Kahili long-term renters ordered out of cabins by church

Sometimes, it appears, even when you know you’re right you have to do something you know is wrong.

The Hawaii Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is shutting down its revenue-generating cabin-rental operation at Kahili Mountain Park, and evicting resident long-term renters at Kahili in the process.

The organization owns and operates the park and Kahili Adventist School. The organization says it is allowed by its lease with the Knudsen family, which owns the land those entities sit on, to operate the commercial Kahili Mountain Park cabin-rental business. Revenue from the operation helps support its private school operation.

“We believe we’re living in the letter and the spirit of the lease,” said Pastor David Pendleton, church spokesman and coordinator for special ministries. He is referring to a 60-year lease (valid to 2045) between the Knudsen family, which owns the land, and the church, that allows the school to operate and, according to Pendleton, does not specifically allow nor prohibit commercial use.

It clearly does allow recreational activities, which is what Pendleton said the cabin-rental business affords to visitors. The church bought the physical assets of Kahili Mountain Park in 1985, the same year it signed the long-term lease with the late Valdemar Knudsen.

The church action to shut down the park is in response to a letter from Stacey T.J. Wong, trustee of the Eric A. Knudsen Trust, demanding the church shut down the cabin business by April 15, and pay to the trust 10 percent of the park’s operating revenues for the last 17 years.

Wong said it is the trust’s position that the lease includes clear language with a “very specific provision” against commercial use of the property. The 10 percent figure is what the trust charges its tenants engaged in commercial activities, based on gross revenues.

The church’s response means some of the resident long-term renters at Kahili have been asked to leave the grounds by April 12. Many of them have nowhere else to live except at the beach or in their cars.

Wong said the lease allows school and church use of Kahili Mountain Park, and that the church could allow the long-term renters to remain in the cabins free of charge without violating terms of the lease.

The church move may also mean a sudden end to affordable tuition at the school, because revenue from the cabin rentals has helped the church keep tuition affordable at the nearby school, which has nearly 100 Kaua’i students studying in grades kindergarten through 12.

The church has had to cancel future reservations visitors have made for the cabins, let go the staff who cleaned and maintained the units, and even ordered the park manager to vacate his office space.

Pendleton said church and trust attorneys are discussing the situation, and he hopes a “win-win” resolution is possible without going to court. Wong said the trust is “open to fruitful discussion.”

Wong wouldn’t speculate whether or not an agreement could be worked out allowing the church to continue operating Kahili Mountain Park and paying the trust 10 percent of its gross revenues from the cabin operations.

The church’s eviction of long-term renters, and cancellation of reservations for cabin space, is being done “in an abundance of caution abiding” by trust demands, even though the church is certain the lease does not preclude the commercial activity, Pendleton added.

“We’re not in the business of making people homeless,” continued Pendleton, saying the church will do whatever it can to help the displaced renters find other accommodations.

In the interim, the church is keeping track of lost revenues, and impacts on people displaced or left jobless by church actions necessitated by trust demands. He confirmed that revenues lost as a result of shutting down Kahili Mountain Park will likely have an adverse impact on tuition at the school.

The school will remain open regardless of the outcome of the commercial disagreement, he said.

According to one renter who has been a park resident off and on since 1989, some of the renters, there on week-to-week rental agreements, have been living at the park for as long as 15 years.

According to the long-term renter, who asked not to be identified, the church allowed the long-term renters to remain because their rents helped offset low occupancy among the units available to visitors.

The long-term renters are also seeking legal advice, he said.

There are 25 to 30 cabins at the park.

“It will be adding to the homeless population,” the park resident said of the church’s action, adding that he has been checking newspaper classified advertising looking for a used tent for sale.

There were reports the Knudsen estate has big plans for the area, including a water-bottling plant, equestrian-themed residential subdivision, and other developments.

Wong said a water-bottling plant, residential subdivision and other proposals have been discussed among Knudsen family members for the last 25 years, and the land zoned open and agriculture allows for certain residential density.

There are no current development plans for the park lands, but the trust, which has been approached by an entity wishing to establish a water-bottling plant there, is keeping all of its options open.

Wong, the trust’s court-appointed trustee, said he found nothing in the park file either to or from the late Valdemar Knudsen indicating his knowledge or acknowledgment of existence of commercial activity within the park.

The trust’s letter to the church is based on a strict reading of the lease, he added.

Before coming to Kaua’i, Wong was in charge of real estate development for Castle & Cooke on the island of Lana’i.

The long-term renter wasn’t sure he believed Wong’s statement about there being no current development plans at Kahili Mountain Park.

They’re “turning Kaua’i into a tropical Disneyland, and the hell with the residents,” the renter bemoaned.

Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).