2008-05-16_County_of_Hawaii_Answering_Brief_re_Robert_Nigel_Richards

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I. STATEMENT OF THE CASE A. Introduction. 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 Defendant-Appellant and Third-Party Plaintiff-Appellant C & J Coupe Family Limited Partnership ("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. (Record on Appeal ("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. B. History of the Case. 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. September 27, 2007, First Amended Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Order ("1 stAmd.FOFCOL"), FOF 16-¶9.2 (R.O.A., 00-1-181K, Vol. 41, Document 00507 (hereinafter referenced as "V.41/00507," and 05-1-15K, V.27/01031.) 1 The non jury trial commenced on July 9, 2007. The trial judge assigned separate letters to each party for exhibits: J was Joint Exhibits, R was for Coupes' Exhibits, D was for Third-Party Defendant-Appellee 1250 Oceanside Partners aka Hokuli`a's ("Oceanside") Exhibits, and P was for the County's Exhibits. Hereinafter, any reference to these exhibits will be as Exh. J, R, D or P. 2 See Hawai`i Belt Road Holualoa to Papa Preliminary Engineering Report(June 1979) at III-3, Exh. D-2 (State of Hawaii Department of Transportation concluded that a highway to bypass the Mamalahoa Highway would be beneficial because the Mamalahoa Highway did not conform to the desired level of service criteria due to the inadequate physical elements of the existing highway,high accident rates, anticipated higher traffic volume and congestion, and the need for a route continuously around the island);Kona Regional Plan (1982), Exh. P-6 ("traffic counts [on Mamalahoa Highway] show the traffic to be equal to or exceeding the roadway design capacity which is an undesirable traffic condition. . . . [resulting in] heavy burden on the roadway network, increasing both travel time and inconvenience," and a community survey conducted in connection with the report indicated that the deteriorating traffic condition was viewed as a major problem by a third of the sample group.); 1989 Hawaii County Council General Plan (Ordinance 89-142) (adopted the 1979 State bypass highway and identified as desirable the construction of a roadway from Keauhou to Napoopoo.), Exh. J-245;Parson Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas, Inc., Traffic Impact Study (1995), p.10; Exh. D-138 (the bypass "will result in a beneficial reduction of traffic volumes on Mamalahoa Highway."); 2