After months of revisions and rewrites, the Hawaii County Council finally passed a measure that will allow county funds to be used to repair private subdivision roads.
Bill 82 is the fourth draft of the second incarnation of a proposal by Puna Councilman Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder to allow certain publicly usable but privately owned roads to be maintained with county money in order to improve emergency access to rural subdivisions.
The first form of the bill was introduced in August of last year, but it was postponed, withdrawn, rewritten and amended several times before finally being passed Wednesday.
The measure’s latest incarnation states that roads must meet several criteria to be eligible for county maintenance, such as: being available to the general public; serving 50 or more parcels, structures or at least 48 apartment units; is owned by an entity that has a demonstrated lack of ability to make improvements or repairs on its own; and more.
Similarly, the measure limits the allowable work by the county on private roads to improvements including remedial patching, resurfacing and the installation of signs, markings and lighting. Other work, such as curb installation, shoulder or gutter work, is not allowable.
According to the bill, a representative of the owner of a private road can submit a request for improvements to the county Public Works director, who will determine whether the road in question fits the bill’s criteria. If so, the director will seek further comment from other county agencies including the Civil Defense, Mass Transit, the Planning Department and the fire and police departments.
After receiving those comments, or 30 days later, the director will determine the feasibility and cost of the requested improvements and ultimately grant or deny the request based on that determination. The director also is required to submit an annual report to the council about all requests received and granted in a given year.
The bill also allows the director to discontinue assistance to a given road if it is determined to no longer meet the criteria, if the work is found infeasible, or if the request is withdrawn by the requester. If the road in question is modified to block access to the general public, the county is entitled to remove any of its material improvements made to the road or demand financial reimbursement from the requester.
Several residents of rural subdivisions testified Wednesday in support of the measure.
Puna resident Jon Olson said it is “a matter of life and death,” since poor road quality impedes the ability of emergency responders to quickly react to calls.
Carrie Kowalski, secretary for the Black Sands Beach Property Owners Association, said that for the many elderly residents of her subdivision, slight delays in emergency response times make all the difference.
“We have many kupuna living here — I’m one of them,” Kowalski said. “If and when I need emergency services, I just hope they’ll be able to get in.”
Kowalski added that Black Sands and other subdivisions regularly struggle to gather enough funding from association dues to maintain their roads.
“The 4,000 taxpaying parcels within Hawaiian Acres have not received an adequate return on their many years of tax remittance,” wrote Hawaiian Acres Community Association President Jim Hoffman. “Ironically, they, an area deserving of assistance, find themselves subsidizing other, more affluent areas, while their needs for drainage and road improvements are ignored.”
Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder thanked residents for their patience with the bill’s long path to passage, saying that the overlapping authorities inherent to the bill meant the measure had to be worded with exacting precision.
Ultimately, however, the council seemed to have had its fill of debating the measure, voting unanimously to pass it after a relatively short discussion.
Council Chair Heather Kimball noted by way of conclusion that her initial reaction to the first version of the bill was bewilderment.
“I thought, ‘Is he crazy?’,” Kimball told Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder. “I had my doubts about it then, but now I see it’s a workable bill. I don’t think you’re crazy anymore.”
However, even with the bill passed, road repairs won’t begin soon. The ordinance will only take effect one year after its approval, pending the mayor’s signature.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.