Owners settle land
suit on Maui

The county will buy the parcels
to avoid development

WAILUKU » Two landowners have agreed to settle lawsuits against Maui County's move to halt them from developing their beach-front parcels east of Baldwin Beach in Paia.

In the agreements announced yesterday, the county will buy the landowners' properties.

With approval from the Maui County Council, the county has bought Dennis and Diane Holland's 1.5-acre parcel for $4.58 million, the county said.

The county is scheduled to close the sale of Michael Weidner's 1.4-acre parcel in September for $1.8 million, said county Deputy Corporation Counsel Madelyn D'Enbeau.

D'Enbeau said the county is still negotiating with a third landowner over a 2.87-acre parcel located between the parcels owned by Weidner and the Hollands.

The Holland property includes a 2,250-square-foot house and two double-car garage/workshops.

The agreement allows the Holland property to be used solely for public purposes.

The landowners filed lawsuits challenging the county's move to halt them from developing their residential properties.

The county suspended permits for the residential development in 2001, after a group of residents protested the development on lands designated for park and public purposes in the Paia-Haiku Community Plan.

Beach-goers said they have been walking along the shoreline from Paia town to Baldwin Beach Park and feared the new development would eventually cut off a path across a section of private property.