2008-06-13_County_of_Hawaii_v._Coupe_Family_and_Robert_Nigel_Richards_-_Application_for_Transfer_to_the_Supreme_Court

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Amounts Deposited in Court filed December 3,2007 ("Appellant's Motion to Vacate Possession Order"). The Coupes primarily argued that the trial court committed error by dismissing the abatement claim. On April 7, 2008,the County filed their Memorandum in Opposition to Appellant's Motion to Vacate Possession Order wherein the County argued that the motion does not address the basis of trial court's decision dismissing the abatement claims. The County also argued that consolidation of the lawsuits defeats any abatement claim. On April 21, 2008,the ICA denied Appellant's Motion to Vacate Possession Order without prejudice to the parties further addressing these issues in their respective briefs. III. STATEMENT OF FACTS A. Nature of Case. This case involved the condemnation of a small segment of a much larger parcel of land owned by several parties as tenants in common, including the Coupes, for the purpose of constructing a bypass highway makai of the Mamalahoa Highway. The larger Coupe property runs all the way from the makai side of the Mamalahoa Highway down to the ocean. (R.O.A., Trial Exh. D-107 (May 2000, Site Map (Mamalahoa Highway Bypass Road)). The segment which the County acquired for the bypass highway bisects the larger Coupe property. Id. The trial court correctly found that a highway to bypass the Mamalahoa Highway will serve the public interest by alleviating unacceptable and unsafe traffic conditions. This finding is supported by several studies, and no credible evidence to the contrary was offered by the Coupes. FOF 16-¶9.7 (R.O.A., 00-1-181K, Vol. 41, Document 00507 (hereinafter referenced as "V.41/00507," and 05-1-15K, V.27/01031.) 7 See Hawaii Belt Road Holualoa to Papa Preliminary Engineering Report(June 1979)at 111-3, Exh.D-2(State of Hawaii Department of Transportation concluded that a highway to bypass the Mamalahoa Highway would be 10