Posted on: Friday, September 17, 2004

Couple sues over flooding on property

By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer

A Kane'ohe couple is suing the city and state over flooding from a stream that they say has eaten away 2,000 square feet of their Anoi Road property.

Darrell and Gloria Poland filed their Circuit Court lawsuit Wednesday alleging that state projects on land mauka of their property near Kea'ahala Stream and the city's failure to maintain culverts have led to repeated flooding. The suit said that 2,000 square feet of their 9,400 square-foot lot was lost in less than 90 minutes during a Jan. 21 rainstorm.

Darrell Poland, 47, a retired U.S. Marine, said the couple purchased the lot with a four-bedroom single-story home in 1996 for $192,000. The suit said the couple had no problems before September 2002, but the state projects increased the volume and velocity of the water flowing past their property.

The projects involved the widening of Kea'ahala Road, the Kane'ohe courthouse and Windward Community College, according to the suit.

Darrell Poland said he has been dealing with about a half dozen government agencies. "No one wanted to take any action," he said. "No one wanted to listen."

The suit seeks an amount of damages to be determined at trial. The couple's lawyer, Robert Badger, said he could not say at this point how much the Polands will seek. He also said the Polands will ask that their property be restored and that the state and city consider ways to minimize the chance of future flooding.

Representatives for the city and state said they had not seen the suit and could not comment until lawyers reviewed it.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8030.