Hokulia Fiasco

[Konaguy]

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Feb/23/bz/bz02p.html

Hokuli'a buyers planning $200M lawsuit in damages

By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer

Nearly 100 buyers of million-dollar lots at the stalled Hokuli'a luxury residential subdivision in South Kona plan to sue Hawai'i County for an estimated $200 million in damages.

The project on agriculture-zoned land was halted more than a year ago by a state judge who ruled it was illegal to build luxury homes on the property. The county had approved the project, but the judge sided with environmentalists who opposed building on the land near Kealakekua Bay.

[Glen Miyashiro]

And having a state court block the development, that the county approved, is the county's fault... how? :confused:

[Konaguy]

Its a bit more complicated than that.

http://www.protectkeopukaohana.org/index.html
http://www.hokuliaupdate.com/

My view on this is that this was a questionable project from the
getgo. Building a urban subdivision on agriculture zoned land raises
red flags for me. Even if they claim the lot owners were going to
do agriculture related activities on the land.

[Konaguy]

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Mar/06/bz/bz03p.html

There may be a legal cloud hanging over the Big Island luxury residential subdivision Hokuli'a, but some speculators see a silver lining in a judge's 2003 ruling that deemed the million-dollar home lots were not allowed on agricultural land.

Lot owners can golf on Hokuli'a's private course, shown under construction here, but they can't get building permits for homes or hookups to county water, power and sewer lines.

The recent buyers expect that Hokuli'a lot values, which haven't appreciated as much as the rest of the market, will shoot higher if a pending appeal of Ibarra's decision is successful at the Hawai'i Supreme Court.

It's a high-stakes gamble that could leave such buyers with drastically devalued property if Ibarra's ruling is upheld.

[Konaguy]

http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2005/03/08/opinion/letters_-_your_voice/letters.txt

First off the cases against the state and county are very clear. I will not debate them here you can go to http://www.hokuliaupdate.com to get all the reasons and form your own conclusions. I am writing to tell you about another strategy that has been proposed by others and is being considered. The idea behind this is simple: Until others are affected by the errors of our government, no change will come. Basically the strategy would be to sue other subdivisions currently zoned A1-A or Agriculture 1 acre. In fact several of our state officials wondered why we haven't done this yet.

These same officials identified 61 at-risk subdivisions on the Big Island alone. I won't start naming them but I'm sure you know which ones they are.

If you are not sure if you live in one of these, I suggest you call the county and ask what your zoning is. Basically the plan would be to use the identical suit that Protect Keopuka Ohana used on Hokulia and file that starting on one or two other Ag 1 subdivisions.

[Konaguy]

http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/articles/2005/03/10/local/local03.txt

HILO -- Los Angeles attorneys representing 96 individuals and entities with 133 lots at Hokulia met with Mayor Harry Kim and other county officials Tuesday to discuss a potential lawsuit, Kim said.

Robert Baker and his son, Phil Baker, of Baker, Keener and Nahara hand-delivered a Feb. 15 letter that had been previously faxed and mailed to the mayor.

The letter states that the law firm is hopeful that state legislators will resolve "the colossal problem" of Hokulia landowners not being able to build on their lots, but is preparing a lawsuit in the event a resolution doesn't result from this legislative session.

Kim said Robert and Phil Baker told him and other county officials of "the possibility of suing the County of Hawaii and others -- whether it be the state government or the developer."