HILO — The county has filed a condemnation lawsuit aimed at gaining better public access to Papaikou Mill Beach via the only existing trail to the shoreline, which is on private property.
HILO — The county has filed a condemnation lawsuit aimed at gaining better public access to Papaikou Mill Beach via the only existing trail to the shoreline, which is on private property.
The civil complaint, filed Wednesday in Hilo Circuit Court, names Papa‘i-kou Landing Inc., a Canadian corporation holding title to the former sugar mill property, and numerous unnamed “Doe” defendants. The principal of Papa‘i-kou Landing Inc. is James Waugh, a Canadian who lives part time at the converted former sugar mill with his wife, Charlene Prickett.
The couple bought the property in 1995 from the former C. Brewer &Co. Waugh cut a switchback trail from the top of a bluff overlooking the ocean to the beach below. Waugh and Prickett provide public access to the beach through a gate 12 hours a day, but the gate is locked between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily. Beach users say the couple also usually close access at least a day a year.
The eminent domain action seeks to gain pedestrian beach access via the trail unrestricted by Waugh and Prickett, as well as via Mill Road, a private road owned by the couple which runs between Highway 19 in Papaikou to the mill property.
Deputy Corporation Counsel Ronald Kim said Friday the county isn’t seeking to assume title of the road or the approximately half-acre trail.
“The condemnation action is strictly for public easement,” Kim said. “We wouldn’t own Mill Road. We would just have pedestrian easement over the property. All we want is for the public to be able to pass over both properties.”
An appraisal commissioned by the county in 2013 put the price of easement via the switchback at $28,500 — which does not include the road — but the current fair market value of the land is “still being updated and determined,” Kim said.
The landowners aren’t obligated to accept an offer, fair market or otherwise, from the county, nor can the county take possession or control of the road or the path without due process. According to Kim, there are no current negotiations between the county and the property owners.
Mayor Harry Kim acknowledged that if Waugh and Prickett aren’t amenable to negotiation, a court battle could be lengthy and costly.
Phone messages left Friday for Waugh and Prickett weren’t returned in time for this story.