25276Intermediate Court of Appeals of Hawaii.
September 17, 2003.
APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRD CIRCUIT (Civ. No. 01-1-399)
On the briefs:
Michael J. Matsukawa for appellants-appellants.
Lynn H. Higashi (Cades Schutte) for appellee-appellee Watkins-Sunderland Wellness Retreat.
Ivan M. Torigoe, deputy corporation counsel, County of Hawai`i for appellees-appellees Planning Commission and Planning Department, County of Hawai`i.
SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER
BURNS, C.J., WATANABE, AND FOLEY, JJ.
Petitioners-Appellants William Ahyou Akau and Anthony Ako Anjo (collectively, Appellants) appeal from the July 23, 2002 Judgment entered by the Circuit Court of the Third Circuit (the circuit court), Judge Riki May Amano presiding, dismissing their appeal from an August 14, 2001 Hawai`i County Planning Commission (Commission) Decision and Order that granted a special management area permit and a special permit for a proposed “Hawaiian Permaculture and Wellness Retreat” in North Kohala. We affirm.
In dismissing the appeal, the circuit court concluded, in relevant part, that
Appellants both failed to follow the governing Commission Rule 4 regarding contested case procedures, and failed to apply for standing as parties to a contested case. Therefore, as to Appellants, there was no contested case from which they could appeal pursuant to [Hawaii] Revised Statutes Chapter 91. Appellants did not adequately participate in a contested case and cannot invoke the HRS 91-14 appeal jurisdiction of this [c]ourt.
In light of Ka Paakai O Kaaina v. Land Use Comm’n, 94 Haw. 31, 42, 7 P.3d 1068, 1079 (2000), Public Access Shoreline Hawaii v. Hawai`i County Planning Comm’n, 79 Haw. 425, 431, 903 P.2d 1246, 1252 (1995), an Simpson v. Department of Land Natural Resources, 8 Haw. App. 16, 23, 791 P.2d 1267, 1272 (1990), we agree with the circuit court that Appellants’ failure to intervene before the Commission precluded their standing to seek judicial review of the Commission’s decision.
Affirmed.