A Hawaii County Council committee unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday to acquire 3.74 acres of land along Government Beach Road in Puna using eminent domain in order to widen the winding, one-lane scenic seaside route.

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A Hawaii County Council committee unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday to acquire 3.74 acres of land along Government Beach Road in Puna using eminent domain in order to widen the winding, one-lane scenic seaside route.

The Committee on Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions voted 9-0 in favor of Resolution 567-26, which authorizes the county’s condemnation and acquisition of a long, thin strip of land running along the edge of two separate parcels located in the Keonepoko Iki subdivision just north of the Hawaiian Shores neighborhood from their owner, Lum Family Enterprises LLC.

Together the two parcels add up to roughly 230 acres. The county is trying to seize a 55-foot-wide, 1.5-mile-long strip abutting the road that would allow the Department of Public Works to make improvements.

Introduced by the Office of the Corporation Counsel, the resolution is the final step in a decade-long, protracted fight over the land, which began in 2014 when the county laid asphalt outside of the road’s right of way onto private property on the western side of the road. Since then, negotiations with the properties’ owner have failed to reach an agreement.

“We paved onto — a little bit onto the mauka property,” Deputy Corporation Counsel Sinclair Salas-Ferguson told council members during Tuesday’s meeting. “And for years, the county has been trying to negotiate with the landowner … and it’s never come to fruition, so in order to resolve the issues, we have to go through condemnation.”

Hilo Councilman Dennis “Fresh” Onishi questioned Salas-Ferguson about the possibility that the case could end up in court — something the lawyer said is almost guaranteed to happen.

“This resolution is authorizing the Office of Corporation Counsel to file a lawsuit in court so we have to go to court,” he said. “If we cannot reach a settlement between this being passed and going to court, we’ll file a lawsuit in court — an action for condemnation … and we’ll negotiate in court a settlement.”

Onishi then asked if the landowner could counter-sue.

“No, so the county has authority to take private property for a public purpose, which is what we’re asking today,” he said. “Taking property for a roadway, (it) is almost indisputable that it’s a public purpose.”

Nevertheless, Onishi implied that the landowner could have a stronger case since the problem began with the county’s error.

“The county made a mistake and paved into their property,” Onishi said.

Salas-Ferguson reassured the council member that the lawsuit would most likely be about the amount of compensation owed.

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“The fight in court for condemnation is the valuation of the land, generally,” he said. “You know, the owner is going to say, ‘oh, it’s worth this much, you’re not paying me enough,’ and then the court will decide that.”

Wayland Lum is the manager of Lum Family Enterprises and travels back and forth between Oahu and his country homestead in Puna located on the properties in question. He told the Tribune-Herald he is eager to tell his story in the courtroom, and to explain that a wider road in front of his home would likely become a magnet for crime.

“I hope that we have our day (in court) so I can explain to them the history, and also the history with the county,” Lum said. “Basically, during the last six years, I’ve been meeting with three different administrations trying to resolve this matter. The biggest thing for me is because we get theft on our property coming from Government Beach Road — the people out there, they park their cars and all that kind of stuff, and they come in and they steal. It’s been going on for all this time.”

Lum is a 72-year-old organic farmer and rancher, and last year more than 100 of his sheep were killed and mutilated by loose hunting dogs. He suspects that the massacre stemmed from hunters trespassing across his property at night.

Suffering these losses on the land only for the county to end up seizing part of it, he said, is especially disheartening considering how long the properties have been in his family.

“The hard part is that, historically, it was my grandfather’s land,” Lum said. “I was born there. We’ve been there since 1922 or 1923 … it’s been in the family that long. I’m a third generation now, my children will be fourth. When people do this to your land, and you’ve been there forever, it’s very difficult … when you have that much invested in it — when you were actually there from the beginning — it is more heartfelt.”

When asked if there is any amount of money that would make this situation right, he was quick to answer.

“There really isn’t,” he said. “They came in with their appraiser, and (the amount) was so low it was pitiful, so I actually hired my own appraiser, and they came in and said it’s six times what the other one was. The compensation was so small it was pitiful. It was like, you know what? Don’t even give me any money, it was so ridiculous.”

With the committee’s approval of the eminent domain resolution on Tuesday, the measure will head to the full council in two weeks for its consideration.

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Email Stefan Verbano at [email protected].