Starn O’Toole Marcus & Fisher attorneys prevail in State Land Use Commission Appeal
In May 2024, Douglas S. Chin, Christina N. Ohira, Cori J. Terayama and Eric S. Robinson, acting as Special Deputy Attorneys General, appeared before the Hawaii Supreme Court representing the State Land Use Commission in a case examining the use of agricultural lands or farm dwellings for short-term vacation rentals. On September 25, 2024, in Rosehill v. State of Hawai’i, Land Use Commission, the Hawaii Supreme Court unanimously decided in favor of the Land Use Commission and ruled that farm dwellings in agricultural districts could not to be used as short-term vocation rentals.
Excerpts of release issued from the Department of the Attorney General, September 25, 2024:
Attorney General Anne Lopez applauds the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court’s unanimous decision of Rosehill v. State of Hawaiʻi, Land Use Commission, where the court held that farm dwellings in the agricultural district cannot be used as short-term vacation rentals under Hawaiʻi law. In making its decision, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court further held that courts must generally defer to agencies when interpreting ambiguous laws, expressly disagreeing with a controversial 2024 U.S. Supreme Court case that overruled the 40-year-old case of Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
“This was a win for preserving agricultural lands in Hawaiʻi. Short-term vacation rentals are transient accommodations effectively for vacation or tourist use and do not belong in the agricultural district. That was the LUC’s finding when a dozen Hawaiʻi island landowners applied to rent out their farm dwellings as short-term vacation rentals,” said Special Deputy Attorney General Doug Chin, a former Attorney General of Hawaiʻi and current partner at Starn O’Toole Marcus & Fisher who argued the case before the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court. “The Hawaiʻi Supreme Court unanimously upheld the LUC’s thoughtful and well-reasoned decision.”
Doug Chin, Starn O'Toole Marcus & Fisher