Flowing lava makes concrete planning difficult, yet private planners and county, state and federal officials have to be planning for the time the destruction ends.
The most important question: How to keep the displaced people on the Big Island? These are our family, friends, employers, employees, suppliers and customers. In short, they are us.
Time is of the essence. Every day that passes sees displaced people leaving the Big Island. Perhaps temporarily, perhaps permanently. Once gone, the less likely their return. The loss of a significant portion of our population is devastating socially, economically and morally.
The following proposal to lessen this loss to the extent collectively possible is simple; unoriginal; has successful, local, historical precedent; and can be set in motion now.
The county and state (that is “we”) need to effect land transfers with our displaced neighbors on county and state lands not in lava zone 1. The closer the land to Hilo the better.
The acquisition of a place and space will give hope to those most in need of that now. Most likely, the land would be state land in return for which the state, on the face of it, receives “nothing” — that is, title to recently overflown lava land.
The county would be responsible for the basic infrastructure, roads and water. Perhaps federal funds might assist in this effort.
Rather than the patchwork of substandard subdivisions created in the 1960s and ’70s, with attendant headaches and costs persisting in to the 2000s, the infrastructure in these newly created subdivision(s) would be up to current code specifications.
The land transfer would not be on an acre-by-acre basis. Perhaps one-third (approximately 15,000 square feet) to one-half acre (approximately 22,000 square feet) lots are platted.
“Wait!” you say. “Those folks got cheap land, knowing the risks, and now you want to give them a nice — smaller — piece of paradise out of ‘my’ pocket?”
Yes, I do — it’s my pocket, too. What is the alternative?
The state sits on land that might go unused for decades. The county does not build roads and other infrastructure. Our friends and neighbors leave the Big Island. The exodus sends a very negative signal to the rest of the world: “Don’t go there.” And come here they will not.
If the land deal is such a good one, well, why didn’t we buy land in the now-affected zones in the past on the chance we’d be able to get a land-swap lot in the future? Too risky? Too much like a lottery ticket with expected value of zero?
I’m sure any “lottery winner” in this plan would be happy to trade what they get for what you have.
“Wait! They’ll just sell out and leave anyhow.” OK, the people who buy will be the ones who want to contribute to the Big Island. What’s the alternative now? Would anyone buy lava-ravaged or isolated properties? Folks will leave, and no one will replace them.
Wealth transfers are endemic to and define our collective living. Currently, we are giving benefits to future commuters (and current builders and landowners) on Oahu. While there is some displeasure with that on the neighbor islands, residents of Oahu seem to have justifications in place they find compelling.
Is the loss of family and friends more or less compelling than a few minutes saved — sometime in the indefinite future — on a daily commute?
What will the state do with the condemned land? Perhaps transfer those lands to the federal government and enlarge Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. A visitor-industry enhancement, making the proverbial lemonade from lemons.
Providing hope and a future are two reasons we live together. Without either, a significant portion of our community will be forced to leave.
David Hammes is professor of economics (emeritus) from the University of Hawaii at Hilo.