Appraisers to enter Waikoloa land talks
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources told its staff yesterday to either strike a deal with a partnership that is occupying state land at the Hilton Waikoloa Village, or prepare for an eviction.
In the latest chapter of a 17-year legal dispute over the property, the land board voted 6-0 to use a three-member panel of appraisers to try to reach an agreement with Lanpar/HTL Associates, which owns most of the land under the hotel.
The panel of appraisers is to decide the value of 1.8 acres of submerged and filled public lands on the hotel site. The Water's Edge Restaurant and other hotel facilities were built on the filled lands, but the state has never been paid rent for the use of the property.
The state is trying to negotiate a lease or land exchange with Lanpar to settle the dispute, and is seeking back rent dating to 1986.
An appraiser hired by the state valued the filled land at $2.7 million, but Lanpar has rejected that appraisal.
Under the process approved yesterday, Lanpar will hire its own appraiser. If Lanpar's appraiser does not agree with the state appraisal, a third appraiser will be used to try to settle the matter.
Dede Mamiya, administrator of DLNR's land division, said that process likely will take six to seven months. If the two sides reach an agreement, the board instructed the staff to prepare a plan for a land exchange or lease.
If the two sides still cannot agree on the value of the property, Mamiya said, the land board instructed staff to prepare for an eviction.
Mamiya said the board also asked staff to prepare a plan for collecting rent for the property while the appraisal process is under way.
In 1986, Mervin Napeahi sued over the use of the land, saying the state had abandoned public lands to a private landowner. Napeahi said that was a breach of the Admissions Act.
In 1997, U.S. District Judge David Ezra ordered the state to seek compensation from the "occupiers" of the land, including back rent.
The Hilton Waikoloa leases the lands under the hotel from Lanpar.
