Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 6, 1 June 2022 — Kaua'i Island Project Updates [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kaua'i Island Project Updates

J 'O KA NUHOU 'AINA HO'OPULAPULA ^ HOMESTEAD NEWS "

By Cedric Duarte Last Month, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands provided a status update for several projects occurring on Maui. As this edition of Ka Wai Ola focuses on the island of Kaua'i, we'll explore DHHL initiatives impacting current and future Kaua'i beneficiaries. Two of DHHL's proposed homestead developments for Kaua'i have completed their final Environmental Assessments, an early but critical step in the Department's development that is a result of extensive planning and beneficiary consultation. The Department has completed its engineering and design process for additional lots in Hanapēpē, and recently awarded Anahola residential vacant lots to beneficiaries on the Kaua'i Island waiting list. The legislature's recent passage of a $600 million allocation of funding to the Department will help to advance homestead development projects_on Kaua'i and throughout the state. Pu'u 'Opae A Final Environmental Assessment (EA) with a Finding of "no significant impact" for the Pu'u 'Ōpae Homestead Settlement in Waimea, Kaua'i, was published at the onset of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The Pu'u 'Ōpae settlement plan focuses on the development of a kuleana homestead on the ma uka Waimea lands of Kaua'i. The project area consists of approximately 1,421 acres, 231 acres of whieh are under DHHL License No. 816 by the Kekaha Hawaiian Homestead Association. Planning for Pu'u 'Ōpae began with the 2011 DHHL West Kaua'i Regional Plan, whieh identified the development of an agricultural and water_plan for the restoration and use of the Pu'u 'Ōpae area as a priority project. The land was selected as an ideal location for Kuleana Homesteading because of constraints due to the physical characteristics of the land, including topography, drainage, accessibility, proximity to water, wildfire risk, and proximity to natural and cultural resources. Anahola Homestead Settlement Plan The Final EA for DHHL's Anahola Home-

stead Settlement Plan in the Kawaihau District of Kaua'i was published last year. The plan focuses on the development of a 462-acre Kuleana Homestead on the windward side of Kaua'i within the traditional ahupua'a of Anahola and Kamalomalo'o that will ultimately be awarded as kuleana subsistence agriculture and pastoral lots to beneficiaries on the Kaua'i Island agriculture and pastoral waiting lists. Hanapēpē Homestead Community DHHL identified the Hanapēpē Homestead Community in the 2004 Kaua'i Island Plan as one of three priority areas for new residential and agricultural homestead development. The homestead community, whieh currently consists of a 47-lot residential subdivision known as Phase 1, is envisioned to be the Department's largest residential and agricultural community on the west side of Kaua'i. Engineering designs have been completed for Phase 2 of the Hanapēpē Homestead Community whieh is expected to consist of up to 75 residential homestead lots and the expansion of existing homestead lots along Moi Road. Upon project completion, the Hanapēpē Homestead Community is proposed to offer 440 new residential homestead lots and up to 111 new subsistence agricultural homestead lots. Pi'ilani Mai Ke Kai In April, the Department offered 51 residential vacant lots within its Pi'ilani Mai Ke Kai Subdivision in Anahola. DHHL hosted the lot selection meeting at the Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School as its first in-person gathering since the onset of the pandemic. DHHL's residential vacant lot offering is among a variety of options provided to beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act and allows a family to construct a home that best fits their needs on a homestead lot that has been developed with roads and utility inffastructure. I weleome you to track DHHL construction projects on Kaua'i and across the homelands by monitoring the Department's website, dhhl.hawaii.gov. ■ Cedric R. Duarte is the Information & Community Relations Officerfor the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. He has worked in eommunications and marketing since 1999 and is a longtime event organizer. A product ofKamehameha Schools and the University ofHawai'i at Mānoa, he resides in 'Aiea with his wife and two daughters.