DHHL subdivision in Wai'anae under way
By James Gonser
Advertiser Leeward Bureau
WAI'ANAE — David Kawelo's 14-year wait for an agricultural homestead lot is over.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands broke ground for a subdivision yesterday, and Kawelo and his family will be one of the first moving into the lots early next year.
David Kawelo talks to Andrew Kaawa at the future site of the Freitas Dairy, Carlos Dairy Subdivision in the Wai'anae Valley. The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' development will include 21 agricultural lots and 32 single-family home lots.
The Freitas Dairy, Carlos Dairy Wai'anae Residence Subdivision project will include 21 agricultural lots and 32 single-family self-help lots on 68 acres at the old dairy site off Wai'anae Valley Road.
The department has committed to $5.7 million for on-site infrastructure improvements including roads, drainage and utilities.
Kawelo said after the infrastructure work is completed in about 10 months, he expects to begin building his home on the two-acre lot.
Families awarded agricultural lots must have a farm plan in place to make use of the property. Kawelo plans to grow ti plants.
"It is a fast-growing product," said Kawelo, one of 13 families already awarded agricultural lots. "Hopefully, we will get a good loan."
Kawelo and other holders of agricultural lots at P?he'ehe'e Ridge have been given first preference for the Freitas agricultural lots. The development at P?he'ehe'e was canceled in 1998 after infrastructure costs were deemed too high.
Residential lots will be awarded to homestead applicants — they number about 7,000 — on the department's O'ahu waiting list.
The Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation, a nonprofit group with the mandate of improving the quality of life of disadvantaged children, woman and families, is developing the self-help lots, and the first increment of homes is expected to begin in March 2002.
Groups of 10 to 12 families will be organized to build their homes as a group without knowing which home will be theirs until all are built, said Jeffrey Watanabe, chairman of Consuelo.
The home owners will pay only for materials. Their mortgages are expected to be about $500 a month.
Watanabe said working together to build the homes helps the residents develop skills and creates a cohesive neighborhood that will be a safe, nurturing place to live.
Under the 1921 Hawaiian Homes Act, which set aside 200,000 acres of ceded lands for the use of those with 50 percent or more Hawaiian blood, residents pay just $1 a year to lease their home sites.
Ray Soon, chairman of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, said helping Hawaiian people return to the land is the best part of his job.
"I hope we can do these types of projects elsewhere," Soon said. "We are very happy to get this started."
Soon said the hardest part was asking the Freitas family to vacate the property. The family had run a successful dairy business for generations, but their lease was about to expire and more families will now be able to have their own homes, he said.
