The Honolulu City Council has officially approved new legislation that exempts the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation from a municipal requirement to notify property owners and lessees when seeking Council authorization to condemn land. The statutory adjustment is designed to facilitate property acquisitions necessary for the construction and continued advancement of the Skyline rail project, an infrastructure development carrying an estimated cost exceeding $10 billion.
Council members voted unanimously last week to adopt a floor draft of the measure, formally designated as Bill 48. Following its passage on third reading, the legislation was transmitted to the mayor for final consideration, with municipal records establishing a formal deadline of Sept. 24 for the executive branch to either approve the bill or return it with a veto.
The newly approved measure directly amends Section 2-39.2 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu by redefining the scope of entities governed by the city's eminent domain notification procedures. Under the modified language, the ordinance changes the reference from "the city" to "an executive agency," thereby making it explicit that the pre-authorization notification requirements do not extend to condemnation proceedings proposed by the rail authority.
Council Chair Tommy Waters introduced Bill 48 on June 30 on behalf of the city administration. The introduction of the bill came directly on the heels of legal disputes surrounding HART's ongoing attempts to acquire private real estate in Kakaako, specifically parcels owned by commercial entity Servco Pacific Inc.
The origin of the legislative amendment traces back to a Dec. 1 Circuit Court decision in the case of City & County of Honolulu v. Servco Pacific Inc. In that ruling, the court determined that the municipal notice mandate applied to HART's condemnation efforts. The city subsequently appealed the lower court's decision, and the matter is currently pending before the Hawaii Supreme Court.
In addition to the case currently under review by the state's highest court, the city filed a second, related condemnation action against Servco Pacific in Circuit Court in May. That separate legal proceeding remains active on the judicial docket, with a formal court date scheduled for late 2027.
According to rail authority officials, the December court ruling significantly impeded HART's capacity to proceed smoothly with its planned eminent domain acquisitions of the Servco Pacific properties. Under the original structure of Section 2-39.2, whenever the city proposed acquiring real estate through eminent domain, formal notice had to be mailed to all record owners and lessees no later than the date on which the request for Council authorization was transmitted.
In the formal findings accompanying Bill 48, the City Council emphasized that Section 2-39.2 was originally drafted and enacted to govern the actions of the mayor and standard executive branch agencies rather than semi-autonomous bodies like HART. The Council maintained that the Circuit Court's interpretation in December departed from this legislative intent by enforcing the executive notice mandates against the rail agency.
Lori Kahikina, the executive director and CEO of HART, defended the bill as a necessary measure to clarify existing statutes. Kahikina pointed out that the court ruling had obligated HART to adhere to ordinances tailored for municipal executive departments, specifically citing the Department of Design and Construction. She maintained that because HART operates as a semi-autonomous agency, clarifying the statutory language is vital to prevent future judicial misinterpretations of the municipal code.
The property at the center of the dispute involves acreage required for the development of the rail project's Civic Center Station in Kakaako. Specifically, HART is seeking to acquire a total of 12,437 square feet across two separate Servco Pacific parcels located along Halekauwila Street. Additionally, the transit agency is seeking an adjacent 10,282 square feet of land located mauka of those properties to serve as a temporary construction easement for the station project.
The broader eminent domain strategy along the rail corridor was detailed earlier this year by Krista Lunzer, HART's director of transit property acquisition and relocation. Lunzer informed the agency's board in April that the December judicial ruling directly affected how the agency notified the Council regarding land acquisitions along the path to Kakaako. Following that briefing, the HART board voted to approve condemnation resolutions targeting both the Servco Pacific site at 616 Keawe St. and properties owned by Pacific Guardian Center at 733 to 735 Bishop St. to accommodate the planned Downtown and Civic Center stations.
Beyond amending future land acquisition procedures, Bill 48 incorporates a retroactive component. The legislation specifies that its clarification applies retroactively to Oct. 21, 2016, which marks the original effective date of Ordinance 16-29, the measure that first instituted the city's condemnation-notice mandate.
Despite the retroactive scope of the measure, the text of Bill 48 does not specify which past condemnation proceedings might be impacted, nor does it provide an estimate of how many property owners or lessees across Honolulu could be affected by the historical adjustment. When questioned about the potential legal fallout from this retroactive application, Kahikina stated that HART would not speculate on how the amendment might influence ongoing or prior litigation.
Kahikina further stressed that the exemption from Section 2-39.2 does not leave property owners without formal protections during eminent domain proceedings. She emphasized that HART remains fully compliant with other statutory notice requirements mandated under Hawaii state law, as well as the acquisition standards established by the federal Uniform Relocation and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970.
The measure moved through its final legislative stage without any floor debate, as Council members approved Bill 48 on third reading without discussion during Wednesday's meeting. In the legal arena, Mark M. Murakami, an attorney representing Servco Pacific in the ongoing litigation, declined to provide comment, while written testimony submitted to the Council in July by Ewa Beach resident Brett Kulbis demonstrated public opposition to the legislation.
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