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SIRACUSA: Yes. <br /> GRAHAM: Commissioner Siracusa. <br /> SIl2ACUSA: Yeah, one of the members in the audience showed me a green, bright <br /> green paper, I see one there also, that has been circulating. And I don't know if the other <br /> Commissioners have seen it but it seems to me that people aze under the understanding that this <br /> body will make decisions for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. And so that question <br /> about whether the County has control over what happens, I would like to hear a legal opinion on <br /> that here. <br /> GRAHAM: If I may, Commissioner Siracusa, I don't believe this body has any <br /> <br /> jurisdiction or any decision making in that regard right now. Would you just like it as a piece of <br /> information from the Planning Director? <br /> SIRACUSA: Well, what I mean is if the decision to put up a big box store, a superstore, <br /> on Hawaiian Home lands is not in our purview, if we have nothing to say about it, then a lot of <br /> people aze sitting here and wasting their time. It's only if their big box stores can be banned <br /> elsewhere on the island besides Hawaiian Home lands that it becomes relevant. <br /> CAMPBELL: Mr. Chairman, may I address that real succinctly? <br /> GRAHAM: Hold on a second, please. Mr. Yuen, would you like to speak to that at <br /> all? <br /> YUEN: Well, the question of County zoning jurisdiction over Hawaiian Home <br /> lands is one that actually goes back quite a long ways. The first controversy over that actually <br /> was in 1970-1971. And it's a matter that has actually never been definitively litigated. But there <br /> have been a number of Corporation Counsel and State Attorney General opinions on the subject. <br /> It's clear that the counties have no jurisdiction to prevent the use of Hawaiian Home lands for <br /> residential or pastoral purposes, and agricultural purposes, as decided by the Hawaiian Homes <br /> Commission. The situation with respect to the Commercial and Industrial leases is not <br /> absolutely clear; but there were Corporation Counsel and Attorney General opinions indicating <br /> that the County zoning did not apply to those sites. So for that reason the County did not take <br /> legal action and interfere with the building of the Wal-Mart Store that is currently in Hilo on <br /> Hawaiian Home's site, even though it was not appropriately zoned for that site. In 2002 the <br /> County based upon this understanding entered into an MOA with the Department of Hawaiian <br /> Home that essentially said that with respect to County zoning that the Hawaiian Home could <br /> develop as it wished. Hawaiian Home is supposed to follow their own master plan but that the <br /> County would not hold Hawaiian Home to County zoning with respect to all sites, including <br /> these Commercial and Industrial sites. So the long and short of it is that to take, for example, the <br /> area that's immediately behind Wal-Mart, that's still in ML zone. And actually the Wal-Mart <br /> Center if you look on the maps of the County it's in the ML zone. But the County is, if the <br /> Hawaiian Homes Commission makes a decision to lease that for a Commercial site, which is not <br /> as I mentioned before Retail/Commercial, is not allowed by the zoning, the County will say, yes, <br /> you can do that; and the County will then process, for example, building permits, plan approvals <br /> and the like for that site. Now Hawaiian Home will according to the MOA follow normal <br /> 6 <br /> <br />