Upkeep of Kakaako roads ends, rubbing businesses wrong way

A city crew patched potholes on Halekauwila Street in Kakaako on Thursday following weeks of heavy rain, but the public shouldn’t expect the same to be done for several nearby streets in shabby condition.

That’s because the city has discontinued maintenance of at least five streets in central Kakaako after the private owner of the public thoroughfares restricted parking along major portions of Queen, Waimanu, Kawaiahao, Ilaniwai and Cummins streets.

Owners and employees of businesses fronting some of the affected streets protested the city’s decision Thursday by staging a picket, carrying signs across Kawaiahao Street where it intersects with Cooke Street.

“We are frustrated,” said Bob Emami, owner of The Car Store Inc. at 836 Kawaiahao St., as he stood near a seriously crumbled portion of the curb. “We are right in the middle of this very, very important business area, and they cannot even make the road safe.”

Emami, who organized the picket, also sent a letter to Gov. David Ige saying that the problem needs to be resolved, especially given that Kakaako is undergoing intense development of apartment buildings and condominium towers expected to add 30,000 more residents to the area in the coming decade or so.

“These roadways will quickly fall into disrepair without city and county performing maintenance,” he wrote in the letter dated Sept. 15 and signed by 35 supporters.

During the picket, Emami held up a sign that read, “Kakaako Is No Man’s Land.” Other signs read, “Pedestrians are not safe on Kakaako St” and “Gov. Ige, state and city reps, businesses and residents of Kakaako need your action. What are you doing??? Earn your vote.”

The protest and the discontinuation of road maintenance are the latest actions in a long-festering issue over control and use of portions of the five streets that the city and state recognize as being privately owned by Kakaako Land Co. LLC.

For more than a century, public use of these roadways was unrestricted. But that changed in 2010 when Kakaako Land, a firm led by brothers Calvert and Cedric Chun, began restricting street parking in some areas, according to a lawsuit filed a year ago by seven owners of businesses and property fronting streets where Kakaako Land converted free shoulder parking areas into reserved parking for monthly fees of $100 or more per stall.

Kakaako Land has gradually expanded reserved parking areas along Kakaako roadways over the last five years, drawing expanded concerns and complaints from adjacent businesses.

Michael Carroll, an attorney representing the plaintiffs suing Kakaako Land, said documents in the case show Kakaako Land generated about $100,000 in gross rental income from the roadways last year.

Generally, the city will maintain privately owned roads as long as the roads provide unrestricted public use. Because Kakaako Land restricted parking, the city has discontinued its street maintenance.

For Ilaniwai and Cummins streets, the city gave Kakaako Land until Thursday to remove the parking restrictions if the company wanted the city to continue maintaining the roads. Kakaako Land did not remove its parking restrictions. City maintenance on Queen, Waimanu and Kawaiahao streets ended earlier, according to city notices.

The city Department of Facility Maintenance did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Kakaako Land also did not respond to a request for comment made through its attorneys Thursday.

Emami said he had a phone conversation with Cedric Chun in which Chun claimed that Kakaako Land only has responsibility for maintaining the shoulders where they reserve parking.

“He said, ‘I only own the shoulder of the road, not the center of the road,’” Emami recounted. “We’re stuck in the middle of this war.”

In the lawsuit the seven plaintiffs — Queen Auto LLC, Theodore Uyeda, Hayashi Family Corp., Vibe Asylum, Tropical Lamp & Shade Co., Tropical Otto Parts and U. Okada Co. — challenge the ownership claims of Kakaako Land, though the claims are recognized by the city and state.

Much of the property in the vicinity was acquired in 1896 by Charles S. Desky, who subdivided and sold parcels along Clayton, Cooke, Cummins, Ilaniwai (then Laniwai), Kawaiahao, Queen, Waimanu and Ward streets.

Kakaako Land said in the lawsuit that Calvert Chun researched the ownership of this property and bought the streets along with land in Waikiki from Desky’s only living heir, Adele M. Christian, in 1985 for $5,000 plus returns equal to 25 percent of rental income from the property. In 1986 Chun transferred ownership to Kakaako Land.

The deal with Christian was made through a quitclaim deed, which offers no warranties against there being other ownership interests in the property.

Still, the city and the Hawaii Community Development Authority, a state agency that regulates development in Kakaako, have recognized Kakaako Land as owner of the roadways at issue.

In 2012 then-Mayor Peter Carlisle asked the Department of Design and Construction to research ownership of Queen Street, including shoulder areas between Kamakee and Cooke streets, in response to complaints over restricted parking.

The department indicated it found no evidence of city ownership of Queen Street except for a few small pieces. “Any dispute between the owner of Queen Street and the abutting property owners is a private matter,” the department said in a letter included in the lawsuit.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit hope to convince a judge that the city or the state is the rightful owner because Desky dedicated the streets to the Territory of Hawaii, or the streets were dedicated to the public when Desky sold lots fronting the streets, or Desky abandoned his interest after five years of no ownership acts. The plaintiffs also claim that lot owners obtained ownership of the roadway shoulders through “adverse possession” by historically occupying the space.

A trial is scheduled for October 2016.

In an effort to try to help resolve the issue, the City Council acted in March to form an advisory group to examine the road ownership and recommend solutions and actions for city or state acquisition. However, the group has yet to meet.

Steve Scott, a member of the group who is also an HCDA board director and owner of the Kakaako small business and slipper manufacturer Scott Hawaii, said his understanding is that the city prefers to let the lawsuit play out before engaging with the advisory group. “Everything seems to be on hold pending the lawsuit,” he said.