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Kahana Valley 'the most challenging decision I've faced as Chair'
By Laura H. Thielen / Guest Commentary
Ka Wai Ola recently wrote about the Ahupua'a 'o Kahana State Park. Mahalo to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs for this opportunity to share my thoughts and experiences in this significant and emotional matter.
Some history of Kahana – the proposal for a “living park” and how that idea has worked in practice – is important to understanding past decisions and how best to move forward today.
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| Laura Thielen |
After the Great Mahele, the Ahupua'a of Kahana was divided into 33 small parcels to the maka'āinana and the majority to Keohokalole, mother of King Kalākaua and Queen Lili'uokalani.
Over time, Mary Foster purchased Kahana. Foster leased to Native Hawaiians, Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos. The ahupua'a became a multicultural mix of people who lived a rural lifestyle.
In 1965, the state condemned Kahana for the purpose of creating a public park.
Between 1970 and 1985, the state, Kahana residents and community discussed ideas for a “living park” that allowed Kahana residents to remain in the ahupua'a in exchange for delivering interpretive services for visitors to the public park.
In 1988, the Legislature authorized the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, or DLNR, to issue 65-year leases to the 31 families of Kahana. The Legislature noted that the residential area was limited to the original number of leases. Families could pass their home to one successor. This meant young adults had to leave the ahupua'a if they wanted their own home.
By 1993, the 31 families were issued leases and committed to 25 hours a month of interpretive services. Over time, many children of the original families moved out of the ahupua'a. Six relatives stayed in abandoned structures at the park entrance without leases, applying for a “replacement” lease.
DLNR thought it could issue “replacement” leases if any of the 31 lessees defaulted. Twenty-eight people applied for replacement leases – 22 children of lessees who followed the law and moved out of the ahupua'a but wanted to return, and the six who remained in the abandoned structures at the park entrance.
Meanwhile, DLNR and the residents wrestled with the interpretive program. Clearly DLNR is responsible for much of the communication problems. However, due to no agreement among residents – a 2001 legislative report noted there were “at least” three different competing groups among the 31 families – there's no preferred approach.
This report noted that some families didn't provide any interpretive services. Residents complained that “the failure of state parks to take decisive action has a negative impact on the other residents, who see these [few] as 'getting away' with continual noncompliance, and for those other Kahana-related families, including grown children of residents, who want to be active participants in the park.”
In 2005, 2007 and 2008, the state Legislature refused to amend the law to allow new leases. In 2008, the Attorney General notified DLNR that the law did not permit any “replacement” leases.
By summer 2008, we knew DLNR couldn't issue any more leases, needed to work more collaboratively with the 31 families on the interpretive programs, and together bring the families who were not participating into the programs. We also had to address the six families who remained at the park entrance without leases.
We notified the six families they had to move and worked with OHA and Alu Like to offer transitional services. Several months later we posted eviction notices and brought back Alu Like and Catholic Charities and began searching for transitional housing.
Area legislators asked if we would let the six stay in place for one more session while they tried to change the law to give them leases.
Some of the 31 families asked why I would favor the six and not their own relatives who had followed the law. Some were concerned that favoring the six would send the wrong message to families refusing to participate in the interpretive programs.
People outside Kahana complained that the living park was not meeting the vision and the state had an obligation to open the park entrance to make it a place welcoming residents and visitors alike.
This was the most challenging decision I've faced as Chair of DLNR. I struggled with finding a solution that gave the Legislature time to address new leases but to also be fair to the families providing interpretive programs, to the 22 children who had followed the law and that would open the entrance of the park.
I offered to relocate the six families to the residential area of the park in temporary shelters while the Legislature revisited the issue of new leases. That would open the park entrance, provide the six no permanent rights over the other applicants, support the active residents and encourage all families to participate in the interpretive programs.
I arranged two meetings with the six families to share these ideas and listen to theirs, since mine can always be improved upon. Unfortunately the families chose not to meet, and have indicated they are seeking leases to remain at the entrance of the park.
Now the matter rests in the hands of the Legislature. There is no easy solution for Kahana, and I wish them the best in their deliberations. If the area remains a state park, I trust the Legislature will continue to respect the basic foundation of the public's right to access state parks, keep residential areas separated from the public areas and make Ahupua'a 'o Kahana State Park a public park that welcomes and enriches all residents and visitors of Hawai'i.
For more information on the legislative report referenced here, see Kahana: what was, what is, what can be, Legislative Reference Bureau, 2001.
Laura H. Thielen is the chairperson of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
KAHANA VALLEY UPDATE
Kahana Valley evictions stayed The fate of six families who are living in Kahana Valley without leases from the state is now in the hands of the state Legislature. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources stayed the evictions of the families last month, saying it would give lawmakers time to address the issue in the 2009 session, which starts in January. Residents who have leases to live at Ahupua'a 'o Kahana State Park under a “living park” concept are not affected by the eviction. But the six families who are seeking leases have filed a temporary restraining order in court, and the public has rallied in their support. Among the supporters is state Sen. Clayton Hee, who has said he would reintroduce a bill this session to allow the state to negotiate new leases for the Windward O'ahu valley even though he doesn't believe the state has cause to evict. According to a March 2008 opinion by the state Attorney General's office, the state's ability to grant new leases expired in 1993. — Lisa Asato |
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