§281-57 Preliminary hearing; notice of public hearing. (a) Upon the filing of the investigator's report upon any application the liquor commission may hold a preliminary hearing and upon such preliminary hearing it may deny the application. A notice of preliminary hearing on a previously denied, refused, or withdrawn application shall be given seven days before the preliminary hearing to any person who submitted a written request for notice.

(b) If no preliminary hearing is had or if the application is not denied upon a preliminary hearing, the commission shall fix a day for the public hearing of the application (other than an application for an alcohol license or a license in classes 8 to 10 and 13) and shall give public notice of the hearing at least once in each of two consecutive weeks, in the county, the date of the hearing to be not less than forty-five days after the first notice. The notice shall require that all protests or objections against the issuance of the license applied for shall be filed with the administrator of the commission at or before the time of hearing. Before giving the notice the commission shall collect from the applicant the cost of giving the public notice or require a deposit to cover the same.

(c) Immediately upon the commission's fixing a day for the public hearing of the application, the applicant shall mail a notice setting forth the time and place of the hearing on the application to each of the following:

(1) Not less than two-thirds of the owners and lessees of record of real estate and owners of record of shares in a cooperative apartment or to those individuals on the list of owners as provided by the managing agent or governing body of the shareholders association situated within a distance of five hundred feet from the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked to the nearest point of such real estate or cooperative apartment; provided that in meeting this requirement, the applicant shall mail a notice to not less than three-fourths of the owners and lessees of record of real estate and owners of record of shares in a cooperative apartment situated within a distance of one hundred feet from the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked. Notice by mail may be addressed to the last known address of the person concerned or to the address as shown in the current real property tax record of the person or the person's agent or representative;

(2) In counties with a population of five hundred thousand or more, not less than two-thirds of the registered voters residing within, and small businesses situated within, a distance of five hundred feet from the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked; provided that in meeting this requirement, the applicant shall mail notices to not less than three-fourths of the registered voters residing within, and small businesses situated within, a distance of one hundred feet from the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked. This paragraph shall not apply to applications for class 2, class 4, class 12, and class 15 licenses. A notice sent pursuant to this paragraph shall be addressed to the "occupant" of the residential unit or small business; and

(3) For each condominium project and cooperative apartment within the five hundred-foot area, one notice of the hearing shall be sent by mail addressed "To the Residents, Care of the Manager", followed by the name and address of the condominium or cooperative apartment involved.

The notices required under this subsection shall be mailed at least forty-five days prior to the date set for the hearing. No promotional information shall be allowed on, or accompany the notice. Before the hearing, and within seven business days of having mailed the notices, the applicant shall file with the commission an affidavit that the notices have been mailed in compliance with this subsection. In addition to the affidavit (which shall be made available within the same seven-business-day period with proof of having mailed the notices), the applicant shall include both a master list of one hundred per cent of addressees and addresses required by paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), and another mailing list consisting of the portion of addressees and their respective addresses who were mailed the notice purposely needed to meet the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3). The affidavit, master list, and mailing list shall be made available within seven business days (of the mailing of the notice by the applicant) by the commission for public review upon request. For purposes of this section, "master list" means every owner and lessee who would otherwise be required to receive notice of the public hearing according to the requirement of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), even if they were not actually included in the two-third or three-fourths requirement (as the case may be) of paragraph (1) or (2), and every condominium project and cooperative apartment qualifying in paragraph (3). When the requirements of this section have not been met, the commission may cancel the hearing or continue the public hearing subject to the provisions of this section.

(d) For purposes of this section, notice to one co-owner and one co-lessee of real estate shall be sufficient notice to all co-owners and all co-lessees of that real estate; and one notice is sufficient to an owner or lessee of multiple parcels; except that one notice shall be sent to each individual unit of a cooperative apartment as provided in this section. [L Sp 1933, c 40, §32; RL 1935, §2601; am L 1935, c 105, §11; RL 1945, §7253; RL 1955, §159-56; am L 1965, c 181, §1 and c 258, §1; HRS §281-57; am L 1975, c 55, §5; am L 1979, c 105, §27; am L 1980, c 256, §3; am L 1982, c 39, §1 and c 296, §1; am L 1984, c 123, §1 and c 269, §4; gen ch 1985; am L 1990, c 171, §18; am L 1994, c 227, §1; am L 1998, c 2, §83; am L 2001, c 257, §6; am L 2007, c 53, §6; am L 2008, c 168, §13; am L 2009, c 184, §9]

Case Notes

State and county entities, as owners of real property, are included as owners for both notice and protest purposes as set forth under this section and §281-59. 111 H. 234, 140 P.3d 1014.

For purposes of conducting a public hearing on a liquor license application, the notice provisions of this section control over those in §91-9.5. 118 H. 320, 189 P.3d 432 (2008).

Where a public hearing pertaining to the issuance of a liquor license was statutorily required under §281-52 and this section, and petitioner's legal rights, duties, and privileges were determined based on the public hearing regarding the decision to grant or deny a liquor license to petitioner, the public hearing was a "contested case" hearing governed by chapter 91; thus, (1) petitioner was entitled to judicial review under §91-14, (2) §91-11 applied to proceedings on petitioner's application for liquor license, and (3) the liquor commission did not comply with §91-11. 118 H. 320, 189 P.3d 432 (2008).