Posted on: Monday, October 11, 2004
Kahalu'u grading work concerns neighbors
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
Kahalu'u — An overgrown hillside choked with weeds and invasive species is giving way to a private botanical garden on 40 acres of agriculture land, causing some neighbors concern about the grading there and initiating a city investigation.
jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser Under Renoir's ownership hundreds of diseased banana plants and dozens of trees were removed, the land was cleared of vegetation, reshaped to address erosion problems and replanted with zoysia grass and ornamental trees, according to Renoir. He said he hasn't changed the topography.
"Basically I take off the sins," Renoir said, adding that before he removed the banana and barrier pine trees the area around his house was steaming hot and full of mosquitoes.
But the work has been done without a permit and Kahalu'u Neighborhood Board member Ken LeVasseur said that is inexcusable. LeVasseur said he would like to see a law passed where the government can confiscate land that has been graded without permits.
"He has totally changed the landscape in a very visible sense where it's not allowed and this is what you do not want in paradise," LeVasseur said.
Renoir said what he has done has improved the property.
"The work on our property is to reclaim it from an overgrown and nonproductive farm and turn it into a beautiful private farm with low-intensity nurseries and orchards, indigenous plants and trees and botanical gardens for our personal enjoyment," he said.
More will be planted on the estate, said Doug DeMoss, general manager for Kosaka Farms, the name of the site. Previous owners had graded the property trying to turn it into a mini resort and wedding chapel, DeMoss said, adding that all Renoir has done is clear the land, fix drainage problems and replant slide areas.
Spending about $1 million to improve the site, the work has taken place over a two-year period, he said.
The city has asked the owner to stop work until an investigation is completed, said city spokeswoman Carol Costa, who added that no permit has been issued to the farm.
The property must be surveyed, the amount of graded material calculated and then the city will determine if a violation has occurred, Costa said, adding that land can be plowed and graded for "income derived agriculture."
"We have some indication that they are going to apply for a grading permit," she said, adding that there may be an encroachment onto the state Department of Land and Natural Resources property.
The property has two homes, including one for Renoir's mother-in-law, a 10,000 square-foot green house and Japanese-style gardens around the houses. A driveway leads to the main house on the hill where an expansive vista of Kane'ohe Bay greets guests. Another road leads to the greenhouse and higher grounds.
Renoir said that he understood that a permit wasn't required for crop rotation, agriculture site preparation and invasive-species removal.
"We are cooperating with the city and county in our continuing discussions of the reclamation and restoration work we've done on our property," he said.
A neighboring property has a huge jagged scar from erosion, examples of what some of Renoir's property looked like before he started, he said, adding that he has hired a consultant to help get a permit.
One bare spot outside Renoir's property occurred about 20 years ago and was created by a slide that killed someone in a home below, said Carolyn Goodin, who owns VSPS Inc., a nursery near Renoir's property. Unimpressed with the transformation of the hillside, Goodin said Renoir has a right to do what he wishes with his land but she was concerned about the grading.
"That's totally massive," she said, adding that removing the trees that hold the soil might have been a mistake. "I'm concerned a little about erosion come winter time and heavy rains," she said. "If that grass isn't well rooted, he'll have some landslides."
None of the structures on Renoir's property seem to be in danger of landslide, Goodin said, but if the grass doesn't hold he would have a mess.
Kahalu'u Neighborhood Board chairman Art Machado said he has had several calls of complaints concerning erosion and possible runoff into the stream and the ocean. Although most of the property is replanted, some bare areas still need attention.
"There's concern about what's going on on that mountain," Machado said, adding that the board will discuss the issue at its meeting 7 p.m. Wednesday at KEY Project. "In case of big rain what's going to prevent the soil from going into streams?"
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
The site, halfway into the valley and at the end of Waihe'e Place, is owned by Jean-Paul Renoir, an investment banker. At one time the lot included a farm with several acres of bananas, but the land had become overgrown with vines, Java plum and fiddlewood trees after the farm was abandoned. Jagged red scars marred the site in several spots where landslides had swept away all plant life.
A Kahalu'u landowner has done extensive grading on his 40-acre parcel without a permit, upsetting some neighbors.
The property stands in contrast to the rest of the community with all of the vegetation stripped from the land and only grass and a few dozen trees that have not filled out yet. Small farms, nurseries and middle-income homes surround the estate. Where there are no homes, Java plum, plants and other trees cover the hillsides. Several huge red scars remain after landslides.
