Senate panels vote Three Senate committees approved an administration bill yesterday that could block the city's condemnation of four Waikiki properties the Outrigger hotel chain wants for its $300 million Beach Walk redevelopment and expansion project.
to block land seizure
The bill could affect the city's
attempt to condemn Waikiki
land for Outrigger HotelsBy Bruce Dunford
Associated PressThe measure (SB 2748) advances to the Senate but likely will die in the House where a key lawmaker friendly to Outrigger bottled up the House companion measure earlier in the session.
"I think it's clear this is a county land use decision and I don't believe it behooves us to superimpose our will over them," said Rep. Joe Souki, chairman of the Transportation Committee, which along with the Tourism and Culture Committee had control of the ignored House measure.
Souki (D, Maalaea-Kapalua-Wailuku) declined to say if he would schedule a hearing if the Senate measure moves to the House and is again referred to his committee.
The condemnation resolution approved by the City Council last week over the objection of the four landowners was signed yesterday by Managing Director Ben Lee, who was serving as acting mayor.
Critics, including Gov. Ben Cayetano, said the resolution wrongfully uses the city's power of eminent domain to take away private property so someone else can use it to make money without any direct public purpose.
Outrigger wants to own the properties because the company might have difficulty financing the project if it does not own all the parcels in the nearly 7.9-acre site, Mel Kaneshige of Outrigger Enterprises told the Council.
In comments earlier this month, Cayetano likened the Council's action to something found in Russia "where you can just take people's land."
He said he thinks the landowners would win in court if they challenged the condemnation.
Sen. Donna Mercado Kim (D, Moanalua Valley-Aiea-Pearlridge), chairwoman of the Tourism and Governmental Affairs Committee, recommended approval of the Senate bill, which also was approved by the Judiciary and Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations committees.
"I don't want to just focus in on Outrigger," Kim said. "But I believe that it's government's place to clarify just exactly what is a public purpose and how we use eminent domain.
"Landownership in America has been something of history and we've tied into our democracy this respecting of land ownership and when government goes in and uses its exemption to condemn property it should be for some public purpose," she said.
The bill would have state law clarify what constitutes a public purpose for condemnation instead of leaving that up to the counties to decide, Kim said.
A provision in the bill clarifies that the limitation of public purpose does not extend to the county's condemnation powers in the leasehold conversion of condominium property.
When developers need private lands for their projects, they need to "cut a deal" with the owners without interference from state or county government, Kim said.
"If you look at the properties in question now, at one time Bishop Estate owned the fee under that property and it was sold to the landowners and now the landowners are having their fee taken away from them to give to another landowner," she said.
Souki said he was surprised that Kim, "who was very protective of her powers when she was on the Council," was pushing the bill to limit county powers.
"How people change," he said.
Sen. Fred Hemmings (R, Kailua-Waimanalo) said it's likely the legislative measure would be too late to affect the Waikiki condemnation, which he said hurts the property owners' efforts in getting a fair price.
It has "already done severe damage to the small landowners in Waikiki who were in negotiations on this issue and have now lost whatever negotiating leverage they had because of the City Council's action," he said.
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