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Maui Planning Commissioners individually served at today's meeting
Members of the Maui Planning Commission today were served with copies of an amended complaint naming them as defendants in their individual, as well as official, capacities in a lawsuit filed by the Hale O Kaula church. The action came as they prepared to convene their regular meeting at the Maui County office building in Wailuku. The lawsuit was initially filed on September 19 in U.S. District Court in Honolulu.
Named as individual defendants were Commission members Samuel Kalalau III, Jeremy F. Kozuki, Bernice Lu, Star Medeiros, Susan Moikeha, Herman Nascimento, Randy Piltz, Joseph Pontanilla and Mona Richardson. Other defendants in the lawsuit include Planning Director John E. Min, Maui Mayor James Apana, Jr., Commission Hearing Officer Judith Neustadter Fuqua, Hawaii Governor Benjamin Cayetano and State Land Use Commission Executive Director Anthony Ching. Mayor Apana, Gov. Cayetano and Mr. Ching are sued only in their official capacities. The suit also names the Maui Planning Commission, the County of Maui and the Land Use Commission of Hawaii as defendants.
The suit charges that "By denying Plaintiffs the ability to use their agricultural property as a place of worship, the State of Hawaii and the County of Maui prevent Plaintiffs from practicing the Joseph Ministry, which is largely dependent on agricultural land use and is central to the Church's religious vision and function." It adds that "denial of the special use permit was the result of community opposition against Hale O Kaula and its members based on religious prejudice."
Each of the defendants being sued in their individual capacities are accused of having "conspired with one or more of the other Defendants . . . for the purpose of depriving each of the Plaintiffs of the equal protection of the laws, or of equal privileges and immunities under the laws." The complaint seeks an injunction barring enforcement of land use rules to prevent Hale O Kaula from developing its property on Anuhea Place in Pukalani for use as a church, a declaration that the land use rules are unconstitutional, and damages and attorney's fees.