The state Board of Land and Natural Resources postponed Friday taking action on allegations that Hermina Morita, chair of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, and her husband ran an illegal bed and breakfast in Hanalei. The item was on the
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources postponed Friday taking action on allegations that Hermina Morita, chair of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, and her husband ran an illegal bed and breakfast in Hanalei. The item was on the agenda for BLNR meeting in Honolulu.
DLNR’s Dan Dennison said it was not clear why the matter was deferred.
The DLNR asserts 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 board has deferred decision making for 45 days. 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.
