Koke‘e Leaseholders Association members have looked high and low to find a way to keep their 20-year leases for 108 recreational cabins located in the Koke‘e-Waimea State Park complex. The State of Hawai‘i is telling the leaseholders that they have
Koke‘e Leaseholders Association members have looked high and low to find a way to keep their 20-year leases for 108 recreational cabins located in the Koke‘e-Waimea State Park complex.
The State of Hawai‘i is telling the leaseholders that they have to move out by December 2006. That’s the date when all their state land leases expire.
But many leaseholders say their ties to the cabins run deep, and that they have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money over the years to help maintain the park complex. They insist they deserve every opportunity to keep the leases.
This week they may have found a way at two meetings held on Kaua‘i by the state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR).
Officials from the DLNR announced at the meetings that state planners and consultants are considering an option to declare the land under the cabins as an “historic area.”
Such a designation, if approved by the state Land Board, could result in a direct negotiation of the leases between the current leaseholders and state officials, Daniel Quinn, adminis trator of the state Parks Division, told The Garden Island.
“This (the designation of the historic area) is not for inclusion in the national Historic Register, but a provision in the state law would allow for direct negotiations of the leases for historic properties,” Quinn said.
The other option the state has is to auction off the leases, an idea that has been rejected by some leaseholders.
The first of the Koke‘e meetings was held at the Lihu‘e Cvici Center on Tuesday, and the second meeting was held at the Kilauea Neighborhood Center on Wednesday. More than 50 people attended the first meeting and about two dozen attended the second meeting, Quinn said.
The meetings allowed DLNR representatives to clarify points in a 20-year draft master plan put together for the park system at Koke‘e.
The board of the DLNR approved the draft master plan at a meeting on Kaua‘i earlier this year, and asked DLNR staffers to hold more public meetings to get more public comments before a final plan is developed.
A final plan that could be approved by the DLNR board will determine the look and feel of the 6,183-acre Koke‘e and Waimea State Park Complex for the next 20 years. The improvements will be made as funding becomes available, state officials have said.
The park system is a world-renowned visitor attraction that draws an estimate 500,000-plus visitors per year. It has been touted by state DLNR officials as the flagship park of the state park system.
The disposition of the cabin leases, proposals to impose entry fees and erecting an entry gate for the park complex have garnered more public attention than any other recommendations in the draft plan.
The direct negotiations for the cabin leases could mean the current cabin holders would have to pay more in the leases fees, but the directions would afford the leaseholders a way to retain the use of the cabins.
The old leases ran 20 years, but planners, in some cases, are recommending leases run a shorter time as a way to allow the use of the cabins by more people.
Quinn said leaseholders who attempted to establish a historic area for the land on which the 108 recreational cabins now face two hurdles.
The first challenge deals with whether the land would qualify to be put on the federal Historic Register, Quinn said.
The other challenge deals with having to amend administrative rules of the DLNR to reflect the intent of a state law that allows for the direct negotiations of the cabin leases, Quinn said.
Leaseholders who successfully negotiate their leases directly with the state also would be able to hold onto the cabins a bit longer.
As of December 2006, when the leases expire, all the cabins will become property of the state, by law. The requirement has rankled some of the current leaseholders, who have demanded due compensation should they have to surrender their cabins to the state.
DLNR officials also are considering the selection of a master lessee to manage the recreational cabin leases, Quinn said. This option was brought out during the Kaua‘i meetings last week, he said.
DLNR representatives also told audience members that they are looking at having a lodge built in the park for overnight accommodations for people, Quinn said.
DLNR officials also noted that Hawai‘i residents will not be charged a fee to enter into the park, and that no-residents may be assessed a fee, the latter will be made by the DLNR board later, Quinn said.
DLNR leaders also told audience members that a gate would not be instawlled at an entry point to the park complex, Quinn said.
But an “entry booth, a related structure and a place to park” are likely to be built as part of an “entry station,” Quinn said.
- Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and lchang@pulitzer.net.
