Council takes up Kahalu'u driveway dispute

By Eloise Aguiar
Windward O'ahu Writer

The City Council will consider an emergency resolution this week that, if adopted, would return to two Kahalu'u residents the use of the driveways that were ripped out on Christmas Eve.

City Councilman Steve Holmes, who introduced the resolution Thursday, said it outlines a provision found in Hawai'i Revised Statutes for the council to legally declare a roadway public property if a private landowner has allowed it to be used as such for five years or more without objection.

Cecilia Murakami, 83, and Jeffrey Schade lost the use of their connecting driveways when their neighbor, Japanese billionaire Gensiro Kawamoto, removed them, saying the two had been trespassing on his property. Murakami has said her driveway had gone unchallenged for more than four decades.

"It's nice to resolve this at no expense to the taxpayers," Holmes said, adding that he was concerned that a lengthy condemnation process would cost the city money and the homeowners time and inconvenience.

Mayor Jeremy Harris said he supports the resolution.

"It is essential that we make sure that these residents, who have built their homes and lives around the assumption that these were their legal rights-of-way to their property, are not inconvenienced further by the uncaring whim of Gensiro Kawamoto," Harris said. "While we respect private property rights as the basis of our free society, this is clearly a case where government must intervene to quickly protect the 'little folks' against a millionaire landowner who uses force and intimidation to cut them off from their homes."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.