Hawaii County will seize portions of a pair of private properties in lower Puna in order to complete the reopening of Pohoiki Road.
The Department of Public Works intends to begin construction on a four-phase project to restore roads and waterlines cut off during the 2018 Kilauea eruption by the second quarter of this year. While the first of those phases would reopen the stretch of Highway 137 from the Four Corners Intersection to Pohoiki Road, the second phase — which DPW director Steve Pause said is still undergoing design revisions — would restore both upper and lower Pohoiki Road, about 2.4 miles long.
In order to bring the road up to current roadway standards, the road needs to be widened. Pause told the County Council Committee on Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions on Tuesday that the majority of property owners along the road have been receptive to the county’s need to use a portion of their land to accommodate the widening.
One property owner, however, has not, Pause said.
Kapoho Land and Development Co. Ltd. is the owner of a pair of properties adjacent to Pohoiki Road, one a fairly vast 557-acre parcel that surrounds the Puna Geothermal Venture, and the other a tiny 3-acre wedge of land directly across the road from the first.
Pause told the committee that the owner has “signalled reluctance” to cooperate with the county, leading North Kona Councilman Holeka Inaba to introduce a resolution Tuesday authorizing the county Corporation Counsel to initiate eminent domain proceedings to acquire portions of those properties.
Eminent domain, also called condemnation, is the authority of a government to take private property for the purposes of public use.
In this particular instance, Pause said the size of the property to be condemned is relatively small: 0.577 acres of the larger parcel and 0.365 acres of the smaller.
“It’s the minimum amount of land necessary,” Pause said, explaining that the properties are necessary for both the widening of the road and additional slope cutback work.
Puna Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz appeared surprised by the resolution Tuesday, chiding Pause for not providing her with updates about the road restoration process.
“It’s hard to trust, at this point, that the road will be reopened,” Kierkiewicz said, citing frequent delays in the project.
Deputy Corporation Counsel Sinclair Salas-Ferguson reassured Kierkiewicz that the eminent domain process is not likely to postpone the construction process.
“The last condemnation I did, I think I was able to file it within about two weeks,” Salas-Ferguson said.
The committee voted unanimously to forward the matter to the full council with a positive recommendation.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.