Judge rejects request to
restrain neighbor from
billionaire’s home

The disagreement stems from
an alleged assault on a worker
removing a driveway

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By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

A Circuit Court judge denied Japanese billionaire Gensiro Kawamoto's request for a restraining order against a Kahaluu man whom Kawamoto accused of assaulting one of his workers.

The worker was removing portions of a driveway that encroaches upon Kawamoto's property. Kawamoto is removing the Iuiu Street driveway, which two neighboring families currently use, to create a wider entry to a home he is building on a 130-acre parcel of undeveloped land, said his lawyer Carol Asai-Sato.

Kawamoto alleged in his motion for a temporary restraining order that one of those neighbors, Jeffrey Schade, came onto his property Monday and shoved his contractor's employee, who was operating a heavy saw.

Schade's lawyer, Joelle Kane, said her client may have been yelling to be heard over the sound of the saw but did not assault the worker. He was simply expressing his concern that his portion of the driveway not be removed.

"Because he knows Mr. Kawamoto is going to be a neighbor, he just wants to resolve this amicably," Kane said.

Kane said her client does not dispute Kawamoto's legal right to remove the existing portions of the driveway that encroach upon his property.

Asai-Sato said that although the other neighbor has threatened legal action, she has not been physically or verbally abusive.

Schade's "thinking is that he (Kawamoto) owns 130 acres; why can't he give a portion of that to him," Asai-Sato said. "But he can't just be giving out his land to people left and right."

Circuit Judge Eden Elizabeth Hifo denied the motion on the agreement that Schade stay away from the premises during the demolition, thus eliminating the need for the issuance of a restraining order, Asai-Sato said.

The new driveway under construction would serve as the main access to Kawamoto's property, Asai-Sato said. The site was selected because it provides easiest access to the street for construction vehicles, but there are other entryways because it is essential to have more than one entrance onto the large property, she said. Work will resume Monday.

Kawamoto purchased the property in 1988, but it has remained undeveloped until now. Kawamoto gave neighbors notice Oct. 3 that they were encroaching on his property.