§281-57  Preliminary hearing; notice of public hearing.  (a)  Upon the filing of the investigator's report upon any application the liquor commission may hold a preliminary hearing and upon such preliminary hearing it may deny the application.  A notice of preliminary hearing on a previously denied, refused, or withdrawn application shall be given seven days before the preliminary hearing to any person who submitted a written request for notice.

     (b)  If no preliminary hearing is had or if the application is not denied upon a preliminary hearing, the commission shall fix a day for the public hearing of the application (other than an application for an alcohol license or a license in classes 7 to 10 and 13) and shall give public notice of the hearing at least once in each of two consecutive weeks, in the county, the date of the hearing to be not less than forty-five days after the first notice.  The notice shall require that all protests or objections against the issuance of the license applied for shall be filed with the administrator of the commission at or before the time of hearing.  Before giving the notice the commission shall collect from the applicant the cost of giving the public notice or require a deposit to cover the same.

     (c)  Immediately upon the commission's fixing a day for the public hearing of the application, the applicant shall mail a notice setting forth the time and place of the hearing on the application to each of the following:

     (1)  Not less than two-thirds of the owners and lessees of record of real estate and owners of record of shares in a cooperative apartment or to those individuals on the list of owners as provided by the managing agent or governing body of the shareholders association situated within a distance of five hundred feet from the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked to the nearest point of such real estate or cooperative apartment; provided that in meeting this requirement, the applicant shall mail a notice to not less than three-fourths of the owners and lessees of record of real estate and owners of record of shares in a cooperative apartment situated within a distance of one hundred feet from the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked.  Notice by mail may be addressed to the last known address of the person concerned or to the address as shown in the last tax return filed by the person or the person's agent or representative;

     (2)  In counties with a population of two hundred-fifty thousand or more, not less than two-thirds of the registered voters residing within, and small businesses situated within, a distance of five hundred feet from the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked; provided that in meeting this requirement, the applicant shall mail notices to not less than three-fourths of the registered voters residing within, and small businesses situated within, a distance of one hundred feet from the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked.  This paragraph shall not apply to any applicant that is a hotel as defined in section 486K-1, a restaurant, or a convenience store.  A notice sent pursuant to this paragraph shall be addressed to the "occupant" of the residential unit or small business; and

     (3)  For each condominium project and cooperative apartment within the five hundred-foot area, one notice of the hearing shall be sent by mail addressed "To the Residents, Care of the Manager", followed by the name and address of the condominium or cooperative apartment involved.

The notices required under this subsection shall be mailed at least forty-five days prior to the date set for the hearing.  No promotional information shall be allowed on, or accompany the notice.  Before the hearing, and within seven days of having mailed the notices, the applicant shall file with the commission an affidavit that the notices have been mailed in compliance with this subsection.  In addition to the affidavit (which shall be made available within the same seven-day period with proof of having mailed the notices), the applicant shall include both a master list of one hundred per cent of addressees and addresses required by paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), and another mailing list consisting of the portion of addressees and their respective addresses who were mailed the notice purposely needed to meet the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3).  The affidavit, master list, and mailing list shall be made available within seven days (of the mailing of the notice by the applicant) by the commission for public review upon request.  For purposes of this section "master list" means every owner and lessee who would otherwise be required to receive notice of the public hearing according to the requirement of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), even if they were not actually included in the two-third or three-fourths requirement (as the case may be) of paragraph (1) or (2), and every condominium project and cooperative apartment qualifying in paragraph (3).  The commission shall cancel the hearing if not receiving the affidavit prior to the hearing or if discovering that the affidavit is false.

     (d)  For purposes of this section, notice to one co-owner and one co-lessee of real estate shall be sufficient notice to all co-owners and all co-lessees of that real estate; except that one notice shall be sent to each individual unit of a cooperative apartment as provided in this section. [L Sp 1933, c 40, §32; RL 1935, §2601; am L 1935, c 105, §11; RL 1945, §7253; RL 1955, §159-56; am L 1965, c 181, §1 and c 258, §1; HRS §281-57; am L 1975, c 55, §5; am L 1979, c 105, §27; am L 1980, c 256, §3; am L 1982, c 39, §1 and c 296, §1; am L 1984, c 123, §1 and c 269, §4; gen ch 1985; am L 1990, c 171, §18; am L 1994, c 227, §1; am L 1998, c 2, §83; am L 2001, c 257, §6]