Lawmaker hopes bill will speed up talks
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KANE'OHE — As a way to encourage movement on issues surrounding the Ha'iku Stairs, Rep. Ken Ito has drafted a bill that calls for the state to acquire the land underneath and dismantle the steps that lead to the top of the Ko'olau Range.
Ito, D-48th (Kane'ohe), said he wants to bring all interested parties together and find a solution that satisfies everyone.
"I'm using this vehicle to get discussion going at the highest level," he said. "No more of those neighborhood board, (which came first) chicken-and-egg kinds of talk."
Ito said he will pull the bill if meaningful dialogue ensues and the city is forthcoming with its plans for the area.
But discussions about issues surrounding the stairs are under way, and residents involved say they are not sure what Ito expects to gain by introducing the bill.
The Ha'iku Stairs were renovated last summer at a cost of $875,000, but the popular hike remains closed as the city negotiates with the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands for access to the structure.
Controversy erupted over the stairs when illegal hikers by the hundreds began trespassing through the neighboring community last summer, leaving trash, quarreling with residents and using water without permission.
A few hikers arrived before dawn and left after dark, stirring up dogs and waking residents, some of whom called for tearing down the stairs.
John Goody, president of the Friends of Ha'iku Stairs, said people are working together to solve the problems.
"Ito has been fairly intransigent from the beginning with his apparent hostility to the stairs and park in Ha'iku Valley, but if he contends his bill is a vehicle for getting people talking, it's not necessary because people are constructively working now to solve the problem," Goody said.
The bill is part of a package that includes measures to protect landowners against liability claims from people who enter their property without consent and to charge people with criminal trespass if a property owner tells the trespasser to leave and he or she doesn't.
Sandi Rosso, a Kane'ohe Neighborhood Board member and Ha'iku Valley resident, said she was unaware of Ito's bill and believes the community has made progress in discussing the issues, mapping out concerns and developing solutions through the neighborhood board's Ha'iku Stairs Task Force.
"There's dialogue but it's just getting started," she said.
The community is more concerned about the city's plan for the area, which includes cultural, historical and recreation components, Rosso said. The city wants to swap 'Ewa land for 142 acres of preservation land in the valley that is owned by DHHL.
A resolution before the City Council asks the administration to explain its plan for the Ha'iku Stairs, she said.
The resolution, introduced last year, sits in the council's Planning Committee, headed by Councilwoman Barbara Marshall. Marshall could not be reached for comment.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
