater aquifer for golf course irrigation use, and shall instead develop and utilize only alternative non-potable sources of water (e.g., brackish water, reclaimed sewage effluent) for golf course irrigation requirements. In addition, [the Resort] shall comply with the requirements imposed upon [it] by the State Commission on Water Resource Management as outlined in the State Commission on Water Resource Management’s Resubmittal - Petition for Designating the Island of Lanai as a Water Management Area, dated March 29, 1990. (Emphasis added.) The “Resubmittal” referred to in the second paragraph of Condition 10 refers to the State Commission on Water Resource Management’s (CWRM) March 1990 recommendation against designating the island of Lānaʻi as a water management area.3