Hawaii County reportedly offered a Puna property owner $24,000 for the use of less than an acre of land needed to reopen Pohoiki Road, according to court documents.
The county currently is engaged in a legal battle with landowner Kapoho Land and Development Co. Ltd over a small portion of its property in Puna. The Department of Public Works is seeking access to a pair of parcels in order to begin the construction necessary to restore Pohoiki Road, which was damaged and closed during the 2018 eruption of Kilauea volcano.
While DPW has successfully negotiated agreements with all other property owners along the road — allowing the county to use portions of land along the road shoulders for widening work and slope cutback — KLDC is the only holdout, which led the County Council to approve the use of eminent domain to seize the relevant portions of the land, about 0.94 acres in total, so the project can begin.
But even though the Third Circuit Court on Aug. 15 issued an order putting Hawaii County in possession of the land, KLDC has challenged that order, submitting on Monday a motion arguing the county has violated state laws in its eminent domain process.
That motion alleges the county did not conduct proper public notice or public comment periods about the road reconstruction project and did not attempt to negotiate with KLDC as required for construction involving federal funds, as the Pohoiki project does.
Included with the motion are records of a series of contacts between KLDC and various county representatives, including DPW Director Steve Pause, over the last several months. During those contacts, the motion alleges, no negotiations took place, despite repeated attempts by KLDC to resolve the matter through a negotiated agreement.
A declaration by KLDC manager A. Lono Lyman claimed that in 2020, the administration of then-mayor Harry Kim had told Lyman that none of KLDC’s properties would be necessary for the redevelopment of any nearby county roads, including Pohoiki.
“… Pause and I spoke by telephone … June 6,” Lyman said in an email sent to several county officials, including Pause and Mayor Mitch Roth, which was included as an exhibit to KLDC’s motion. “For me, the conversation was very unsatisfactory … I heard a lot from him how this is all my fault.”
A follow-up letter on June 10 listed a series of proposed conditions for a settlement, including a suspension of the eminent domain process and that “in the future, if the county administration wants something from (KLDC) it asks by phone, email, or snail mail, with phone being the preferred method of communication.”
Roth responded to that letter on June 18, writing that the county “must respectfully decline your conditions for settlement,” but added that a mutual resolution of the matter was still possible. Roth’s letter reiterated that the reopening of Pohoiki Road is an urgent matter that must be completed without further delay.
The motion also claims the county offered $24,000 for the use of the land, which Lyman in his declaration wrote would not be just compensation. Because the land is subject to leases and subleases by the nearby Puna Geothermal Venture — albeit several acres away from Pohoiki Road — Lyman argued that the land represents a source of considerable income that $24,000 cannot offset.
That said, Lyman told the Tribune-Herald on Thursday that “funding is not an issue,” and his primary concern is that the county follow the law.
A representative for DPW declined to comment on the ongoing legal matter.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
