HONOLULU — For the second time in less than a year, the Friends of Haiku Stairs has filed a lawsuit to stop the city from demolishing the more than 3,900 steps that lead to the top of the Ko‘olau Range in Kaneohe.
Under a plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, the group says the city’s work to remove the World War II-era stairs, above Haiku Valley and the H-3 freeway, was temporarily halted May 1.
The group’s 91-page complaint was expected to be heard by Senior Environmental Judge Lisa W. Cataldo at 1st Circuit Court on Friday, May 10.
“We are currently fighting to save the Stairs in two separate lawsuits, as well as an administrative challenge before the Hawai‘i Historic Places Review Board,” the Friends said Thursday in a written statement.
“On May 1, we succeeded in temporarily halting the city’s demolition efforts based on deficiencies in the city’s procedures, the State Historic Preservation Department’s (SHPD) failure to preserve historic structures as required by law, and violations of a recorded deed covenant that requires the Stairs to be maintained and preserved in ‘perpetuity.’”
“We are now asking the judge to prohibit demolition while these claims work through court. … We encourage all supporters of the Stairs to attend the hearing,” the group stated.
However, the Mayor’s Office says it opposes the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order and that the project continues to advance.
“The city’s project to remove the Haiku Stairs has not been stopped, and work preparing the stair modules for removal is ongoing,” Deputy Communications Director Ian Scheuring told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser via email Thursday.
“The city has voluntarily agreed to not physically remove any of the stair modules until the conclusion of an evidentiary hearing on May 10, at which point we expect to move forward with the removal as planned.”
Justin Scorza, an attorney and Friends of Haiku Stairs vice president, told the Star-Advertiser that today’s hearing includes the group’s request for an injunction “to stop the city from moving forward until the case can be heard.”
“We don’t know how the judge is going to rule on that,” he said, “but we’re obviously hopeful that she grants an injunction and stops them for as long as it takes to litigate our claims.”
Besides the court hearing, Scorza said his group also filed an appeal to the state Historic Places Review Board.
That eight-member panel Wednesday notified the Friends of Haiku Stairs that a closed-door hearing at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday will be held “to address our appeal of the state Historic Preservation Department approval of the city’s planned demolition of this protected, historic landmark,” he said.
“These stairs are over 50 years old, which means they are entitled to protection under state law, and nothing can be done with them without the Historic Preservation Department’s approval,” he added. “And SHPD did provide that approval, but state law allows for that approval to be appealed.”
He said, “We’re asking the review board to nullify and overturn the approval of demolition, so we’ll see how that goes.”
At the city’s April 10 news conference to announce the demolition project, The Nakoa Cos. — the city’s Kapolei contractor hired to do the nearly $2.6 million removal of the Haiku Stairs — said it will use one Hughes 500D helicopter and roughly a half-dozen ground workers to remove 664 stair modules from the sheer ridgeline.
Each module they remove consists of seven 7-foot-long connected steel steps, which are all currently bolted into the rocky, north-facing ridge.
According to the city, the work to demolish the staircase — long known by visitors and locals alike as the Stairway to Heaven, with its spectacular views and unique mountain hiking experience — was expected to take up to six months to complete, weather permitting.
“First and foremost, this was a decision that when we came into office that we knew was hanging out there,” Mayor Rick Blangiardi said during the news conference at Kaneohe District Park. “This decision was long overdue to be made.”
The mayor added that demolishing the Haiku Stairs involved public safety concerns, city liability costs, trespassing and other neighborhood disturbances to nearby residents.
At the same news conference, Austin Nakoa, president of The Nakoa Cos., told reporters that demolishing the Haiku Stairs would be done “carefully.”
“It will be done by connecting the modules with slings and taking (the helicopter) and removing them one by one,” he said. “A congested area (flight plan) has been approved by the FAA.”
Nakoa said flight times over the Haiku Valley area will occur four to five hours a day, weather permitting.
According to Scheuring, “none of the stairs modules have been flown down from the mountain yet.”
According to the Friends’ written statement, prior city administrations have supported reopening the stairs since the city first acquired them from the federal government in the 1990s.
“The city is now rushing to destroy the safest and most environmentally-friendly trail to one of the most beautiful places on this island,” the group states.
“Instead of spending precious tax dollars destroying a world-class landmark, the city should take a more productive approach by working with Friends of the Haiku Stairs and other parties to reopen the trail for the citizens of O‘ahu. Anything short of that would be a tragic failure of leadership and imagination.”
Meanwhile, the Friends’ first legal challenge to save the Haiku Stairs remains uncertain.
In February the group filed a notice of appeal in the Intermediate Court of Appeals to oppose 1st Circuit Judge John M. Tonaki’s December ruling granting a summary judgment on the city’s motion to dismiss the Friends’ first lawsuit to block the removal of the Windward O‘ahu landmark.
Originally filed in August, the Friends’ prior 50-page complaint contended the city had not updated or completed necessary environmental impact studies required to demolish the stairs and had therefore violated basic Hawaii Environmental Protection Act rules.
According to Scorza, the appeal hearing on the first lawsuit is pending. “That has not been scheduled,” he said.
