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If you owned a home destroyed or isolated by the 2018 lava flow in Puna, the Federal government may purchase your property, based on various stipulations and qualifications:
The program could result in $83 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funding, including $78 million for the county to purchase property that was destroyed, isolated or damaged.
Disaster Recovery Officer Douglas Le said the program, which is anticipated to begin in April 2021, will prioritize households with low to moderate incomes and properties that were primary residences.
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/07/31...y-buyouts/
Next question. What will the feds do with this property?
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The feds are just providing the funds, the county will run it and the properties will be managed as open space.
The Buyout Program will acquire residential properties impacted by the 2018 Kīlauea eruption. Properties will be acquired through voluntary sale. Eligible properties include those that were inundated or isolated by lava, suffered physical damage (including from fires and wildfires caused by lava), or have been physically impacted by secondary effects, including heat and gases at their property. Buyout offers are based on the pre-disaster (2017) appraised market value of the property minus any duplication of benefits. Acquired properties would be managed as open space.
Maximum buyout offer: $230,000.
Those who were insured for $230,000 or more will still own their land.
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Acquired properties would be managed as open space.
I assume this is County-speak for unattended. Which could be fine, especially if a large number of contiguous properties are bought out and through inaction transform naturally into wild spaces. If invasive species don't take over. However, if the map of lower Puna emerges as a checkerboard of isolated small acre lots, hundreds of them, it might create an entirely different scenario.
Squatters campgrounds on vacant properties.
Homeless shelters in abandoned but still standing structures.
If the County does manage these properties as open space, and enforces the open space designation, then fine. Otherwise for nearby residents of these lots, there goes the neighborhood.
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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My property will remain mine because I'm not eligible for a buyout.
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Not a problem since County doesn't intend to rebuild the roads.
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/202...all-short/
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Not a problem since County doesn't intend to rebuild the roads.
The County is rebuilding a minimum of connecting roads, plus Lighthouse Road which doesn't connect with anything. The lighthouse hasn't worked for years, so what's the access provide? Oh look, Cape Kumukahi the (former?) easternmost point in Hawaii?
For more than two years, residents in lower Puna anxiously awaited word from Hawaii County confirming what roads were scheduled for restoration throughout the communities devastated by the 2018 Kilauea eruption.
In June, they finally got their answer: The county would restore Pohoiki Road, stretches of Leilani Avenue, Lighthouse Road and Highway 137 — and no others.
“The funny thing is, (Hawaiian Electric) is fine with hooking us up to power again,” McArthur said. “We can have power, we can have water, but no roads.”
Puna Road Restoration
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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(08-01-2020, 09:16 PM)Obie Wrote: My property will remain mine because I'm not eligible for a buyout.
Maybe for the initial rounds for "low and middle income" only folks. BTW, I think that is completely stupid to limit $83 million in buyout funds in this manner. it is almost like they don't want the money to actually buy out many properties, as if they had another purpose in mind for the money...
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So, how much does Uncle Sam want to pay me for my acre of lava rock?
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(08-10-2020, 04:34 PM)offgridguy Wrote: So, how much does Uncle Sam want to pay me for my acre of lava rock?
2017 assessed value.
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(08-10-2020, 07:45 PM)leilanidude Wrote: (08-10-2020, 04:34 PM)offgridguy Wrote: So, how much does Uncle Sam want to pay me for my acre of lava rock?
2017 assessed value.
I believe it's 2017 assessed value minus what insurance paid out.
