2014-05-19 Game Management Advisory Commission Minutes

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Hawaii Game Management Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes – May 19, 2014 A.: Mr. Brown is not an expert on eminent domain and would refer to an attorney, but basically there has to be a pretty significant public need to require it. C. Schlueter (Corp Counsel): Agreed with that opinion that eminent domain is preserve for the instances where public interest is served over the common individual goal of a person. In his experience, it’s very unusual for that to occur and there are a lot of litigations in different states and he has not seen it in Hawaii, but it makes big news in certain jurisdictions where eminent domain occurs. Mr. Brown said, if you wanted to use eminent domain as the tool for acquiring public access and the landowner challenges that – you might end up buying a piece of right-of-way that’s only worth $10,000 dollars but it’ll probably cost you $200,000 dollars to get it by the time you get it fighting the legal battles. Q.: Chapter 34 would be used to gain public access to the mountain - was used only three times in the last 10 years, is that a correct statement? A.: Mr. Brown answered, approximately yes to two and could not recall the name of third one. Q.: Have there been lots or acreage that have been divided six times or six lots that the county has chosen not to get public access? A.: Mr. Brown answered, not that he is aware of. Close tabs were not kept. He could not name an instance where it had happened. Q.: Is this “Chapter 34” good enough to go forward in the future to ensure that when large landowners who border public property subdivide that the public can get access after that subdivision? And as ranch land or farm land or sugar land continues to be sold and subdivided – it’s likely that it’s gonna border some public land that’s landlocked now. What is it that you would recommend for us to do to ensure that when someone comes in to the planning department and says “I want to subdivide” that we get public access? Is what’s on the books good enough? A.: Mr. Brown said, the short answer to that question in my opinion, is “yes” and “no.” Chapter 34 is adequate up to a certain point is that what we lack in Hawaii County and I think it’s been a serious lacking in both shoreline and mountain accesses – is a lack of a public access planner – a program for this county. It’s been hit and miss, sporadic, inconsistent, we can be very aggressive about acquiring accesses under one administration and very lax about it under another and not necessarily due to whoever happens to be mayor at a given point in time or who might be on the Council at any given point in time – though just by prevailing attitudes within the bureaucracy itself, given the political climate, and the economy – that if we don’t have a comprehensive plan that lays out specific 4