The Hawaii First Circuit Court recently gave the state a win in a longstanding dispute with Kakaako Land Co. over the ownership of several Kakaako roadways.
Kakaako Land Co., owned by Cedric and Calvert Chun, has claimed ownership of the roads, which include portions of Clayton, Waimanu, Cummins, Kawaiahao, Ilaniwai and Queen streets, since 1985, according to coverage by Honolulu Civil Beat.
Judge Jeffrey Crabtree of the Hawaii First Circuit Court ruled in favor of the state, saying that it is Hawaii that actually owns the roads, and ordered Kakaako Land Co. to immediately cease charging for parking and towing vehicles in relation to the roadways, according to Civil Beat.
In addition to concerns over the state of the roadways, portions of which are alleged to be in disrepair, business owners have claimed that the company had employed tow trucks to patrol the streets looking for cars parked in spaces it had assigned to others, according to Civil Beat.
“These guys were ruling these streets with an iron fist. Nobody could complain,” Robert Emami, owner of The Car Store on Kawaiahao, said, according to Civil Beat.
Cedric Chun declined to comment on any further appeal, and said that attorneys were still reviewing the ruling, according to Civil Beat.
The streets had originally belonged to Charles Desky, who dedicated the streets to the territorial government in 1903 through a Senate resolution, according to Civil Beat. However, there is no evidence that the land was deeded to the territory. In 1985, the Chuns purchased the land from Deksy’s granddaughter, Adele Christian, for $5,000.
In his ruling, Crabtree said that Desky’s move to California after transferring the streets and failure to do anything with them in the following two decades before his death served as evidence his intent was to give them to the territorial government, according to Civil Beat. Additionally, he said that it was unlikely Christian would have agreed to the $5,000 price if she thought she had a claim to the roadways.
Additionally, Crabtree cited a 1947 amendment to the state’s Highways Act, which gives automatic control of any roadway that has not been maintained for at least five years to the state, according to Civil Beat. Under that law, Crabtree said that Christian did not have ownership of the roadways in 1985.