2005-04-01_Defendant-Appellant-Cross_Appellees_County_of_Hawaiis_Amended_Opening_Brief

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viability before subdivision approval. The order shut down a construction project employing many workers and prevented over 100 individual lot owners (who had not been made party to the suit) from building homes on their properties. The court had earlier invalidated the zoning and other land use approvals for the 15 acre urban site on the grounds that these constituted "spot"zoning. The trial court decided that the project as a whole was illegal in the agricultural district, although the state land use law expressly allows one-acre lots and golf courses in the agricultural district(except on class A and B soils,not involved here), and the project would result in far more land in active cultivation than past uses. The court also decided that the plaintiffs' claims were not barred by laches, although, if plaintiffs were correct that LUC action was required,that should have preceded the county's zoning actions, and the claims regarding the agricultural district could have been brought by the plaintiffs long before the developer began actual construction. The Court also rejected zoning estoppel and vested rights defenses,holding that the developer did not act in good faith and relied on illegal entitlements. The Court further awarded attorneys' fees and costs to the Plaintiff-Appellees. 1. The Hokuli'a Development and Kelly v. Oceanside. Civil No. 00-01-0192K. In Kelly v. Oceanside, Plaintiffs-Appellee-Cross-Appellants ("Plaintiffs")complained of alleged water pollution,burial treatment,Hawaiian trails protection and other problems arising from Defendant-Cross-Appellant 1250 Oceanside Partners' ("Oceanside")Hokuli'a development. Fifth Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief, ("Fifth Amended Complaint"), Record on Appeal, ("R") at Vol. 26,p. 9252 ("26: 9252"). Hokuli'a includes a 730-lot, minimum 1-acre subdivision associated with a golf course, member's lodge and other amenities. The entire project involves about 1,540 acres south of Kailua-Kona and Keauhou, Kona. Special Management Area Permit No. 356, R, Defendant Oceanside's ("DO") Exhibit DO-1287. The initial complaint was filed on October 30, 2000. R at pp. 1: 1-10. The HRS Chapter 205 claims first appeared in the Second Amended Complaint filed on December 21, 2000. R at 2: 473, 488. Hokuli'a is in the state land use agricultural district. Hokuli'a Phase I Public Offering Statement,R: Plaintiff Protect Keopuka Ohana("PKO")Exhibit PKO-458,p. 3. It was formerly known as the Villages of Hokukano. Test. Robert A. Stuit, Transcript of Proceedings("Tr."), July 23, 2003, a.m.,p. 12. The Hokuli'a agricultural subdivision lands are classified by the State 2