HCC §10-14
When the county can deny a grading permit
Read the official text at hawaiicounty.gov ↗The county can deny a grading, grubbing, or stockpiling permit if the proposed work might endanger property, public ways, structures, or public health and safety. The county will consider things like rain, earth movement, floods, runoff, and soil or rock conditions. Even if the county misses a hazard, the permit holder is still responsible for any damage.
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The ordinance, as written (Hawaiʻi County) — Denial
A copy, taken August 21, 2026. The version published by Hawaiʻi County is the one that governs, and it may have changed since. Check it before relying on anything here.
(a) If the director of public works finds that the work as proposed by the applicant is likely to endanger any property or public way or structure or endanger the public health or welfare, the director shall deny the grading, grubbing or stockpiling permit. Factors to be considered in determining probability of hazardous conditions shall include, but not be limited to, possible saturation of the ground by rains, earth movements, geological or flood hazards, undesirable surface water runoff, subsurface conditions such as the stratification and faulting of rock and the nature and type of soil or rock. (b) Failure of the director of public works to observe or recognize hazardous conditions or the director’s failure to deny the grading, grubbing or stockpiling permit shall not relieve the permittee or the permittee’s agent from being responsible, or cause the County, its officers or agents, to be held responsible for the conditions or damages resulting therefrom.
Published by the County of Hawaiʻi Office of the County Clerk.
LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.