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Step forward for TMT
State Supreme Court rules contested case hearing not necessary for sublease
Hamakua development plan OK’d
Index
Big Isle history B4
Classified B6
Comics B5
Commentary A6
Thursday, August 9, 2018
handed the Thirty Meter
Telescope project a lifeline
Wednesday by ruling that a
contested case hearing is not
required for a sublease with the
University of Hawaii at Hilo.
The 5-0 decision overturns
a lower court ruling that
would have required the state
Board of Land and Natural
Getting
on the
same
page
Lawmakers want more
info about mayor’s
$550M recovery plan
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Issue No. 221
18 Pages in
2 Sections
Today’s
weather
Page A2
Community A8
Crossword B4
Cryptoquote B4
Dear Abby B4
Horoscope B4
Island Beat A9
Nation A3
Obituaries A2
Sports B1
State A3
Stocks A2
Surf Report A2
By TOM CALLIS
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
The state Supreme Court
Internet
Visit us on the Web at:
www.hawaiitribune-herald.com
Resources to grant another
quasi-judicial hearing to
determine if the $1.4 billion
project should be built on
Maunakea, which some Native
Hawaiians consider sacred.
Another hearing would have
further delayed construction of
the next-generation observatory,
already held back by years
because of legal challenges and
protests, possibly destroying
chances of it staying in Hawaii.
TMT supporters took the
ruling as a reassuring sign,
but they noted it remains to
be seen how the high court
will rule on the
second appeal
of a land use
permit, which
remains pending.
Oral arguments
in that
case were held
in June, three months after the
sublease appeal was argued.
“They just came down on
the letter of the law, and that’s
encouraging for us,” said
Thayne Currie, a Maunakea
astronomer and
TMT supporter.
The justices
said a hearing
is not required
for granting
a sublease by
“statute, administrative
rule or due process”
under these circumstances.
UH-Hilo holds a lease for the
Maunakea Science Reserve
until 2033, and is seeking
a new land authorization.
While E. Kalani Flores,
who requested the contested
case, has a substantial interest
in the outcome of the project,
the justices ruled that he didn’t
show he would provide evidence
that is materially different
from what was presented
during the other hearings for
FLORES YANG
See TMT Page A4
Photos by HOLLYN JOHNSON/Tribune-Herald
Hamakua CDP Steering Committee chairman Brad Kurokawa and other supporters of Bill 161 give each other hugs and
shake hands at the Hawaii County Building after the measure was supported unanimously by the County Council on
Wednesday.
Hawaii County
Planning
Director
Michael Yee
speaks about
Bill 161 on
Wednesday
during a
County
Council
meeting at the
Hawaii County
Building.
By TOM CALLIS
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
The Hawaii County
Council unanimously
adopted the Hamakua
Community Development
Plan on Wednesday,
despite some misgivings
over a land use designation
for Hakalau Point.
The plan designates
the land, currently zoned
industrial and low-density
urban, as open space.
County planning officials
say the plan itself won’t
change zoning for the property,
formerly the site of
a sugar mill, but property
owner Steve Shropshire has
opposed the designation,
saying it’s meant to help
block his development plans
and turn the land into a park.
Hilo Councilman Aaron
Chung initially was going to
vote against the plan because
See HAMAKUA Page A7
KILAUEA ERUPTION
By NANCY COOK LAUER
West Hawaii Today
Mayor Harry Kim, the Hawaii
County Council and two members
of the island’s state legislative
delegation
came closer to
an understanding
Wednesday about
how to ask for
money to rebuild
island infrastructure
in the wake
of the Kilauea
volcano eruption
and destructive lava
flow in lower Puna.
The county still
hasn’t finalized a
plan or assigned
a specific dollar
amount for the
approximately $550 million it
says it needs to rebuild roads,
parks and housing, stimulate tourism
and find new land for farmers.
Regaining economic stability
See PLAN Page A4
Join Bilbo Baggins and the
rest of your favorite characters
this weekend at UH-Hilo
“THE HOBBIT”
Two shows
Saturday
More in
Island Beat,
PAGE A9
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