Posted at 11 a.m., Tuesday, June 26, 2001

State wins control of Ka Iwi shoreline

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

The state has agreed to buy the 305-acre stretch of open coastline between Ma kapu'u and Sandy beaches for $12.8 million from landowner Kamehameha Schools and its lessee, Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp.

The parties reached agreement May 2. Money to clinch the deal came from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, said state deputy attorney general Lane Ishida.

The agreement ends decades of controversy about the Ka Iwi shoreline, and stops a court battle over state condemnation of the land that was scheduled for trial July 18.

"We do think it's a good deal for the state, because it settles everthing," state attorney general Earl Anzai said today.

Dave Matthews, the co-founder of Ka Iwi Action Coalition, who has fought to keep the coastline free of development, called the deal a "wonderful gift from Bishop Estate."

The land originally was valued at $80 million, Mat thews noted. "Giving it to the state for $12.8 million is a significant reduction. And federal monies of about $5.6 million are available to the state from the federal government. So to get that piece of land for slightly over $7 million is a big gift."

In 1998 Gov. Ben Caye tano announced plans to preserve the open space by purchasing the property for $11 million.

The state plans to redesign Makapu'u Lookout, install underground utility lines and new landscaping, widen Kalaniana'ole Highway, build two parking lots and add another lookout point.