Allegations against Morita headed to BLNR

LIHUE — The state Board of Land and Natural Resources will decide today how to handle allegations that Hermina Morita and her husband ran an illegal bed and breakfast in Hanalei for more than a decade.

But the controversy didn’t prevent Gov. Neil Abercrombie from voicing support for the chair of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission and former state representative.

Abercrombie released a statement Thursday afternoon on Morita’s reappointment, saying he intends to keep her in the position on a “holdover basis” beyond June 30, when her term ends.

“We are at a very critical juncture in developing our clean energy future and the Public Utilities Commission needs stability to continue to address many of the important regulatory issues before it,” he said.

“At the present time, Chair Morita has business before the Board of Land and Natural Resources, which must be addressed,” he added. “She will continue to serve in the position while these issues are being resolved.”

The issue referred to a state Department of Land and Natural Resources assertion that Morita and her husband, Lance Laney, ran the vacation rental Taro Patch Hale without permission and built the secluded North Shore getaway in a state conservation district without the proper permits.

The couple has been ordered to shut down the bed and breakfast and could face significant fines for the alleged violations.

The BLNR will take action on the submittal during its meeting today, which begins at 9 a.m. at the Kalanimoku Building in Honolulu.

Morita was chair of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee from 1999 until she was appointed as PUC chair by Gov. Neil Abercrombie in 2011. She is the first female chair of the PUC.

• Chris D’Angelo, environmental reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or cdangelo@thegardenisland.com.