The City Council yesterday narrowly voted to give preliminary approval to a legal settlement that would split ownership of Waimea Valley between the city and a private landowner.

Few details of the proposed settlement were disclosed, but Councilman Charles Djou said it would give ownership of the valley's front 300 acres to the city and the remaining 1,575 acres to Attractions Hawaii and investor Christian Wolffer.

The Council's Committee of the Whole, which includes all nine council members, voted 5-4 yesterday to endorse the settlement and a final vote is scheduled for Dec. 7.

City Councilman Nestor Garcia noted the close vote. "I don't think this battle is over yet for both sides," he said.

Yesterday's vote was on a proposal made by the valley's owner, Attractions Hawaii and investor Wolffer, to settle the condemnation lawsuit prompted by the city's 2002 move to acquire the 1,875-acre valley on O'ahu's North Shore. The city put $5.1 million — the assessed value at the time — into escrow with the courts toward the purchase.

After city attorneys reviewed the confidential settlement offer late last month, Mayor Mufi Hannemann called the council into a special session last week to consider the matter.

In his committee report following yesterday's vote, Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz, whose North Shore district includes Waimea Valley, said the committee "finds that it is in the best interest of the city to settle this lawsuit in accordance with the basic terms transmitted confidentially to the city on Oct. 26, 2005, subject to conditions intended to address concerns discussed by the Committee of the Whole with their attorneys."

The report does not detail those conditions. It was clearly a difficult vote for Dela Cruz, who is bound by legal constraints to not discuss the matter publicly. He was joined in voting against the settlement by council members Garcia, Ann Kobayashi and Barbara Marshall.

Marshall said she was disappointed that the council found itself weighing money in the debate over the preservation of this cultural, historic and natural resource.

"My personal feeling is while I judiciously guard the use of taxpayers' money, there are some issues to me that transcend the financial," Marshall said. "I believe that this is one of them."

Voting in favor of the settlement were Djou, Todd Apo, Romy Cachola, Gary Okino and Rod Tam.

Djou said he supports the settlement because it is the most financially responsible path to take. He noted that Wolffer had offered the property for sale for $25 million and then for $19 million, while the city only set aside $5 million.

"That was 2001 before this massive ramp-up of real estate prices," Djou said. If the city refuses to settle and the matter goes to court as scheduled the week of Feb. 13, Djou worries that the deal could end up costing a lot of taxpayer money.

Djou asked what would happen if the court determined the valley to be worth $35 million. "That's tens of millions of dollars that we don't have," he said.

He said he would prefer the city retain ownership of the entire valley but he said the compromise on the table calls for the city retaining ownership of the front 300 acres of the valley but giving back the remaining 1,575 acres to the private owner.

"We're not losing what I think the public thinks about as Waimea Falls Park," Djou said. But Marshall, Hawaiian elders or kupuna from the community, botanical experts and other advocates argued that the valley is uniquely significant as the last intact ahupua'a, an ocean-to-mountain land designation dating to ancient Hawai'i.

Attractions Hawaii attorney Bill McCorriston did not respond to a request for comment yesterday afternoon so it was not clear if his client finds the council's conditions acceptable.

The valley includes a scenic waterfall, native forests, a world-class botanical garden with rare and endangered plants and significant archaeological and cultural sites along with 1,500 acres of undeveloped land.

The vote came after three meetings over three days among the nine members of the council that stretched for more than six hours.

Although details of the settlement were not disclosed, it was clear from testimony at the special meeting that potential development of portions of the valley for homes or an eco-camp were the focus of the opposition.

Djou said he expects the details of the proposal to emerge before the final vote.

Because Waimea Valley is classified as a conservation district, the developer would have to go to the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.