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Planners Page 2 April 21, 2003 Because of the importance of historic sites, particularly in preserving the Hawaiian history and culture, they must be regarded as a major element that must be addressed early in the land use planning process. Specific Objectives. More specifically, in the various stages of the land approval and development process, our goals are to: (1) Ensure that land has been properly surveyed for historic sites; (2) Ensure that the sites have been properly assessed for their significance; (3) Require the long-term preservation of significant historic sites, and where they cannot be preserved, that they be properly recorded; (4) Follow up to ensure that conditions imposed at the initial approval stage are carved out during the physical development of the property, including the subdivision stage. Outline of Historic Review Process. Legal Aspects. It is important to have a basic understanding of the current laws protecting historic sites. The primary laws covering historic sites are contained in Chap. 6E of the Hawaii Revised Statutes. Chap. 6E designates the DLNR as the lead agency for historic sites protection. Administratively, historic sites are handled within DLNR by the - State Historic Sites Preservation Division ("SHPD".) The statute has a very broad defmition of "historic property" as basically anything man-made more than fifty years old. Burial sites-anywhere human remains are found, other than established cemeteries, are also covered in Chap. 6E as a special type of historic property. A relatively few sites of special importance, on public and private land, are on the state or national register of historic places. These are protected bylaw to a limited extent: if the owner wishes to alter the site, the state has 90 days to initiate condemnation, allow the owner to proceed, or negotiate a mutually agreeable mitigation plan. SHPD must review and concur with any project that may affect historic properties on state or county land. It is illegal to damage or alter historic properties on public property without SHPD approval. The key provision for most of the things that the Planning Department does is sec. 6E-42, which requires that an agency that is considering a land use permit (such as the Planning Department), that may affect historic property, must allow SHPD the opportunity to "review and comment" on the application. Most of this memo specifically covers these