United States v. 257.654 ACRES OF LAND, ETC.

72 F. Supp. 903, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2415
CourtDistrict Court, D. Hawaii
DecidedAugust 22, 1947
DocketCiv. 514, 521, 525, 527, 529, 532, 533, 535, 536, 540, 544, 548, 684
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 72 F. Supp. 903 (United States v. 257.654 ACRES OF LAND, ETC.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Hawaii primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. 257.654 ACRES OF LAND, ETC., 72 F. Supp. 903, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2415 (D. Haw. 1947).

Opinion

McLaughlin, judge.

Prior to the institution by the United States, in exercise of its eminent domain powers, of these consolidated thirteen condemnation cases, the Honolulu Plantation Company operated adjacent to Pearl Harbor, upon the Island of Oahu, an irrigated 4,397.34-acre sugar plantation and also a refinery. Since its inception in 1899 this California corporation has conducted its business upon leased land, except for scattered parcels which by good fortune from time to time it has been able to buy in fee. Leasehold plantations, incidentally, are the rule rather than the exception in Hawaii, for usable land in Hawaii is scarce and tightly held by a comparatively few large corporation, trust, and estate owners who buy but rarely sell. As illustrative, in 1945 of the 386,560 acres comprising the Island of Oahu 61.04% of all the land was owned by twenty-eight owners, of whom but one was an individual. Governmental agencies owned 26.63% of the land, leaving but 12.33% as owned by all others — the bulk of Oahu’s population of 348,045 (July 1, 1945). See Exhibit No. 14.

As a result of these thirteen takings in connection with the expansion of the naval base known as Pearl Harbor — all of which takings under the stipulation of consolidation were agreed to be as of June 21, 1944 — the Honolulu Plantation Company was reduced in size from a 4,397.34-acre enterprise to a 3,309.75-acre plantation, or put in terms of tons of raw sugar, from a 21,-000-ton plantation to a 15,000-ton plantation.

Arising out of the 1,364-35-acre takings by the Government in these cases, of which 1,087.59 acres were cane land, crop damage having been settled, the Honolulu Plantation Company claims here just compensation for:

(1) The taking of certain fee simple land and the improvements thereon owned by it;

(2) The taking of certain improvements upon land which it held under lease;

(3) Rent prepaid under a lease; and

(4) Severance damage.

*906 The jury-waived trial of these issues was of considerable length (December 2, 1946, to January 15, 1947, inclusive of recesses for holidays and the illness of defendant’s chief attorney, of which after the trial he suddenly died), and the final brief was filed herein June 5, 1947.

The questions will be resolved in the order above stated, a sequence which reserves to the last the principal issue between the parties, which happens also to have been an issue considered by the Committee on Claims of the House of Representatives, 79th Congress, 1st Session, Report No. 1313 dated November 28, 1945. H. R. 2688 passed the House, but not the Senate.

I. What was the fair market value on June 21, 1944, of lands and improvements owned in fee by the Honolulu Plantation Company?

The evidence given by the witnesses may be summarized as follows:

Civil No. Parcel No.

521 24 $100 $470

A long narrow parcel 35 feet wide and 600 feet long, .47 acre, of which .107 acre is dry, .273 acre swampy, and .18 acre wet but suitable for certain agriculture. A Hawaiian .kuleana, that is, a small homestead area owned in fee inside the boundaries of land owned by another and possessing a limited easement of access, not merchantable as lots served by roads.

(Child: Based upon $700 an acre for dry land; $400 an acre for wet land; $50 an acre for swamp land.)

(Ewart: Based upon $1000 an acre.) $500 (Moses: Based upon estimate of worth to surrounding owner.)

2B. $75 ' $535 (Ewart)

A small kuleana. .107 acre. Square shape. (Child) $500 (Moses)

529 F-l $3,500 $462

A kuleana. .77 acre. Site of Honolulu Plantation abandoned Pumping Station, improved by a pump house, a small dwelling, miscellaneous storage sheds, and four ar-tesian wells: (1) 175 feet deep; (2) 180 feet deep ; (3) 176 feet deep; (4) 176 feet deep, connected to pump station, pump removed.

(Child: Land, plus all improvements, best use as hcme-sites. Wells, over-improvement, valued at $10; pump house 58% good at $2,500; dwelling 32% good at $768; sheds at $100.)

at $600 per acre.) $500 (Moses: Land only) $24,500 (Austin: Value of wells and pump station 80% good, replacement cost less depreciation $23,000 plus $1,~ 500 for dwelling, sheds, etc.)

F-2 $400

.787 acre. Also a kuleana, by stream, no improvements.

(Child: At $1000 an acre and at $250 an acre along stream.)

(Ewart: At $600 an acre.) $500 (Moses)

*907 535 2.732 acres $11,100 $17,850

In Plantation village of Aiea, 238-foot frontage on main highway; also road along one side; near school, church, and shops. Highest and best use agreed to he for residence purposes; 7 miles from Hon-ohilu; 700 feet to Aiea center. (Child: Based on (Moses: Based up-comparable sales. on comparable Gave 25 cents a sales, applied in square foot on general.) main highway; 20 cents a square foot along road; 15 cents a square foot inside lots; over-all 16.9 cents a square foot, minus subdivision costs of 5% and profit 25%.)

In Civil No. 521 I find the fair market value of parcel 2A to be $100 and of parcel 2B to be $75.

From these two findings it is obvious that- as to their market value I have adopted the opinion of John Francis Child, Jr., local appraiser. I have done so because I have been impressed with his careful analysis of the factors involved and the reasons given by him for his opinion. On the contrary, George Robert Ewart, III, manager of the land department of the Company’s agent, C. Brewer & Company, Ltd., based his judgment upon a base of $1,000 an acre, and A. L. Moses, local appraiser, upon his opinion of the two ku-leanas’ worth to stirrounding owners. It seems to me that Mr. Ewart, a plantation man so to speak, was thinking in terms of the commonly referred to $l,000-an-acre rule as to sugar-cane lands. In any event, due to the size, shape, and condition of these kuleanas even Mr. Ewart would, I am sure, concede that the land is not all usable farm land. Mr. Moses, experienced as he is, seemed to place his weight upon the nuisance value which a kuleana might have to the one who owns the land surrounding it. Such does not reflect market value.

In Civil No. 529 as to both parcel F-l and parcel F-2, 1 disregard Mr. Moses’ opinion as being based upon the nuisance value to the owners whose land surrounds the two kuleanas.

And as to the land, here again Mr. Child’s approach and reasoning is to my mind a better reflection of market value than Mr-Ewart’s. Here, indeed, Mr. Child is higher than Mr. Ewart, for he used a $l,000-an-acre base adjusted for size, while Mr. Ewart used a base of $600 an acre. Both men agreed that these kuleanas would be best used, as was their original purpose, as homesites, and Mr. Child pointed out that due to size they would be uneconomic as farm sites and based his opinion upon a sale of a larger area across the stream from parcel F-2, an instance of 9.916 acres selling for $1,347 an acre.

So as to parcel F-2, I find the value to he $75.

The crucial point as to parcel F-l relates to the four wells and pump house.

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Bluebook (online)
72 F. Supp. 903, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2415, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-257654-acres-of-land-etc-hid-1947.