Kahana: what was, what is, what can be. - Legislative Reference ...

Chapter 4
KAHANA TODAY
"The residents are the actual stewards of Kahana, not the DLNR."
After three decades of delay and frustration in the implementation of Kahana as a
living park, the Kahana residents seem understandably wary of further state action. If
they were any other set of state tenants, their attitude toward the State would not be of
particular concern to the State – if they did not like the conditions of the lease, they
could terminate them and the State would bring in new lessees to replace them. But
Kahana is unique in that the State, to complete its plans for a living park in the
ahupua`a, needs the lessees almost as much as the lessees need the State. To meet
the State's goal of Kahana as a living park – as not just an archetypal ahupua`a, but as
a representation of this specific ahupua`a, with its particular history and culture – the
cooperation and participation of all the Kahana residents is essential.
Kahana Now
What is the situation of the Kahana residents in 2001? Most of them have built
their homes on their new sites and have had their monthly revocable permits canceled
in favor of their new sixty-five-year leases. The vast majority appear to be keeping up
with the twenty-five interpretive service hour requirement required by Exhibit C of the
lease, although that continues to be a significant source of friction. A few are still
working on their homes on their leased lots, and some of these have fallen behind the
building schedule set by the State Parks Division of the Department of Land and Natural
Resources (State Parks) and it is unclear what will eventually unfold. Two people are in
serious arrears on their interpretive services and were recently served with notices of
eviction.
The researcher spoke privately with several Kahana residents, and attended a
Kahana Advisory Committee meeting in July 2001 and met additional residents and
community members closely involved with Kahana. The researcher obtained additional
input from the meeting, and invited further contact by all residents. In speaking with
various people involved with Kahana, both residents and non-residents, it was
commonly expressed that there were "at least" three different groupings among the
Kahana residents, with differing viewpoints on the future of Kahana. There is some
degree of competition among the various groups, including the most active.
The researcher also spoke with five state parks staff members: the state parks
division head; the park manager; the park manager's supervisor, who is also head of the
interpretive division of state parks; the state parks planner assigned to Kahana; and
another staff member in the interpretive section. It seemed evident from the
discussions that all of these people truly do care about Kahana, in their own ways.
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