2026-02-06 Legal Memorandum, Appendices A, A-1, B and Certificate of Service (PL-BOA-2025-000124)

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DIRECTOR OF THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT, COUNTY OF HAWAI`I'S LEGAL MEMORANDUM COMES NOW, Appellee JEFFREY W. DARROW, PLANNING DIRECTOR, COUNTY OF HAWAI`I ("Director"),by and through his attorney, Jean K. Campbell, Deputy Corporation Counsel, hereby submits this Legal Memorandum in the above-captioned matter. This pleading is submitted pursuant to the Scheduling Order dated December 3, 2025. The Director respectfully requests that this Board of Appeals ("Board") determine that the Director properly denied Mark Kellberg's ("Appellant") Petition for Declaratory Ruling ("Petition"). This case turns only on whether the Director properly exercised his discretion to deny the Petition in accordance with Planning Department Rule 3-1. This Board's review does not include any substantive consideration of the questions posed in the Petition, the validity of past Planning Director's decisions, or the validity of the subdivision itself. 1. Statement of Position The Planning Department Rules of Practice and Procedure ("Rules")permit,but do not require, the Director to issue a declaratory order on the petition of interested persons: "On petition of an interested person, the Director may issue a declaratory order as to the applicability of any statutory provision, ordinance, or of any rule or order of the Director or the Department." See Rule 3-1(a) [emphasis added]. The Director's response, whether it be a responsive order or a denial of the petition, is due within sixty days of the submission of the petition: "Within sixty days after the submission of a petition for declaratory ruling, the Director shall either deny the petition in writing, stating the reasons for such denial or issue a declaratory order on the matters contained in the petition, or set the matter for a public hearing, as provided in Sections 3-2, 3-3 and 3-4 of these rules." See Rule 3-1(c). 2