Maui County is moving to quietly end a nearly two-year courtroom clash with Komar Maui Properties over a 20-acre parcel the county once tried to take as the final disposal site for Lahaina wildfire debris. The county dropped its eminent domain push after lining up a different permanent site near the Central Maui Landfill, and attorneys for Komar say the settlement will reimburse the company for its legal costs. County officials have not disclosed how much the payout will be.
The County Council signed off on the settlement on Dec. 19, according to a committee report and resolution posted on Maui County Legistar. As reported by Civil Beat, Komar executive vice president Andy Naden said the parties have “agreed on the terms of a settlement” and that the amount will be enough to cover Komar’s legal expenses. He told the outlet he expects the case to be finalized in early January.
New Land Deal Takes Pressure Off Komar Parcel
Late last year, the county purchased approximately 79 acres adjacent to the Central Maui Landfill from a Nan Inc. affiliate for $4 million, a deal that county officials say secures a permanent debris disposal site and a significant portion of the landfill capacity the island will need, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. After that, federal and local teams finished trucking debris from the temporary Olowalu staging area to Central Maui in October, a milestone noted on the county recovery site Maui ReCovers.
Komar’s Smaller Offer And Big-Dollar Projections
Komar had offered to donate five acres of its Pūlehu Road property to take Lahaina’s ash and rubble, but county engineers said they needed 8 to 10 acres and turned the offer down. Komar later sued to recover attorneys’ fees after the county pulled its eminent domain claim. As Civil Beat reports, Naden blasted an $830,000 appraisal of the land and argued the site could generate roughly $400 million over the life of a fully operating landfill.
Closed-Door Talks, Public In The Dark
A County Council committee recommended approving the settlement after meeting in executive session and keeping the proposed terms under wraps, according to Maui Now. Deputy Corporation Counsel Thomas Kolbe told council members the parties were in settlement negotiations and urged them to grant authority to avoid what he called a “needless accumulation of fees.”
Legal Fine Print And Budget Questions
County records show Komar is pursuing abandonment damages under Section 101-27 of the Hawai‘i Revised Statutes, and the council’s resolution authorizes the mayor to sign a release and the director of finance to fulfill the settlement obligations under terms cleared by the corporation counsel, according to the Maui County Legistar file. Because those terms were hashed out behind closed doors, the exact dollar figure remains confidential.
The settlement effectively ends a contentious chapter in Maui’s months-long scramble to decide where to bury wildfire ash and debris, but it leaves lingering questions about taxpayer exposure and the county’s long-term waste strategy. County officials and Komar say the legal dispute is essentially resolved and that final paperwork should be completed soon. Residents and ratepayers will be watching to see how the county discloses any payout and reflects it in future budget documents, according to Maui Now.
