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This September 1997 episode debated whether Hawaii should abolish its State Land Use Commission, the body that classifies all land as urban, agricultural, rural, or conservation. David Callies, Kudo Professor of Law at the University of Hawaii, argued the commission had outlived its original purpose and become a redundant, costly layer of bureaucracy; land classification decisions should be left to elected county governments, which maintain detailed development plans and are directly accountable to residents, rather than to an appointed quasi-judicial body that micromanages individual reclassification requests and adds years to the approval process. Allen K. Hoe, a lawyer and former chairman of the commission, countered that it serves an irreplaceable statewide function coordinating conservation, transportation, and cultural-resource interests that county governments address inconsistently, and that its quasi-judicial structure grants citizens stronger participatory rights than ordinary county hearings afford. Caller Astrid Monson, described by the host as an expert on land-use issues, challenged the premise that the commission caused high land prices, noting that thousands of already-approved but undeveloped lots suggested the obstacle lay with landowners and developers. The standing question is whether statewide oversight of land classification remains a necessary check or should be ceded to county governments.
Transcript
Read or download the full transcript (.txt). Speaker labels were assigned automatically and may contain errors.
Companion newspaper commentaries
Commentaries by the guests, published in The Honolulu Advertiser around the broadcast.
