HONOLULU (CN) — A yearslong effort to preserve 41,000 acres of Oahu farmland came before the Hawaii Supreme Court Tuesday, where justices pressed the city on whether it did enough to notify nearly 1,800 landowners before asking the state to designate their properties as “Important Agricultural Lands.”
Honolulu says it followed state law in identifying the land and submitting its recommendation to the Hawaii Land Use Commission. The commission found the city hadn’t satisfied notice requirements under state law and administrative rule and rejected the proposal.
Brad Saito, representing the city, said Honolulu was making an advisory recommendation, not asking the commission to resolve a dispute between property owners. He argued the commission should have moved directly to rulemaking, where it would propose which lands merit the designation and take public comment…