Two Honolulu councilmembers introduced a resolution that would transfer Windward Oʻahu land to the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
The 10-acre parcel makai of Kalaheo High School would be the department's first Hawaiian homestead community in Kailua.
Councilmembers Esther Kiaʻāina and Tommy Waters introduced the resolution.
"Kailua is a place rich in culture, history, landscapes, and mo’olelo," Kiaʻāina said. "Establishing a Hawaiian homestead in Kailua will ensure that Native Hawaiians will be able to continue to live and thrive in this special place."
The parcel is located in the Kalāheo Hillside neighborhood of Kailua, makai of the high school. The transfer will help DHHL address the more than 11,000 Native Hawaiian beneficiaries on the residential waitlist for Oʻahu, said DHHL Director Kali Watson.
"Most of our inventory of lands are in very isolated area, very expensive, not as desirable and I think with this particular project that is being proposed, we are very very excited in a sense of creating not only a new homestead community but more than that addressing the waitlist," Watson said.
The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921 set aside more than 200,000 acres across the islands for Native Hawaiians.
DHHL administers the program by offering 99-year leases for homestead lots to beneficiaries with 50% or more Hawaiian blood.
Kiaʻāina is a fourth-generation Hawaiian homestead beneficiary. Her great-grandmother was one of the first to be awarded a homestead lot in Kalamaʻula, Molokaʻi.
"The Hawaiian Home Lands program is very dear to me because without it I likely would not be standing before you today, like the majority of Native Hawaiians who now live in the continental United States because of the high cost of living in Hawaiʻi," Kiaʻāina said.
DHHL plans to build single-family homes on the property, but the timeline for completion may take years.
Watson said drainage and traffic issues in the area also need to be addressed.
