Kakaako road owner violating new law, state agency says

A 4-month-old Hawaii law aimed at resolving a vexing issue over the use of private streets in Kakaako is being put into action.

The state agency that regulates development in the area has ordered the owner of eight Kakaako streets to comply with the new law, which requires that private roads meet city standards if an owner charges a fee to use any part of a road. The new law applies to roads in Kakaako that have been used by the public for at least six months.

The Hawaii Community Development Authority delivered a letter Aug. 20 to road owner Kakaako Land Co. LLC informing the firm, which is owned by two brothers, that it is violating the law.

Since 2010 Kakaako Land has charged for parking along its streets, including spaces fronting small businesses, and that led to long-simmering frustration and unresolved litigation between the businesses and the road owner.

“We have received a complaint that Kakaako Land Co. LLC charges a fee for the use of property it owns in the Kakaako Community Development District, and that those privately-owned streets, highways, or thoroughfares do not comply with the construction and maintenance standards of the City and County of Honolulu,” HCDA said in the letter.

HCDA has given Kakaako Land 30 days to correct the matter or face enforcement. Under the agency’s governing statute, it can impose fines up to $500 a day plus administrative costs and can seek a court injunction to prevent violation of the law.

Bringing the roads up to city standards could be cost-prohibitive for Kakaako Land, as the standards cover road width, drainage, sidewalks, underground utilities and other things.

Calvert Chun, who operates Kakaako Land with brother Cedric, declined comment.

In written testimony on House Bill 2275, which Gov. David Ige signed into law as Act 9 on May 1, Chun called the legislation “legally questionable and unproductive.”

Kakaako Land claims to have bought whole or partial segments of Queen, Kawaiahao, Ilaniwai, Waimanu, Curtis, Dreier, Cummins and Kamakee streets in 1985 from the last heir of a man who subdivided parts of Kakaako more than 100 years ago.

In 2010 the company started charging people $100 per month or more for parking after putting up signs and painting stalls on streets. In some cases Kakaako Land established parking where the city had prohibited it. The company also began charging for parking that small businesses had long reserved for their own customers. Seven Kakaako businesses sued Kakaako Land in 2014 over the street ownership claim. That case has yet to go to trial.

The new law’s test follows other efforts by lawmakers in recent years that failed to eliminate the conflict.

In 2016 the Legislature created a law that attempted to establish state ownership of the eight Kakaako Land roads by declaring a 1903 Territory of Hawaii resolution that expressed intent to accept ownership of the streets as a retroactive conveyance of the property. However, the law didn’t produce its intended result.

Last year the Legislature established by law a disputed-road resolution process, but it didn’t appear to apply to Kakaako Land roads. The road dispute resolution measure succeeded a 2016 law calling for the formation of a disputed-roads commission that was never created.

The city also has done assessment work to possibly condemn Kakaako Land roads, but that effort could take another two years.