Posted on: Thursday, November 8, 2001

Editorial
Condemnation good sentiment, bad idea

In its completely understandable enthusiasm for Outrigger Enterprises' $300 million Waikiki redevelopment project, the Harris administration has come up with a risky and questionable use of its condemnation powers:

It has asked the City Council to approve condemnation of five parcels of land in the Lewers Street area that would become part of Outrigger's nearly eight-acre redevelopment project.

The five parcels are privately owned, and Outrigger would like to gain control of them before moving ahead with its ambitious project. The proposal is to condemn the parcels at market prices and then resell them to Outrigger for the same price.

There's no question that this would help put the badly needed redevelopment project on the fast track. But the precedent set here would come back to haunt the city.

Wouldn't any developer then have a right to ask the city to condemn property if the private owners weren't willing to sell?

And while it might not be impossible to find a public purpose in this condemnation, it would be difficult. A private resort redevelopment is a much different critter than a road, bridge, highway or other public project that usually benefits from government condemnation of private land.

Also, if the landowners fight the condemnation, it could take years of legal wrangling to set an acceptable price.

Certainly, the city can use its good offices and powers of persuasion to bring Outrigger and the landowners to agreement. That will do the trick of moving this project forward without getting the city in the middle of a legal thicket it could come to regret.