The Honolulu City Council has passed legislation that releases the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation from a municipal mandate requiring property owners and lessees to be formally notified when the agency asks the Council for authorization to condemn land. The statutory adjustment is designed to facilitate property acquisitions necessary for the ongoing construction of the island's Skyline rail project, an infrastructure undertaking valued at more than $10 billion.
Members of the Council voted unanimously during their recent session to adopt a floor draft of the measure, known as Bill 48. Under the newly approved provisions, the existing advance notification mandates will strictly apply to executive branch agencies while explicitly excluding condemnation proceedings initiated by the rail transit authority.
Following the Council's final approval, the measure was formally transmitted to the mayor, who must now decide whether to sign the legislation into law or veto it. Official city records establish that the deadline for the mayor to return the bill is Sept. 24.
The legislative proposal was originally introduced on June 30 by Council Chair Tommy Waters on behalf of the city administration. The drafting of the bill was spurred by ongoing litigation and related disputes involving automotive and commercial entity Servco Pacific Inc. as transit officials attempt to acquire segments of the company's real estate holdings in Kakaako to accommodate the rail alignment.
Central to the dispute is a Dec. 1 Circuit Court decision in the case of City & County of Honolulu v. Servco Pacific Inc., in which a judge determined that the city's general condemnation notification requirements were legally binding on HART. The city has since challenged that outcome by filing an appeal, which is currently awaiting review before the Hawaii Supreme Court. A second, related legal action initiated by the city in Circuit Court in May remains pending, with proceedings scheduled for late 2027.
According to rail authority officials, the December court determination created significant obstacles to the agency's timeline for taking control of the targeted Servco Pacific land. Under Section 2-39.2 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, whenever municipal entities pursue real estate through eminent domain, written notice must be mailed to recorded owners and lessees no later than the date the transmittal requesting Council condemnation approval is officially submitted.
Bill 48 addresses the core legal issue by altering the wording of Section 2-39.2, replacing the broad phrase "the city" with "an executive agency." In addition, the text of the ordinance now expressly declares that the procedural notice requirements do not apply to condemnation actions brought forward by the rail authority.
Council findings accompanying the legislation maintain that the original notice rule was intended solely for the mayor and standard municipal executive departments, such as the Department of Design and Construction. The Council noted that the Circuit Court's December decision departed from that legislative intent by treating HART as an executive agency rather than a semi-autonomous entity.
Defending the measure, HART Executive Director and CEO Lori Kahikina emphasized that the revision serves as a necessary clarification of existing municipal statutes rather than a reduction in property rights. Kahikina explained that the previous court ruling improperly conflated the semi-autonomous transit authority with traditional executive agencies, adding that the new language will prevent future judicial misinterpretations of the municipal code.
Responding to potential concerns regarding procedural fairness, Kahikina pointed out that HART remains bound by other mandatory standards outside the city ordinance. Specifically, she noted that the transit agency must continue to follow formal notification protocols set forth under Hawaii state statutes as well as the federal Uniform Relocation and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970.
The operational impact of the notice rule was detailed in April by Krista Lunzer, HART's director of transit property acquisition and relocation, who briefed the rail board on the friction caused by the December ruling. The agency's board ultimately authorized formal condemnation resolutions for targeted real estate along the Kakaako corridor, including parcels owned by Pacific Guardian Center at 733 to 735 Bishop St. and Servco Pacific at 616 Keawe St. to facilitate construction of the future Downtown and Civic Center stations.
For the Civic Center Station site, HART is seeking to acquire a combined 12,437 square feet across two parcels along Halekauwila Street owned by Servco. Furthermore, the transit authority is pursuing an additional 10,282 square feet of adjacent property located mauka of those lots to secure a temporary construction easement for station development work.
A notable feature of Bill 48 is its retroactive clause, which applies the exemption back to Oct. 21, 2016—the effective date of Ordinance 16-29, which initially created the city's eminent domain notification standards. The legislation does not specify the number of past condemnation cases or property owners and lessees that might be impacted by this retroactive application, and Kahikina declined to speculate on how the retroactive language might affect active or future litigation.
Despite the significant legal ramifications, the Council approved Bill 48 on its final third reading on Wednesday without floor debate. While Mark M. Murakami, an attorney representing Servco Pacific, declined to offer comment on the ongoing legal proceedings, the bill had previously drawn public criticism, including written testimony submitted in July by Ewa Beach resident Brett Kulbis, who registered strong opposition to the exemption.
(0)