Mayor Kirk Caldwell released a report Thursday that identifies sites that pose rockfall hazards to city property, and announced that the city has warned about 1,000 private property owners whose land is at high risk of rockfall.
The survey was prepared for the city, which already began taking protective measures at several sites owned by the government that the report flagged as hazardous.
ROCKFALL MITIGATION
The city has five projects under way to deal with dangers highlighted in a rockfall hazard report:
Completed:
Pupukea Phase 1
($1.6 million)
Sierra Drive ($400,000)
Planned:
Prospect Street
Pacific Heights
Pupukea Phase 2
($4.6 million budgeted for the three projects)
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"We were able to determine, even (when the report was) in a draft form, where we needed to take action," Caldwell said, pointing at a hillside encased with concrete above Sierra Drive. "We took action quickly to make sure rocks here don’t crumble down and fall on somebody."
The Sierra Drive project, just completed, is the latest undertaken by the city as a result of hazards identified in the survey. The city has also finished the first phase of a mitigation effort in Pupukea on the North Shore. Projects on Prospect Street on Punchbowl and in Pacific Heights as well as a second phase in Pupukea are in the design stages.
Just as the city is taking action on its property, the mayor called for private property owners to deal with potential hazards on their land. Letters sent Wednesday to about 1,000 property owners notified them that their land appeared to fall within an area deemed at high risk of rockfall.
"This means that your property may present a potential rockfall hazard to a nearby city street, sidewalk or facility and to users of such facilities," said the letter from Chris Takashige, director of the Department of Design and Construction. He suggested the property owners consult with an engineer or attorney to investigate and mitigate risks.
Caldwell emphasized that the report focused on city roads and city property endangered by rockfalls, not private lands.
"It is not a comprehensive study of every rockfall hazard on the island," he said.
Nonetheless, it revealed some hazards involving private property. By making the information public, the city hopes neighbors can work toward solutions.
"We want the general public to know that they can go to the website or the municipal reference library to look at a copy of the report, and then determine whether they want to talk to the upland owner about taking potential mitigation action or they themselves taking action," he said.
The city notified the property owners as a courtesy, so they can read the report and investigate the situation, he said. There is no timeline for action.
"People who have been notified by the city now proceed at their own risk," Caldwell said. "There is potential liability, obviously, if they have been told that there is a potential hazard."
He added, "Just like the city has done on property we own and control, we hope those on private property, once they get this report, will take action. They get the information. It’s up to them to decide whether they want to act."
The report is available online by visiting honolulu.gov and clicking "Rockfall Hazard Report," and printed copies are available at the city’s Municipal Reference and Records Center.
