LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i County Council has authorized the first steps in condemnation by eminent domain of a 23.5-acre lot in Kilauea for an affordable housing project.
The lot, situated makai of Kuhio Highway on Kilauea Road, has an estimated value of $1.606 million, according to real property tax records. The property is currently owned by B&D Properties, LLC, of North Dakota.
The vacant agricultural-zoned land was last sold in 2018 for $1,062,151.
County Housing Agency Director Adam Roversi said this land grab is to build workforce housing and promote the expansion of the Kilauea Town Core as called for in the town plan.
“The Housing Agency’s intention in seeking acquisition of this property to develop affordable housing, both for rent and for sale, gradually over time with in-depth feedback and communication from the neighborhood and the community as to exactly what they would like to see there,” Roversi told the council at its Wednesday morning meeting.
Roversi said this acquisition is “particularly triggered” by the county receiving about $9 million in Community Development Block Grants – Disaster Recovery funds from the devastating April 2018 floods.
“We’ve had multiple conversations with the landowner and have been unable to come to an agreement on the purchase of the property,” Roversi said. “So this eminent domain proceeding simply provides a vehicle by which the county could acquire with the court involved in deciding what a fair-purchase price would be.”
All-in-all, council approval is the first step in condemnation for public use. The formal proceeding takes place in court with appointed assessors deeming what the county would ultimately pay.
The county has the authority to take and purchase private property for public use, County Attorney Matt Bracken said.
“We can basically force the sale of the property for public purpose,” Bracken said.
The future Kilauea Access Road the county has recently taken over will be developed and run along the property down to Kuhio Highway.
“As a 20-year member of the Kilauea Neighborhood Association, I just want to acknowledge that the design and the location is consistent with what the community has planned,” Councilmember Felicia Cowden said. “It’s very welcome.”
At the last council meeting on Aug. 4, the body authorized the county to expend up to $180,000 in special counsel for legal services related to the condemnation and development on this area.
In the short term, after the land is acquired, Roversi said a portion of the land would be developed with the federal funds with a preference for people who have been impacted by the 2018 floods, which primarily affected those in Wainiha, Ha‘ena and Hanalei.
“We went through a long project selection process in cooperation with HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development), and HUD frowns upon rebuilding homes in flood areas that have been impacted by floods,” Roversi said. “For example, it’s not really feasible to rebuild homes in the Wainiha floodplain that had been destroyed or severely damaged by floods.”
Kilauea is outside of the flood zone and tsunami-impact areas.
“It’s really important that we work on affordable housing in this part of the island that will serve a greater area as well,” Councilmember KipuKai Kuali‘i said.
Councilmember Bernard Carvalho said that this is one of the last moku, or area, of the island to see an affordable housing project to this scale.
“This is great and I think more opportunities will come from there,” Carvalho said.
Interesting that they’re using the term “land grab” in discussing the return of a precious natural resource–land–to the community.
The actual land grab occurred when the missionaries and other immigrants took over the land from the Hawaiians.
The Hawaiians had actually developed a system in which the land was more-or-less equally usable by the entire population.
Returning to the community? You mean taking private property for the good of the community right?
Why bring up the missionaries in a real time situation?
The Hawaiian system was grossly unfair to most people in the community with the kings getting the lion’s share of all lands.
So the County government is now going to take someone’s land, which they could have bought a few years ago, even though the new landowner doesn’t want to sell it at the price they’re offering ? For the purpose of eventually selling it and renting it to others ? All this while there’s plenty of vacant land for sale in Kilauea and even though the County already owns vacant land in the area ? And you wonder why some people despise government !
Totally agree. Didn’t know when the COK politicians finally confess that they are in fact thieves
So the county is going to force the sale of 23 acres in Kilauea for 1.5 Mil so they can accomplish their affordable housing goals? Whats stops them from forcing the sale of my property? Sounds CRIMINAL to me.
We need affordable housing for the working class which is almost impossible to find on the north shore. My business services the north shore area for over 8 years but I can no longer afford housing without a 45 driving commute. The article starts by saying we need housing for workforce but then says HUD participants get priority. Sounds like housing for the many who do not work. There is no affordable housing for the working class.
remember…no government owns anything, that it has not already taken from someone else…..
Totally agree. Didn’t know when the COK politicians finally confess that they are in fact thieves
23 acers for 1 million? what a bunch of BS! A single family home costs nearly 600K! Stop being thieves.
If that’s the case, take Zuckerberg property, it is almost completed.
Since the property is zoned agriculture, the current owner can’t build a housing subdivision on it. Now the county wants to steal the property at the agricultural-use price, then change the zoning and build some “affordable housing”. This doesn’t seem very ethical, and probably would not be permitted if the action was challenged in court…
exactly. who was it that initiated this idea anyway ? someone brought it to the table. Who gets the building contract? WHO ULTIMATELY OWNS THE PROPERTY ONCE DONE? THERE IS NO WAY THE COUNTY SHOULD BE PAYING ANYTHING LESS THAN THE FAIR VALUE OF THE LAND AT RESIDENTIAL PRICES…
County does what it does best. Incapable or unwiring to promote policies so people would have higher paying jobs to afford the going rate.
Rather than tear up a greenfield for new development, why not use eminent domain for the use of the entire community and use the 40 acres of Cocoa Palms. Seems that honoring the Hawaiians sacred ground by offering this to the disadvantaged with low income housing would be a much better use of precious Kauai land.
It’s Coco Palms. And if you lived here you would know that traffic is already horrible in that area with out adding a boatload more cars to the roads there.
I think Kaua’i’s infrastructure Is horrible. It must be able to hold at least 100,000 people. So that Kaua’i can join the rest of the state in higher standards of living. Hawai’i would now reach 1.7 million people. Not bad.
Plus I think people following Bill Kaipo Asing is ridiculous. A mere puppet show with no power or say to change things.
There’s no safe place from overcrowding in Hawaii. Kilauea is a small town that already can’t handle the class sizes at the elementary school. How will we handle an influx of residents?
Take all the council members property and make it affordable, BEFORE stealing other peoples property.