Regulating Paradise: Land Use Controls in Hawai'i, Second Edition

Land use in Hawai‘i remains the most regulated of all the fifty states. According to many sources, the process of going from raw land to the completion of a project may well average ten years given that ninety-five percent of raw land is initially classified by the State Land Use Commission as either conservation or agriculture. How did this happen and to what end? Will it continue? What laws and regulations control the use of land? Is the use of land in Hawai‘i a right or a privilege?

These questions and others are addressed in this long-overdue second edition of Regulating Paradise, a comprehensive and accessible text that will guide readers through the many layers of laws, plans, and regulations that often determine how land is used in Hawai‘i. It provides the tools to analyze an enormously complex process, one that frustrates public and private sectors alike, and will serve as an essential reference for students, planners, regulators, lawyers, land use professionals, environmental and cultural organizations, and others involved with land use and planning.

• David L. Callies, Author

  David L. Callies is Benjamin A. Kudo professor of law at the University of Hawai‘i, where he teaches land use, state and local government, and real property law. He is a graduate of DePauw University, the University of Michigan Law School (J.D.) and the University of Nottingham (LL.M.), and a past foreign fellow and present life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University. He is the author or coauthor of seventeen books.

• A masterful analysis of [Hawai‘i’s] land use laws.
  —Daniel R. Mandelker, Stamper Professor of Law, Washington University, St. Louis
• Essential reading for all who seek to understand how land use is regulated in Hawai‘i or to apply the lessons learned there to other states.
  —Dan Tarlock, Distinguished Professor of Law, Chicago-Kent College of Law
• Callies has vibrantly depicted the complexity, conflicts, and conundrums of navigating land use laws and regulations in Hawai‘i in a clear and entertaining manner.
  —Lea Hong, Hawaiian Islands Program Director, The Trust for Public Land
• A clear and comprehensive review of Hawai‘i’s land use regulatory systems. The book effectively covers the broad sweep of State and County laws, ordinances, and processes, and how they interrelate.
  —Dan Davidson, land use administrator
• A must-read for both neophyte and veteran legal practitioners. Callies’ in-depth and insightful explanations and commentaries on Hawai‘i’s complex land use and planning laws provide a road map for understanding the state’s multi-layered regulatory scheme
  —Benjamin A. Kudo, Ph.D.
• Callies has a gift of weaving together what on the surface appear to be unrelated laws and court decisions into broader underlying currents in Hawai‘i’s evolving history.
  —Melvin Y. Kaneshige, Executive Vice President of Real Estate and Development, Outrigger Enterprises Group.
• An excellent treatise on the thorny issues of unique land tenure, land rights, and land control in Hawai‘i.
  —Henry Eng, FAICP