Land use rules A Maui congregation wants the county attorney to put it in writing: "Thou shalt not worship" on the church's Pukalani land.
still ambiguous
to Maui church
The group wants to build a
chapel on agriculture landBy Mary Adamski
madamski@starbulletin.comAttorneys for Hale O Kaula church wrote the Maui corporation counsel yesterday asking for written clarification of what is permitted on a six-acre parcel of agriculturally zoned land that has been the focus of controversy for eight years.
Maui Deputy Corporation Counsel Victoria Takayesu said the office will not respond until it reviews the interrogatory motion from church attorney Charles H. Hurd.
Hurd wrote in an earlier letter: "We are writing to request that the county stipulate to the following proposition: 'Because Hale O Kaula has been denied a special use permit, Hale O Kaula is currently prohibited from merely using the Anuhea Place property and its unmodified, existing structures as a place to gather regularly for religious worship.'
"If on the other hand, the county's position is that Hale O Kaula may regularly use (it) ... we ask that the county commit to that position in writing, so that church members will no longer fear prosecution for regularly gathering on their own property for worship," Hurd wrote.
The gist of the Aug. 30 letter, which went unanswered by the county, was put in the form of a legal motion yesterday.
The demand for clarification comes after U.S. District Judge Samuel P. King told the church that it was premature in trying to get the court to force the county to allow religious practice at the site.
King ruled on Aug. 29 that "It is not clear that Maui County ever officially prohibited the members of Hale O Kaula only from meeting on the church's property to engage in religious activities."
The church sought a preliminary injunction to allow immediate religious activity on the land, which is used for agricultural projects of the church.
King declined to issue an injunction, saying that until a specific prohibition is enforced, the matter is not "ripe" for court intervention on First Amendment grounds.
The 60-member church, which has been based in Haiku for 30 years, has built a residence and a 1,790-square-foot agricultural building on the site.
But its applications for a special use permit to build a chapel were denied by county planning authorities in 1995 and again last year.
State law does not specifically allow church use on agricultural land, thus a permit is required.
King found, after hearing arguments from both sides July 24, that county proceedings focused on "the facility expansion and their impacts.
"There appears to be a disconnect between plaintiffs and defendants as to what each side was saying or hearing," said King. "Plaintiffs have never applied for a special use permit to use the property solely for religious gatherings."
Before the matter proceeds to a hearing for a permanent injunction "the parties should be able to clarify what exactly is being prohibited," he said.
Maui Corporation Counsel James Takayesu told King that issues of safety prevailed in planning department hearings. There is no water line in the area and drought is a factor in upcountry Maui, he said.
Residents of Anuhea Place, which is a gated private road, testified against the prospect of increased traffic.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm which represents religious organizations around the country in First and 14th Amendment cases, also represented the church.
Its attorneys invoked the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 in asking the judge to declare unconstitutional, the state and county land use laws applied in the church's case.
County of Maui
