Kilakila ‘O Haleakala v. Bd. of Land & Natural Res.

The University of Hawaii (UH) sought to construct an advanced solar telescope and observatory near the summit of Haleakala on Maui. Kilakila ‘O Haleakala (KOH) opposed UH’s conservation district use application to build on the project site to the Department of Land and Natural Resources (Department). KOH formally petitioned the Department for a contested case hearing on the application. Without either granting or denying KOH’s petition, the Board of Land and Natural Resources (Board) voted at a regularly scheduled public board meeting to grant the permit. KOH filed an agency appeal. The circuit court dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction because there had been no contested case hearing and concluded that KOH’s appeal was mooted by the fact that the Board had subsequently granted KOH’s request for a contested case hearing subject to a preliminary hearing on KOH’s standing. The intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirmed. The Supreme Court vacated the lower courts’ judgments, holding that KOH’s appeal was not moot and that a contested case hearing should have been held, as required by law and properly requested by KOH, on UH’s application prior to the Board’s vote on the application.

Kilakila ‘O Haleakala v. Bd. of Land & Natural Res.