Rent lease negotiations between the state and nearly 100 tenants in Waiāhole Valley are sparking conversations about the future of this rural, agricultural community.
The state has subsidized rents for valley tenants at below-market rates for decades, but increased operations and maintenance costs are forcing the state to rethink its landlord role in Waiāhole.
Anyone driving up the windward coastline from Kāneʻohe to Waiāhole can clearly see where urbanization ends and country living begins.
For Tony Vierra, co-manager of the iconic Waiāhole Poi Factory, Waiāhole is one of the few places where Oʻahu families still farm.
"The fact that majority of it is agricultural land is unique and special in itself. It gives a lot of people opportunity to afford land and housing," Vierra said.
The state has been subsidizing rents for nearly 100 tenants in Waiāhole Valley since 1977, when the state acquired the 750 acres in the valley to block development.
Chris Woodard, Chief Planner at the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation, or HHFDC, said the low rents and increased maintenance costs have led to an operating loss of $1.1 million a year.
"We currently only generate around $300,000 per year in lease rents and water service revenues, whereas our total operating costs are something like $1.4 million a year. And those costs are largely to pay for HHFDC staff and the related overhead," Woodard said.
This led the state agency to propose raising the rent by more than 600% which sparked negotiations with Waiāhole residents.
"It’s not something that suddenly happened. We certainly knew this was coming," said John Reppun, a 70-year-old Waiāhole resident and farmer.
Reppun began farming with his brothers in Waiāhole during the mid-1970s. After much negotiation, he and ten other farmers agreed on a 280% rent increase — about half of what HHFDC proposed.
"We're satisfied with the result of this agreement," Reppun said. "We'll end up signing that with HHFDC within weeks. I kind of hope it’s a positive precedent for others who are negotiating. If they get a better deal, well, more power to them."
Woodard said the lease negotiation process has helped all parties understand that HHFDC is not the ideal entity to be owning and managing Waiāhole Valley.
"Ownership and management of the valley should be under some sort of different regime. Whether that’s a state entity or a private entity that the state has an interest in or control over," Woodard said. "If we do something like that, we need to be cognizant of the state's public purpose of the valley acquisition … to preserve the rural agricultural nature of the valley."
That rural, agricultural character that goes back centuries in Waiāhole was on full display at the recent Kalo Fest in nearby Kahaluʻu.
"My daughter’s been kuʻi-ing kalo pretty much since she was out of the womb," said Ayla Lum, as she watched her 4-year-old daughter Makalena pound kalo into poi.
"If there’s too much water, it turns into watery poi," Makalena Lum said as she pounded. "You just need a little bit water, and then you pound it, then it turns to poi. I love poi!"
Makalena is part of the next generation of farmers that Reppun hopes will have a home in communities like Waiāhole with a landlord that ensures farmers have a seat at the table.
