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3/6/24, 12:06 PM Unite Here!Local 5 v.City and Cty.of Honolulu,231 R 3d 423-Haw: Supreme Court 2010-Google Scholar
<br /> 231 P.3d 423(2010)
<br /> 123 Hawaii 150
<br /> UNITE HERE!LOCAL 5; Eric W.Gill;Todd A.K.Martin,Respondents/Plaintiffs-Appellees,
<br /> V.
<br /> CITY AND COUNTY OF HONOLULU,a municipal corporation; Ku!lima Resort Company,a Hawaii corporation,Respondents/Defendants-
<br /> Appel lees.
<br /> Kuilima Resort Company,a Hawaii general partnership,Respondent/Counterclaim Plaintiff-Appellee,
<br /> V.
<br /> Unite Here! Local 5 11 a Hawaii labor organization; Eric W.Gill,an individual,Respondents/Counterclaim Defendants-Appellees.
<br /> Kuilima Resort Company,a Hawaii general partnership,Respondent/Counterclaim Plaintiff-Appellee,
<br /> V.
<br /> Unite Here!,a New York labor organization,Respondent/Additional Counterclaim Defendant-Appellee.
<br /> Keep the North Shore Country,a Hawaii non-profit corporation;and Sierra Club,Hawaii Chapter,a foreign non-profit corporation,
<br /> Petitioners/Plaintiffs-Appellants,
<br /> V.
<br /> City and County of Honolulu; Henry Eng,Director of Department of Planning and Permitting,in his official capacity; Kuilima Resort
<br /> Company,a Hawaii general partnership,Respondents/Defendants-Appellees.
<br /> Nos.06-1-0265,06-1-0867,28602.
<br /> Supreme Court of Hawai i.
<br /> April 8,2010.
<br /> 426 *426 Rory R.Wicks(Marco A.Gonzales,with him on the application,of Coast Law Group,Encinitas,CA),appearing pro hac vice;(William S.Hunt and Laura P.Couch,with
<br /> him on the application,of Alston Hunt Floyd&Ing,Honolulu),for petitioners/plaintiffs-appellants.
<br /> Don S.Kitaoka,Deputy Corporation Counsel,for respondent/defendant-appellee City&County of Honolulu and Henry Eng.
<br /> Sharon V.Lovejoy(Terence J.O'Toole,Lane Hornfeck McKay,and Shyla P.Cockett,with her on the response,of Starn O'Toole Marcus&Fisher,Honolulu),for
<br /> respondent/defendant-appellee Kuilima Resort.
<br /> 427 *427 Isaac H.Moriwake(of Earth Justice),for Conservation Council for Hawaii,Surfrider Foundation,Hawaii's Thousand Friends,Life of the Land,Maui Tomorrow Foundation,
<br /> and Kahea.
<br /> Gregory W.Kugle(of Damon Key Leong Kupchak and Hastert,Honolulu),for Defend Oahu Coalition.
<br /> Vernon Y.T.Woo,Honolulu,for North Shore Career Training Corporation,Laie Community Association,and Kahuku Community Association.
<br /> David A.Arakawa and David L.Callies,Honolulu,for Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii,Hawaii Developer's Council,and Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference.
<br /> Melvyn M.Miyagi,Jonathan W.Lai,and Ross T.Shinyama(of Watanabe Ing,Honolulu),for First Hawaiian Bank.
<br /> Dr.Nui Loa Price,appearing pro se.
<br /> MOON,C.J.,NAKAYAMA,and DUFFY,JJ.,and Circuit Judge CHAN,in place of RECKTENWALD,J.,recused;ACOBA,J.,concurring separately.
<br /> Opinion of the Court by MOON,C.J.
<br /> On October 13,2009,this court accepted a timely application for a writ of certiorari,filed by petitioners/plaintiffs-appellants Keep the North Shore Country(KNSC)and Sierra
<br /> Club,Hawaii Chapter(Sierra Club)[hereinafter,collectively,plaintiffs]on September 8,2009,requesting that this court review the Intermediate Court of Appeals'(ICA)June
<br /> 12,2009 judgment on appeal,entered pursuant to its May 22,2009 published opinion.Unite Here!v.Ci X&Countk of Honolulu 120 Hawaii 457 209 P.3d 1271(Apn 2009).
<br /> Therein,the ICA affirmed the Circuit Court of the First Circuit'slil June 4,2007 amended final judgment in favor of respondents/defendants-appellees Kuilima Resort(Kuilima),
<br /> as well as the City and County of Honolulu and Henry Eng,the director of the Department of Planning and Permitting(DPP)[hereinafter,collectively,the County and,along
<br /> with Kuilima,collectively,defendants].Oral argument was held on December 17,2009.
<br /> Briefly stated,this case arises from the proposed expansion of the Kuilima Resort at Turtle Bay on the North Shore of Oahu for which an environmental impact statement
<br /> (EIS)was completed,pursuant to the Hawaii Environmental Policy Act(HEPA)(codified as Hawaii Revised Statutes(Hi chapter 343),discussed infra,and accepted in
<br /> 1985 by the Department of Land Utilization(DLU)[hereinafter,the 1985 EIS].The dispute centers around whether Kuilima's subdivision application,filed in 2005,triggered the
<br /> need for a supplemental EIS(Si pursuant to the administrative rules underlying HEPA,specifically,Hawaii Administrative Regulations(HAR)§§11-200-26 and 11-200-27
<br /> (governing SEISs),quoted infra at n.12&13.The circuit court,in granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants,ruled that a SEIS was not required,and the plaintiffs
<br /> appealed.
<br /> On appeal,a majority of the ICA agreed with the circuit court,holding,interalia,that,pursuant to the plain language of HAR§§11-200-26 and 11-200-27,a SEIS was required
<br /> only where there was a substantial change in the"action,"see HAR§11-200-26,quoted infra,and that,inasmuch as the defendants were not substantially changing the
<br /> proposed expansion itself,no SEIS was required.Unite Here!,120 Hawaii at 465-67,209 P.3d at 1279-81.Then-Associate Judge Nakamura dissented,asserting that,in his
<br /> view,the relevant rules required the completion of a SEIS"when significant changes to the anticipated environmental impacts of a proposed action become apparent such that
<br /> 'an essentially different action'is being proposed."Id.at 468,209 P.3d at 1282(Nakamura,J.,dissenting).
<br /> On application,the plaintiffs urge this court to adopt Judge Nakamura's view that HEPA mandates the completion of a SEIS where there has been a change in circumstances
<br /> or increased environmental impacts and that,therefore,the DPP(the accepting agency for Kuilima's subdivision application)should have required Kuilima to do so.
<br /> 428 Based on the discussion below,we hold that the ICA's majority erred in its interpretation of the relevant HARs and,consequently,*428 incorrectly affirmed the circuit court's
<br /> grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants.Accordingly,we vacate the ICA's June 12,2009 judgment on appeal,the circuit court's June 4,2007 amended final
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