Dead at the state Legislature are two bills which would have authorized an exchange of around 88 acres of state land in Kapa’a Homesteads for less than an acre of private land next to Hanalei Pier. The state land is
Dead at the state Legislature are two bills which would have authorized an exchange of around 88 acres of state land in Kapa’a Homesteads for less than an acre of private land next to Hanalei Pier.
The state land is appraised at $2.3 million, and the Gaylord Wilcox parcel on Hanalei Bay is appraised at $3 million.
The failure of the bills to move out of various committees of the state Legislature leaves Falko Partners, LLC (Limited Liability Company), a California company proposing the exchange, the option of pursuing the land swap with the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.
A. Bernard Bays, attorney for the company, said it is an option his client intends to pursue.
The idea would be for Falko, lessee of the historic Valley House estate mauka of Kealia Beach, to acquire 88 acres of state land surrounding and including the house, in exchange for a 32,000-square-foot lot adjacent to the county’s Black Pot Park at the Hanalei Pier.
Falko has entered into a contract to purchase the Hanalei parcel from Wilcox, and intends to donate it to the state for potential use as expansion of the county’s adjacent Black Pot Park, in exchange for the 88 acres of state land around Valley House.
The land around Valley House includes an area along Kapa’a Stream, and Bays said his client has made an offer to improve portions of a public trail along the stream if the state approves of the idea. Trail access would be preserved as well, he said.
Falko partner Larry Bowman wants the acreage around Valley House as a privacy buffer, and intends to erect only a fence around the property if swapped, and maybe construct a maintenance shed and gazebo, Bays explained.
The exchange proposal could come before the state Board of Land and Natural Resources as early as Friday, March 22, at the board’s next regular meeting. The meeting is expected to be held off Kaua’i. The agenda for that meeting won’t be finalized until Friday, March 15, but generally the BLNR acts on proposals before it at the first available opportunity, said Lynn McCrory, Kaua’i member of the BLNR.
The Hanalei Community Association will provide a public forum on the proposed swap at its general membership meeting Monday, March 11, at 7 p.m. at Hanalei School. Representatives of the state and county, and buyer and seller of the Hanalei parcel, are expected to make presentations.
A memorandum from Harry M. Yada, acting administrator of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Land Division, includes specific details of the proposed swap, including appraisals of the several Kapa’a parcels and single Hanalei parcel involved in the deal.
It gives the governmental agencies, including the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs, until tomorrow, Wednesday, March 6, to offer comments on the proposal.
McCrory said the board during her tenure has approved some land exchanges, in most cases when there is a positive revenue-generating benefit for the state and its people.
In once case, nine acres of lava rock on the Big Island was given to a private entity in exchange for beachfront land contiguous to an existing state wilderness park, she said.
While not speaking specifically about the proposed Kaua’i swap, McCrory said in general that an exchange of state land for private land must be in the best interest of the state, to offer greater value to the state.
“Because once we give the land away, we don’t get it back,” McCrory added. That greater value to the state is easily illustrated in revenue-generation terms, she noted.
Bays said his client won’t do the deal if there isn’t widespread community support for the plan, and if people don’t think that such an exchange is in the community’s best interest.
The Kaua’i Trust for Public Lands has been trying to get the Hanalei parcel into public hands for some time, Bays said, and has pledged $100,000 of its own funds to improve the lot if it goes public.
Falko pledges to donate $400,000 to the Kaua’i Trust for Public Lands, Bays said, to compensate the state for lost lease revenues associated with the Valley House acreage. Half the money could be used to improve the Hanalei lot if it falls into public hands.
Mayor Maryanne Kusaka favors the land-swap, as she has wanted to expand Black Pot Park for some time, said Beth Tokioka, county public information officer.
It would be a good first step toward park expansion, though it is not the preferred parcel in Kusaka’s eyes, Tokioka said. The preferred parcel is one across Weke Road from Black Pot Park, a parcel which already is improved and has parking and other facilities, Tokioka said. That parcel was used by Na Pali boat customers in the past.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
