Council approves Waimea Valley land deal
Members move in secret to OK a deal to buy part of the historic valley
THE CITY COUNCIL is moving ahead with buying portions of Waimea Valley, but because yesterday's action was done behind closed doors, terms of the agreement were not public.
The Council voted 5-4 to settle a lawsuit brought by the owners of the 1,875-acre, scenic and historically significant North Shore valley.
Four years ago the city moved to condemn the valley and buy it for $5.2 million. The owner, New York investor Christian Wolffer, wanted $25 million.
Part of the original settlement offered by the land owners called for the city to keep 300 acres, including Waimea Falls, but to allow the back of the valley to be subdivided into eight parcels for development of private homes.
Environmentalists and some North Shore residents have strongly opposed the proposed deal, saying the valley should remain pristine.
Donovan Dela Cruz, Council chairman, who along with Nestor Garcia, Ann Kobayashi and Barbara Marshall voted against the proposal yesterday, declined to give any details.
"A settlement agreement was offered with conditions," Dela Cruz said, noting that the Council's new conditions had not been part of what city attorneys had presented the Council last week.
But Dela Cruz and other Council members refused to say what was included in the new conditions or how they might affect the deal.
"You have to get the language from the corporation counsel. ... They told us not to release the conditions," Dela Cruz said.
City administration officials had no response last night.
The only document released last night was a copy of the Council's report, which said, "It is in the best interest of the city to settle this lawsuit in accordance with the basic terms transmitted confidentially to the City on Oct. 26, subject to conditions intended to address concerns discussed by the Committee of the Whole with their attorneys."