Real Estate & Property Law

Commentary on Kauai Real Property Tax Charter Amendment Decision

Posted on January 04, 2008
California's Flash Report posted my op-ed "Hawaii Government Sues Itself to Quash Property Tax Relief -- And Wins" about the Kauai real property tax charter amendment appeal.

Land Use Round Up

Posted on January 04, 2008
A round up of posts of possible interest to readers: Koloa Creekside sues county -- a developer is suing the County of Kauai for civil rights violations, and unlawful exactions: The 18-page lawsuit names as defendants the county of Kaua?i,...

Regulatory Takings Claims in Federal Court?

Posted on January 04, 2008
A federal regulatory takings claim being litigated in the first instance in federal court? Why, that's as rare as hen's teeth. Here's the deal: under Williamson County Regional Planning Comm'n v. Hamilton Bank, 473 U.S. 172 (1985), a federal regulatory...

Fourth Circuit on Open Primaries

Posted on January 02, 2008
Following up on a recent post about a possible legal challenge to Hawaii's system of "open" primaries: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Maryland, W. Virginia, Virginia, North and South Carolina) has denied rehearing/en banc review to...

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2007 in Review: Hawaii Supreme Court Rewrites the Constitution

Posted on January 02, 2008
In August, by a 3-2 vote, the Hawaii Supreme Court determined that the term "county" in article VIII, section 3 of the Hawaii Constitution means "county councils." The majority held that only county councils may establish property tax policies, and...

2007 in Review: All Superferry All The Time

Posted on January 01, 2008
The Hawaii Supreme Court's decision in the Hawaii Superferry case, coming as it did mere hours after oral argument and just days before the ferry was scheduled to sail, certainly was the issue dominating the headlines in the last quarter...

2007 in Review: Private Agreements and Public Process

Posted on January 01, 2008
These seemingly unrelated court decisions were tied together with a common thread: private agreements for the most part are not substitutes for public processes, whether it is eminent domain, rezoning, or the granting of permits. Several courts determined that agreements...

Administrative Appeal or Original Jurisdiction Lawsuit?

Posted on January 01, 2008
Jesse Souki has some interesting thoughts on the recent Intermediate Court of Appeals decision in E & J Lounge Operating Co. v. City and County of Honolulu, No. 27940 (Dec. 24, 2007), over at his Hawaii Land Use Law blog:...

2007 in Review: Government Gone Wild

Posted on December 31, 2007
Government Gone Wild: the sad case of Wilkie v. Robbins. In perhaps the low point of 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a landowner who was subject to systematic harassment by government officials because he had the temerity to...

2007 Land Use in Review

Posted on December 31, 2007
Another year has come and gone. In Hawaii, two of the hottest "land use" related topics in the public arena remain public beach access and transient vacation rentals. Yet, there wasn't much to report in the way of developments in...

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