Ha'iku Stairs offered to state
By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer
KANE'OHE — Mayor Mufi Hannemann is offering to transfer ownership of the Ha'iku Stairs hiking trail to the state in hopes of resolving issues that have kept the trail closed to the public.
City spokesman Bill Brennan said the mayor's April 19 letter to Gov. Linda Lingle was strictly exploratory.
Hannemann
"He's looking for some option to get the Ha'iku Stairs open," Brennan said. "He believes the state has the expertise in maintaining and overseeing hiking trails, not the city."
In addition, the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands owns much of the land that would provide access to the trail, whose distinguishing feature is a 3,922-step metal ladder leading from Ha'iku Valley to the top of the Ko'olau Range.
The stairway, once a World War II access to radio equipment at the top of the Ko'olau Range, was refurbished in 2002 for $875,000 but remains closed amid access issues and complaints from neighbors over rude trespassers.
Hannemann made the proposal in the April 19 letter, saying the city does not have the requisite experience or expertise to operate and manage a nature hiking trail.
Russell Pang, a spokesman for Lingle, said yesterday that the governor just received the letter and that she would meet with the heads of the departments of Land and Natural Resources, Transportation and Hawaiian Home Lands to discuss the proposal. A meeting date has not been set, Pang said.
The mayor offered three incentives to the state, including giving the state land in Ha'iku Valley and the taking over maintenance of medians along certain highways.
The third incentive — an acquisition or exchange of property for Hawaiian Homes land — was already on the table.
Some area residents have objected to having the stairs open. They say hikers have trespassed on their property to get to the trail. Hikers also would take up all the street parking, leave trash and hurl rude comments to residents who asked them to be more considerate, residents said.
The city has hired security guards to stop hikers.
The Friends of Ha'iku Stairs, the city and the Kane'ohe Neighborhood Board tried to find solutions but were unable to ease the minds of the neighbors, who would like assurances that people will not trespass through their property.
Members of the Friends of Ha'iku Stairs, which has been conducting regular cleanups of the structure, said Hannemann's letter gave them hope. The group would be willing to step in and provide help to the state in the maintenance and management of the property, limiting the number of hikers that go there, said John Goody, president of the Friends of Ha'iku Stairs. At some point the group wants to have an educational center there.
"There is a wealth of public support for some kind of managed, cultural and ecological reserve and access to the stairs," Goody said.
Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.
