The cover story in Pacific Business News' recent edition, "Honolulu rail transit's eminent domain" is worth reading. Most importantly, the PBN staff created maps which show how much property is targeted for acquisition, and where it is located, precisely. Yes, the full story is behind a partial paywall, but as we said last week, if you are in Honolulu you really should be a PBN subscriber. Plus, there are a few quotes from our side in the piece:
- “'Eminent domain cases are rare in Hawaii,'” Thomas said. 'Hardly anyone has a living memory — not the landowners, judges, lawyers or even the government officials — they can draw from when there are this many takings.'"
- "However, this could hurt property owners who choose to sell later, as they’ll have to disclose the illegal status of their building. Future owners may be confronted with the cost of tearing down or substantially remodeling the structure to conform to the building codes. In Murakami’s view, this is a way for government to 'cheap out' on its offers, sticking current and future property owners with real costs for which they have not been compensated."
Check it out.
