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Rob, depending on the way the original was subdivided & whether the lot access was public or private....
There are many "stranded" lots, & this is not just in this county.... many of the ones in this county have been stranded by natural disaster, with lava topping the list
(Royal Gardens & Kalapana lots have been stranded for a while now, & so have some of the older Kapoho lots, from the previous Kapoho eruption...
even access to some of the Ho`okena lots from the 1950 eruption were never restored...
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Access to a lot is required by law.
HCC 23-34 only stipulates access as a prerequisite for subdivision approval. A subsequent "act of god" wihch removes this access would not be subject to this requirement.
Each subdivided lot shall abut upon a public street or approved private street. No lot shall be platted without access on a street.
There are, of course, numerous examples of land-locked lots which were "somehow" platted.
Note also this requirement from HCC 23-37:
A lot shall be suitable for the purposes for which it is intended to be sold. No area subject to periodic inundation which endangers the health or safety of its occupants may be subdivided for residential purposes.
Which brings us right back to the "faux zoning" problem.
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Access to a lot is required by law...
My understanding is that the initial division of land in Hawaii, often referred to by the Great Mahele, divided land into smaller and smaller plots (Moku-puni, Moku, Ahupua'a, 'Ili, Mo'o, and Kuleana) without any consideration of right-of-ways. I believe they were assumed by consensus and nobody imagined that the way folks walked about would change. But the paths people walked on, especially between smaller (kuleana) lots, were not in anyway set aside as public paths and now, because of that, there are land locked parcels all over the island.
In the '70s I bought a parcel and became friends with the folks that had the parcel that was land locked by mine who had always used a path through what I bought to get to theirs. When I became aware of this I offered and codified a right-of-way that remains legal to them to this day.
In another situation I looked at buying a parcel that was landlocked and because the owner of the property locking it in would not give me any legal rights I did not buy that parcel.
There is not, in my knowledge, any legal requirements for anyone to provide access that is not legally binding in writing and recorded. This is a massive impediment to all sorts of lands on the island.
In other words if access to a lot is required by law there are all sorts of parcels that would be a viable part of our islands inventory. Which, because it is not, are not. Though I would love, love, love, to learn otherwise.
Currently I have a lot that is landlocked and have been arguing over access for more than 20 years. We always got to that area through a commonly used road/path but it was never codified as a public access. The current lease holder of one of the properties many people (over 50 land owners/families) cross over (and have been doing so for more than 100 years) decided he does not want to continue to allow that access and he has closed the road. The land he is leasing is owned by Bishop Museum who's lawyers have looked at the matter and decided to back up their lease holder. This is a matter that is heading to court. We believe Bishop Museum is wrong, but it is a matter for the courts to decide.
There are a few laws that speak to this issue. Use a road for more than 20 years and petition the courts for right-of-way. Or if it was a path in 1893 (that can be proven) then it is a public path/road. But it is a gray area that can fill reams of books and keep lawyers busy for lifetimes. As I have said recently in a different thread, if our roads were all standardized and all this old baggage of right-of-way ironed out we would be a long way towards entering the 21 entry. As it is the issue is an albatross holding the county/state in the dark ages.
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And even the path/trail use has been challenged, as with Beach Rd, a trail the current owners` ancestors used from Kapoho to Hilo!
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Highway 132 was not a path or a trail.
It was realigned after the 1955 earthquake.
Here's a statement from Lono Lyman :
"LONO LYMAN: “The reality is that putting a road back in is not a
quick and easy thing. Lava is pretty darn hot. Once it solidifies,
unfortunately, its a good insulator. Looking at the documentation
for the realignment of 132, which I did just yesterday, the
surveys were done in 1962. But don’t be misled by that. The
surveys were to realign it through the 1955 lava flow. The
land transfers occurred in 1980. I’m not sure if the alignment
occurred before or after that.”
There are thousands of acres of farmland and hundreds of houses involved.
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if it was a path in 1893 (that can be proven) then it is a public path/road
https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/recreation/files...ummary.pdf
One of the finer points: "access" includes "use". A right-of-way established as a trail (for pedestrian travel) will still exist, but for non-vehicular travel.
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There is a little green house on 5 acres at the end of Ililani that was for sale a couple years ago. I thought if I won the lottery I'd buy it for sure haha. During the lava flow I'd check on it every day to see if it was still there. It still is and I've often wondered about the owners and what they think about why their house was spared. Crazy world. Best to all of you.
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Anyone know who put in the post-lava roads at Kalapana Gardens?
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Obie, I am more certain that the now kipuka farm areas will most likely first regain access, much like the fishing areas from Cape Kumukahi to Champagne pond area, at the blade of a rogue Cat!
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Highway 132 - Puna Needs Roads!! -Reso 732 - Thurs. Nov. 1 @1:45pm
Please testify on Thursday, Nov. 1st at the County Council Public Works Committee at 1:45pm.
Trying to get the county to do it 1st.
VHCA does have $122,000.00 in our road fund that would pay for some dozer time.Those 2 or 3 remaining homes are in our association.
