Hawaiʻi County Council moves forward on using eminent domain for Puna road project

Hawaiʻi County Council members approved the first reading of a resolution to use eminent domain to acquire private land owned by Lum Family Enterprises for the improvement and widening of county-owned Government Beach Road in Puna.

Resolution 567-26 authorizes the county’s condemnation and acquisition of a long, thin strip of land 55-foot-wide and 1.5-mile-long running along the edge of two separate parcels that total about 230 acres in the Keonepoko Iki subdivision, just north of the Hawaiian Shores neighborhood

The strip the county is seeking to acquire totals 3.74 acres, allowing the Department of Public Works to enhance and widen the narrow, winding beach road to improve public safety.

The county said in the resolution it tried to purchase the land, but was unable to reach an agreement with Lum Family Enterprises.

Under Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes Section 101-2, the county has the authority to condemn private property for public use, provided the owners are offered just compensation.

The resolution was introduced by the Office of the Corporation Counsel. It is a final step to resolve a dispute over the land that began in 2014 when the county laid asphalt outside the road’s right of way and onto private property on the western side of the road.

Since then, the county and the property owners have failed to reach a settlement.

During the Committee on Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions meeting on May 19, Council Vice Chair Dennis “Fresh” Onishi questioned Deputy Corporation Counsel Sinclair Salas-Ferguson about the possibility that the case could end up in court.

“This resolution is authorizing the Office of Corporation Counsel to file a lawsuit in court so we have to go to court,” Salas-Ferguson said. “If we cannot reach a settlement between this being passed and going to court, we’ll file a lawsuit in court — an action for condemnation… and we’ll negotiate in court a settlement.”

Onishi then asked if the landowner could counter-sue.

“No, so the county has authority to take private property for a public purpose, which is what we’re asking today,” Salas-Ferguson answered. “Taking property for a roadway, (it) is almost indisputable that it’s a public purpose.”

During the County Council meeting on June 3, members voted 7-1 to authorize the Office of the Corporation Counsel to go to court for eminent domain if an agreement cannot be reached with the landowners. Onishi voted no, and council member Matt Kanealiʻi-Kleinfelder was absent.

Resolution 567-26 must pass a second reading before it goes into effect.