Rules and Regulations - Liquor Commission (Amended 2024)

Home

I. Protests to an application may be submitted in the form of a petition provided that the petition shall be filed in its original form and shall clearly identify the application for which the protest is being filed, include a statement indicating opposition to the application, and the reasons for the protests. The petition shall be legible and shall include the following: 1. The printed name, signature and address of the protestor. 2. Information whether the protestor is an owner or lessee of record of real estate or owner of record of shares in a cooperative apartment within 500 feet of the premises and/or is a registered voter within 500 feet of the premises. The coordinator of the petition shall file an affidavit that the contents of the petition are true and correct. If any of the contents of the petition are found to be incomplete, untrue or incorrect, the Commission may, by its own motion, declare that portion of the petition to be invalid and shall determine which protests shall be void or it may declare the entire petition to be invalid. J. A protest which is incomplete or not legible shall be invalid. K. In any application where there are significant numbers of protests or issues that require verification, the Commission may delay decision -making on the application pending verification of the protests or issues. The Commission may, by its own motion, close the public hearing, and in such instance, no further public testimony including protests shall be admitted. The Commission may, by its own motion, re -open the hearings. The Commission shall schedule a hearing date at which the decision shall be made within 90 days after the hearing or within 120 days upon proper public notice. L. Pursuant to Section 281-59, Hawai`i Revised Statutes, as amended, an application shall be automatically refused if: 1. The majority of owners or lessees of record of real estate, or owners of record of shares in a cooperative apartment situated within a distance of 500 feet from the nearest point of the premises for which a license is asked have filed protests against the granting of the license; or 2. The majority of registered voters within a distance of 500 feet from the nearest point of the premises for which a license is asked have filed protests against the granting of the license. For purposes of defining "a majority of owners and lessees of record of real estate and owners of record of shares in a cooperative apartment," each property counts only once, excluding roadways. A protest submitted by the majority of the co -owners or the majority of the co -lessees of a property shall constitute a protest by all the owners or lessees of record of that property. For purposes of this section, majority protests by registered voters shall be based on the current voter registration list as of the published date of the final public hearing. 0