(a) Upon the day of hearing, or any adjournment thereof, the liquor commission shall consider the application and any protests and objections to the granting thereof, and hear the parties in interest. The liquor commission shall accept all written or oral testimony for or against the application whether the application is denied, refused, or withdrawn. Within ninety days after the hearing, or within one hundred twenty days thereafter if in its discretion the commission extends the ninety days to one hundred twenty days, and gives public notice of same, the commission shall give its decision granting or refusing the application; provided that if a majority of the:

Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-59

  • Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
  • Commission: means the liquor commission for the county within which such commission has jurisdiction under this chapter. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
  • County: means the county in respect of which each commission has jurisdiction under this chapter; provided that in the county of Kalawao liquor may be sold only by such persons and only under such conditions as may be permitted or prescribed from time to time by the department of health. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • Investigator: means any investigator of the commission in each case for the county wherein the commission has jurisdiction. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • License: means any license granted under this chapter. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • Person: means and includes natural persons, associations, copartnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations, and also includes any agent, servant, and employee of such person. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • premises: includes the hotel premises; provided further that in the case of a class 15 condominium hotel license, "premises" includes units, as defined in § 514B-3, that are used to provide transient lodging for periods of less than thirty days under a written contract with the owner or owners of each unit in, and common elements for access purposes as established by the declaration of condominium property regime of, the condominium hotel; and provided further that if an establishment is in a retail shopping complex the businesses of which have formed a merchants association, "premises" means the establishment. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 281-1
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
(1) Registered voters for the area within five hundred feet of the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked; or
(2) Owners and lessees of record of real estate and owners of record of shares in a cooperative apartment within five hundred feet of the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked,

have duly filed or caused to be filed their protests against the granting of the license, or if there appears any other disqualification under this chapter, the application shall be refused. Otherwise, the commission may in its discretion grant or refuse the same.

For purposes of defining “a majority of the owners and lessees of record of real estate and owners of record of shares in a cooperative apartment”, each property counts only once; provided that roadways shall not be included. A protest submitted by the majority of the co-owners or the majority of the co-lessees of a property shall constitute a protest by all the owners or lessees of record of that property. A protest filed by owners or lessees who own more than one property shall be counted for each property.

(b) The liquor commission shall make available to the applicant and any protester for review before the public hearing, the protest list of those persons who filed a protest or objection to the application; provided that the applicant shall not use the protest list to attempt to influence in any way any protester to withdraw the protest or objection. All applicants and protesters may submit corrections, additions, and subtractions to the master list and the protest list at the public hearing; provided that additions or corrections to the voter registration list shall be certified by the clerk of the county. The liquor commission shall rule on proposed corrections, additions, and subtractions and give reasons for the ruling.
(c) The commission may also, with like discretion:

(1) Grant a license to one person in preference to another, without reference to any priority in the order of filing of the applications; and
(2) Of its own motion, or on the suggestion of any member, or of the investigator take notice of any matter or thing which in the opinion of a majority of its members would be a sufficient objection to the granting of a license; but in such case if the objection is one to which the applicant should be given a reasonable time to answer, a continuance may be granted in the discretion of the commission;

provided that in any case where any person affected by such decision petitions the commission for a rehearing of the application and on oath alleges facts and grounds for consideration which were not formerly presented or considered, or any other matter of fact which in the judgment of the commission seems sufficient to warrant a rehearing, such rehearing may be granted by the commission in its discretion upon the publication of notice of rehearing at least seven days before the date of the rehearing. When a rehearing is allowed notice shall be given to the applicant and to the applicant’s opponents, by publication or otherwise as the commission shall direct.