Section 15-23-164 - Certificate of appropriateness(a) No permit shall be issued by the city and county of Honolulu for demolition, construction, alteration, repair or improvement which will affect any historic or culturally significant property, except after the issuance by the authority of a certificate of appropriateness.(b) A developer, owner, or lessee of a historic or culturally significant property shall file with the executive director an application for a certificate of appropriateness for any proposed demolition, construction, alteration, repair, or improvement which will affect such historic or culturally significant property. The application shall be accompanied by supporting data and documents, including, as appropriate, the following: (1) A description of the historic or culturally significant property affected by the proposed project;(2) An area site plan indicating the location and nature of the project site improvements and site relationship to surrounding improvements;(3) Data on size, appearance, and form with sketches and perspectives of the building or structure proposed to be constructed, repaired or improved; and(4) Plans, elevations, and sections that fix and describe the project as to architectural character, and an outline specification setting forth exterior finishes and colors.(c) The executive director shall evaluate the project and, within thirty days after submittal of the completed application for a certificate of appropriateness, determine whether the project is significant or nonsignificant, as defined below.(d) If the executive director finds the project to be nonsignificant, a certificate of appropriateness shall be issued. A project is deemed to be nonsignificant where it consists of alterations, repairs, or improvements which do not involve a change in design, material, character, or outer appearance of the affected property or a change in those characteristics which qualified the property for designation as an historic or culturally significant property.(e) If the executive director finds the project to be significant, the executive director shall, within thirty days of such determination, prepare a summary report on the project, including an analysis of the data and documents supplied with the application for the certificate of appropriateness, and submit the report to the authority, together with a recommendation.(f) Within one hundred days after receipt of the executive director's report, the authority shall either approve the proposed action in whole or in part, with or without modification or conditions, and issue a certificate of appropriateness or disapprove the proposed action. Before acting on the application, the authority shall hold a public hearing thereon. At the public hearing the applicant and other interested persons shall be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard. If the affected property is on the Hawaii or national register of historic places, the authority shall notify the state department of land and natural resources of its decision.(g) The authority shall grant the application for a certificate of appropriateness if: (1) The proposed action will not unduly hinder the protection, enhancement, presentation, perpetuation and use of the property in its historic or culturally significant state; or(2) The property as it exists is no longer suitable to past or present purposes or is totally inadequate for the owner's or lessee's legitimate needs; or(3) The owner or lessee is unable to earn a reasonable return unless the proposed project is undertaken.(h) Whenever an applicant for a certificate of appropriateness makes a showing that the property as it exists is totally inadequate for the owner's or lessee's legitimate needs or that the owner or lessee is unable to earn a reasonable return unless the project is undertaken, the authority may develop and propose alternatives to the proposed project that will enable the owner or lessee to put his property to reasonable use or to earn a reasonable return. Such alternatives may include a sale of the property to a buyer or lessee who will utilize the property without the action proposed by the applicant; it may also include partial or complete tax exemption, governmental grants-in-aid and other financial and technical assistance. The owner or lessee may accept or reject any alternative proposed by the authority.(i) If the owner or lessee rejects all alternatives proposed by the authority, the authority may elect to acquire the property by eminent domain, in which case, action to condemn the property shall be commenced within ninety days of said rejection. If on the other hand the owner or lessee rejects the alternatives proposed by the authority, and the authority determines not to acquire the property by eminent domain, the authority shall issue a certificate of appropriateness to the applicant.[Eff 2/24/90; am and comp 10/10/98; comp 2/2/02; comp 12/9/02; comp 11/3/05] (Auth: HRS §§ 206E-7, 206E-33) (Imp: HRS §§ 206E-7, 206E-33)