§46-6.5 Public access. (a) Each county shall adopt ordinances which shall require a subdivider or developer, as a condition precedent to final approval of a subdivision, in cases where public access is not already provided, to dedicate land for public access by right-of-way or easement for pedestrian travel from a public highway or public streets to the land below the high-water mark on any coastal shoreline, and to dedicate land for public access by right of way from a public highway to areas in the mountains where there are existing facilities for hiking, hunting, fruit-picking, ti-leaf sliding, and other recreational purposes, and where there are existing mountain trails.

(b) These ordinances shall be adopted within one year of May 22, 1973.

(c) Upon the dedication of land for a right-of-way, as required by this section and acceptance by the county, the county concerned shall thereafter assume the cost of improvements for and the maintenance of the right-of-way, and the subdivider shall accordingly be relieved from such costs.

(d) For the purposes of this section, "subdivision" means any land which is divided or is proposed to be divided for the purpose of disposition into six or more lots, parcels, units, or interests and also includes any land whether contiguous or not, if six or more lots are offered as part of a common promotional plan of advertising and sale.

(e) The right-of-way shall be clearly designated on the final map of the subdivision or development.

(f) This section shall apply to the plan of any subdivision or development which has not been approved by the respective counties prior to July 1, 1973. [L 1973, c 143, §2]

Revision Note

"May 22, 1973" substituted for "the effective date of this Act".

Law Journals and Reviews

Beach Access: A Public Right? 23 HBJ 65.

"If a Policeman Must Know the Constitution, Then Why Not a Planner?" A Constitutional Challenge of the Hawai`i Public Access Statute. 23 UH L. Rev. 409.