Since 1979, Lee Sichter has specialized in the field of land use policy and environmental assessment in the State of Hawaii. During this time, he has held various positions in both the public and private sectors which have led to him being recognized as an expert in both these subject areas.
In addition to representing land owners and agencies as a planning consultant, he is a regular guest lecturer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Department of Urban and Regional Planning and at the School of Travel Industry Management. He has been a frequent speaker at public forums including the Natural Resources Section of the Hawaii Chapter of the American Bar Association, the Hawaii Chapter of the American Planning Association, and the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce. He has been accepted as an expert in land use and environmental policy by the State Land Use Commission, the State Board of Land and Natural Resources, the State Department of the Attorney General, and most recently the Hawaii State Legislature where he served on the State Senate's Environmental Working Group.
Before opening his consulting practice in 2011, he was a Principal Planner at Belt Collins Hawaii. Prior to joining Belt Collins in 1987, he served as the planning advisor to the Chair of the Honolulu City Council, the Honorable Patsy T. Mink. He also worked as a planner at the Hawaii Housing Authority; the State's Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the Department of Planning and Economic Development (predecessor to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism), the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization; and the City and County of Honolulu's Department of General Planning and Department of Land Utilization (predecessors to the Department of Planning and Permitting).
Lee Sichter holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science degree (with distinction), both from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He has also trained in Multi-Party Conflict Management and Dispute Negotiation with the Neighborhood Justice Center of Honolulu.
He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. In 1981, he was a member of a graduate student practicum that was awarded the American Planning Association's Best Student Project for 1981 for The Moloka`i Data Book: Community Values and Energy Development. He has received honoring resolutions from the Honolulu City Council (1986) and the Hawaii State Senate (2010). In 1999, he co-authored with Mr. Kepa Maly the Ka`upulehu Integrated Resources Management Plan, which won the American Planning Association Hawaii Chapter's Environmental/Preservation award.
