(BIVN) – A measure to authorize the taking of private land in Puna through eminent domain in order to improve Government Beach Road was delayed at the Hawaiʻi County Council on Wednesday.
The council voted to postpone Resolution 567-26 to the August 5th agenda in order to give the Hawaiʻi County Department of Public Works and the property owners, the Lum ʻOhana, an opportunity to work things out and come back to the council with the matter resolved.
“I don’t want to be airing any dirty laundry, or get into a he-said, she-said situation,” said Puna councilmember Ashley Kierkiewicz. “I was able to confirm yesterday with both Mr. Lum and Public Works the ability to come back to the table and to revisit a solution that was tentatively agreed upon in late 2024.”
A form letter, signed and submitted as testimony by various Lum family supporters, explains the situation from the perspective of the property owners:
Based on my understanding, the County of Hawaiʻi condemned this property for the Volcano Egress Road under the 2014 Complaint for Immediate Occupation and Exercise of Eminent Domain (CROE). However, in September 2020, the CROE was determined to be null and void by Allan Simeona. At that time, ownership and control of the property reverted to Lum Family Enterprises, while the existing ten-foot-wide roadway remained in place as it had for more than a century.
Despite the return of the property to its longtime owner of approximately one hundred years, the County of Hawaiʻi continued for nearly six years to widen, improve, and maintain this roadway using County equipment, labor, and materials at County expense. The roadway has since been expanded to approximately eighteen feet in width or greater, creating the public perception that it is a County-owned and County-maintained road. These activities continued despite the owner’s repeated requests that the County cease its unauthorized use and improvement of the property and instead maintain the existing ten-foot-wide roadway.
Most of Government Beach Road, extending from Four Corners in Kapoho to Makuʻu Road — a distance of approximately eight miles — remains only about ten feet wide and is in need of repair. Therefore, it is reasonable to question why this particular segment of roadway must be widened through the exercise of eminent domain. The County should not take private property for the apparent benefit of short-term vacation rentals charging substantial rates on the Makai side of the roadway at the expense of a private landowner’s property rights.
Furthermore, the County’s actions have imposed significant burdens upon the property owner by contributing to increased trespassing, illegal rubbish dumping, burglary, theft, livestock endangerment, and safety concerns affecting both family members and workers on the Lum Family ranch. The proposed widening also threatens existing livestock fencing and ranch infrastructure, portions of which were supported through federal assistance programs administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (MRCS) for cattle and livestock ranching operations.
Most importantly, the County Council should carefully consider the precedent that may be established by approving this acquisition. If the County is permitted to proceed despite questions regarding notice, process, and the rights of the property owner, it could create a framework that may affect future eminent domain actions involving private properly owners throughout the State of Hawaiʻi. The protection of private property rights and the assurance of a fair and transparent process are matters of concern to all property owners.
Wayland Lum is the owner/manager of Lum Family Enterprises and a third generation rancher and farmer.
“I would like to ask one simple question,” Lum said, testifying at the council meeting in Kona. “Why did the County continue to widen, improve, and pave this roadway after the property reverted back to the family in 2020? I constantly met with the team – from Steve Pause, Neil Azevedo and Keone Thompson – constantly paying my own way up every time to go and meet with them to try and resolve this in the four years that Mitch Roth was in office. I started this whole process with Ikaika Rodenhurst. Then it was with Mitch Roth and his staff, and now it’s, of course, with Mr. (Kimo) Alameda. So it’s been a long struggle.”
Councilmember Kierkiewicz apologized to the Lum family on behalf of the County for how the situation has been handled.
“I was able to speak with Mr. Wayland Lum yesterday for about half an hour and I was very distressed to learn that there was no communication from the County to alert the ʻohana that this was going to be agendized on the council,” Kierkiewicz said. “Their lawyer had to read about it in the paper. So, I apologize for the handling of this situation and I hope that this is another opportunity for our County Public Works to learn how to do things better.”
