Honolulu rail board approves eminent domain to acquire 10 acres
“The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s board of directors voted Thursday to use eminent domain to acquire pieces of two properties totaling nearly 10 acres in West Oahu that are needed to build the city’s $5.16 billion rail project.
Tuesday’s vote marks the first time the board has chosen to use its right of eminent domain to acquire land along the 20-mile rail route.
HART officials said that after two years of negotiating with Richard and Karen Lee to acquire 9.7 acres at 96-136 Farrington Highway near Leeward Community College and with the Stuart Plaza office complex at 945 Kamehameha Highway in Pearl City, next to The Home Depot, to acquire 2,211 square feet of space, the agency needs the courts to resolve the dispute over the value of those properties.
HART officials said the Lees want the transit agency to pay an estimated $500,000 to clean up contaminants on their property plus the value of the property as if it was zoned for industrial use. The land is currently zoned for agricultural use.”
Abramson, Mark. Pacific Business News 24 January 2013.