Maui County is considering using eminent domain to acquire about 20 acres next to the Maui Central Landfill for the final disposal site of Lahaina’s fire debris.
The Maui County Council unsuccessfully attempted to come to an agreement with the property’s landowner, Komar Maui Properties. The company bought the parcel in 2015 and intended to develop a landfill there, but ran into permitting roadblocks.
Councilmember Tamara Paltin of West Maui took issue with Komar’s claims.
“If they could do it faster than the county, then they should have gotten their own special use permit and build the landfill in the past decade, which they did not do,” Paltin said. “They haven’t ever publicly set a price. So it’s very difficult to negotiate in good faith with people like that.”
Paltin also pointed to Komar’s request for a portion of future revenue from landfill tipping fees.
“If we were eminent domaining an existing landfill, that’s one thing, to ask for future revenue, but they’ve done nothing with a hole in the ground for the past nine years,” she said. “So to be asking for a take in future tipping fees, which the county is not in it to make profit. The county is in landfilling to do a service to our community, so we don’t make a profit.”
Lahaina fire debris is currently being transported to a temporary site in Olowalu.
At a meeting earlier last week, the council’s Government, Relations, Ethics and Transparency Committee heard passionate testimony from Lahaina residents, urging eminent domain to move forward with the final debris site as quickly as possible.
The county council voted unanimously in favor of the bill authorizing eminent domain during its first reading.
Paltin said the council’s support in the first reading “significantly relieves many of the Lahaina residents’ anxiety levels.”
Council Chair Alice Lee called it “a big win for Lahaina.”
If an agreement with the property owner can’t be reached, the case will go before the Second Circuit Court.
The property has been assessed at a fair market value of $830,000.
The council also passed the first reading of a bill authorizing nearly $4.6 million to fund the land acquisition, along with design, permitting and studies for the final fire debris landfill site.
Final readings for both bills are scheduled for April 5.
How did we get here? Read and listen to past coverage about Lahaina's debris removal:
