INDEX - CULTURE
www.islandbreath.org ID#0814-19
SUBJECT: HAWAIIAN SACRED PLACE

SOURCE: JERI DIPIETRO ofstone@aol.com

POSTED: 12 NOVEMBER 2008 - 6:00pm HST

Hapa Trail Meeting & Walk
image above: Detail of flyer forr Hapa Trail Walk. Click for whole PDF file to reproduce and distribute

[Editior's Note: It is our opinion that what is important here is to associate the Hapa Trail with the archaeological record on the site and realize its importance to the past and future sustainability of the southside. This path should not be considered an amenity to a development with a cutesy historic past.It was the backbone of a pedestrian community.]

by Jeri Di Pietro on 11 November 2008


Please join us for two events regarding the restoration of Hapa Road.

The first will be at the Koloa Community Association general membership meeting on Thursday, November 20 at 6:30pm. Included in the agenda will be a presentation by Louie Abrams, President of KCA. Mr. Abrams will give an update on the community concerns regarding Hapa Trail, and the Hapa Restoration Committee findings thus far.

The second event will be a field trip. The Hapa Restoration Committee will host a Hapa Trail Walk on Saturday, November 22 at 8am, meeting at the St Raphael's end of the trail, in Koloa. This will be a round trip walk, with refreshments provided at the south end of Hapa at Poipu Road. After refreshments, we will walk back up Hapa Trail to St Raphael's church. Approximately 2 1/2 hours round trip.

Koloa Communuty Asocciation Meeting

WHEN:
6:30pm on Thursday, November 20nd 2008

WHERE:
Koloa Community Center, Koloa, Kauai

This Hapa Trail Walk will be an opportunity for Koloa Community Association Board members, interested residents, council people, planners and historians to learn more about the proposed restoration and alignment issues relating to historic Hapa Trail.

Louie Abrams, President of KCA, and Koloa resident, Ted Blake, will discuss trail alignment and rock wall restoration, as well as zoning ordinances regarding Hapa Trail and the surrounding properties.

The Hapa Trail Restoration Committee's mission is to insure that historic Hapa Trail remains a community asset, as a path for pedestrians, bicycles and leashed dogs (as well as access for emergency vehicles and evacuation) connecting Koloa Town with Poipu Beach Park.

Kaua`i County Council has approved funds for an environmental assessment and a design consultant to complete plans for the connection of the trail from mauka to makai, and incorporate it into the Koloa/Poipu transportation plan.

All developers of land which received benefits from the Poipulani zoning amendments are obligated by a county ordinance to contribute their fair share to complete and maintain this access in perpetuity, for the benefit of the community.
Please join us for this discussion, and see for yourself the importance of historic Hapa trail and the amazing archeological sites connected to this prehistoric village and center of agriculture.

Hapa Trail Walk

WHEN:
8:00am on Saturday, November 22nd 2008 - about 2.5 hours duratio

WHERE:
From Saint Raphael's Church in Poiou, Kauai

Koloa Community Association and The Hapa Restoration Committee will host a Hapa Trail Walk on Saturday, November 22 at 8am, meeting at the St.
Raphael's end of the trail, in Koloa. 

This willbe a informative trip regarding zoning, history, archaeology & restoration of the Hapa Trail.

We will be stopping along the way to learn about the prehistoric agricultural uses, zoning history, pedestrian and bicycle easement.

This will be a round trip walk, with refreshments provided at the south end of Hapa at Poipu Road. We will walk back up Hapa Trail to St. Raphael's church. Approximately 2 1/2 hours round trip.

Refreshments provided by the Koloa Community Association


CONTACT:
Jeri Di Pietro
pnone: 808-651-1332
email: ofstone@aol.com
koloacommunityassociation.org

SUBJECT: HAWAIIAN SACRED PLACE

SOURCE: JERI DIPIETRO ofstone@aol.com

POSTED: 22 OCTOBER 2008 - 12:00pm HST

Hapa Trail "Restoration"

image above: GoogleEarth view looking north at Hapa Trail, south of Koloa, and north of Poipu

by Jeri Di Pietro on 17 October 2008

Please join the Hapa Trail Restoration Committee on Saturday morning, November 1, 2008 at 8am for a Hapa Trail Walk and Talk.

Meet at the St. Raphael's end of the trail, in Koloa.

This Hapa Trail Walk will be an opportunity for Koloa Community Association Board members, interested residents, council people, candidates, planners and historians to learn more about the proposed restoration and alignment issues relating to historic Hapa Trail.

Louie Abrams, President of KCA, and Koloa resident, Ted Blake, will discuss trail alignment and rock wall restoration, as well as zoning ordinances regarding Hapa Trail and the surrounding properties.

The Hapa Trail Restoration Committee's mission is to insure that historic Hapa Trail remains a community asset, as a pedestrian and bicycle path (as well as access for emergency vehicles and evacuation) connecting Koloa Town with Poipu Beach Park.

Kaua`i County Council has approved funds for an environmental assessment and a design consultant to complete plans for the connection of the trail from mauka to makai, and incorporate it into the Koloa/Poipu transportation plan.

Please join us for this first formal discussion, and see for yourself the importance of this historic trail.

Join the Koloa Community Association for the general membership meeting on Thursday, November 20 at 6:30pm, at the Koloa Neighborhood Center. A formal presentation of Hapa Trail will be included in the agenda.

A second public Hapa Trail Walk and Talk is scheduled for Saturday, November 22 at 8am, leaving from St. Raphael's Church.

For more information please contact Jeri Di Pietro at 651-1332 or ofstone@aol.com
SUBJECT: HAWAIIAN SACRED PLACE

SOURCE: JUAN WILSON juanwilson@mac.com

POSTED: 19 AUGUST 2008 - 9:00am HST

Waikomo Ahupuaa Preservation

image above:1999 NOAA aerial photograph of area of proposed Knudsen Trust development of Village at Poipu

by Juan Wilson on 19 August 2008 - Revision 4.0 080828b

I have been watching Poipu and Koloa since my first visit in 1971-72, and I have to say, the area has been Californicated to the degree that it is no longer part of Hawaii or Kauai. There are remnants of what used to be a community, but that’s all they are... remnants. And ever since that time in the early 70's plans has been afoot to develop vast tracts of the area.

As beautiful as Poipu Beach is, the shoreline is so overpopulated that the next wave of completed projects will make it unusable. The current population will have tripled by the time all the plans currently in the pipeline are realized.

The Eric Knudsen Trust is currently planning a large scale residential development mauka of Poipu Road, euphemistically called “The Village at Poipu”. This project is coming in several phases and will eventually stretch from Koloa Town down to Poipu. It’s all cul-de-sacs and high priced sprawl.

Phase one is situated on a portion of the south end of a 123 acre parcel of land (TMK 42801019) that the county recognizes as the property of the Knudsen Trust. It will include 65 residential single family lots. Note in plan below that the area marked R-10 is the highest residential density and is on Poipu Road in the middle of an area of particular archeological interest.

The area of this development and the area surrounding it is one of the more important archeological sites in the state of Hawaii. It is in the midst of about 500 acres that separate the old Koloa sugar plantation area from the resort development to the west. This area between Poipu Beach and the foothills of the mountains at Waikomo Reservoir was never developed.

In fact, in earlier times this area was a densely populated Hawaiian community. A pre-contact community that existed into the last century. There is a record of taro fields (loi), animal pens, residents, ditches, wells, heiaus, community gathering places and much more. Much of this archeological record is relatively undisturbed. This is particularly true of the area south of Poipu Road. There is evidence that the archeological record has been disturbed in the area controlled by Knudsen Trust - including bulldozing, rock gathering and sitework.

Even though disturbed, aerial photography indicates that much of what is important about the area (and how Hawaiians lived on the land) can be rediscovered. The hundreds of acres that make up this site is a significant portion of the rich Waikomo Ahupuaa system that was sustained for centuries on the southside of Kauai by a large population of Hawaiians. It is an exemplary record of how we too could live in some kind of harmony with the island.

This unique archeological site and undeveloped tract of land should be peserved for the people of Hawaii.  In my opinion, this development must be stopped. 

Right now this project is on track. Even though the permit for the project ran out in 2004, the county has just renewed the permit without much discussion. The focus of obfuscation now is a discussion of Hapa Trail. This feature is an amenity of the development of this property that goes back to promises made in the 1970’s. What it boils down to is a walking path from Koloa Town down to Poipu through the suburban sprawl.

As of the moment is seems to be about 30 feet wide and sprinkled with mediocre landscaping. As a sop to the community, this amenity is pretty thin gruel - compared to the loss the southside of Kauai will suffer if this development gets built. To have this area paved over with a dream of upscale suburban life in Hawaii is nothing less than a crime.

A two pronged attack to preserve the area would be:

1) Demand a thorough archeological study of the area by independent experts including the University of Hawaii, The Kauai Museum, Kokee Museum and National Tropic Botanical Gardens. Focus on the importance of an intact and continuous ahupuaa watershed area in dense Hawaiian settlement. Some have claimed that this site is the largest and most important settlement site in the Hawaiian islands.

2) Investigate the authority with which the Eric Knudsen Trust claims any rights on this land. The ancestors of Eric Knudsen obtained a lease from the Kingdom of Hawaii to land in the Waikomo Ahupuaa. After the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom many Americans gained the "right' to Hawaiian land through quitclaim deeds on lands that they leased from the crown (or government of the Hawaiian nation). Such a deed transfers only that title or right to a property that the holder of that title has at the time of the transfer. It does not warrant or guarantee a clear title. A major motivation for the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian throne was for American businessmen to obtain land ownership and control in Hawaii.

Although county property maps show Knudsen Trust as the owner, it should actually be the State of Hawaii to the various properties on this large site. The state received the territorial lands which had been crown lands from the Kingdom of Hawaii.

The Hawaiian Supreme Court has recently determined that the State has no right to sell or transfer crown lands that it has obtained, and it is in fact merely a caretaker of Hawaiian lands until they can be given back to the Hawaiian people.

I’ve had enough from the speculators, greedy land sharks, the lawyers, and county gangsters that are hell bent on destroying Kauai. Mainland money and interests are behind much of the rape and pillaging, but the destruction could not happen without the aid and support by greedy people right here on Kauai.

Who is to blame for the atrocities being perpetrated on the southside?

1) Stacey Wong, executive director of the Eric Knudsen Trust is number one on my list. He;s the man that cut down the Monkeypod trees in Koloa Town for a plaza.

2) Ian Costa, planning director of the Kauai Planning Department is number two. His mishandling of planning for the island is legend.

3) Walter Hong, attorney representing speculators and developers is number three. He continuously argues the case for the rights of speculators to earn money over portection of the quality of life here on Kauai.

These three individuals have done much to harm Kauai in the pursuit of weath and influence. They plan to do more.




image above: Detail oPhase One of Draft master Plan for the Village at Poipu by PBR Associates, Honolulu, HI

SUBJECT: HAWAIIAN SACRED PLACE

SOURCE: JUAN WILSON juanwilson@mac.com

POSTED: 28 AUGUST 2008 - 11:00am HST

Who Owns the Land in Koloa?

by Juan Wilson on 28 August 2008

The following begins to illustrate how resistant Hawaiians in Koloa were to the operation of the plantation operators. The Kingdom of Hawaii was not happy not selling land to foreigners. It did lease land for agricultural use, as in Koloa.

The reference book( Koloa Plantation 1835 - 1935 by Alexander, Arthur (1937). Honolulu, HI) details the history of plantations on the southside, and Wikipedia shows how quitclaims might may have been used to gain "title" to lands without proper assurances.

 

Wikipedia History of Koloa Sugar Plantation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Sugar_Mill_of_Koloa

The plantation was established here due to the overall fertility of the soil, proximity to a good port, and location near the Maulili pool which allowed them the use of a waterfall for processing power. This first lease was not easily acquired and missionaries in the remote hamlet played a large part in its acquisition. Hawaiians are described as resisting the lease of the land and forbade the sale of provisions to plantation managers. The two groups eventually struck an uneasy partnership that resulted in multiple conflicts as time progressed.

Managers of the sugar plantation expressed significant frustration with the Hawaiian laborers suggesting they have shown "complete worthlessness...as laborers". The Hawaiian people are described as being so strongly rooted in their cultural heritage that "centuries, at least, will intervene ere they will understand that it is a part of their duty to serve their masters faithfully". The plantation manager goes on to state that the work of 10 white men was equivalent to that of 400 Hawaiians.

Plantation owners paid workers $2 per month using "Kauai Currency" which could only be redeemed at plantation stores for goods (marked up no more than 2% over market). They were provided furnished houses but had to pay 1 cent per day for them. In an early revolt against these conditions, Hawaiian workers commenced an unsuccessful strike for higher wages. A review of Koloa history and working conditions reveals the motivations of plantation owners to import labor resulting in a massive wave of globalization for the islands.

 

Wikipedia Definition of Quitclaim Deed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quit_Claim_Deed

A quitclaim deed is a term used to describe a document by which a person (the "grantor") disclaims any interest the grantor may have in a piece of real property and passes that claim to another person (the grantee). A quitclaim deed neither warrants nor professes that the grantor's claim is actually valid. By contrast, the deeds normally used for real estate sales (called grant deeds or warranty deeds, depending on the jurisdiction) contain guarantees from the grantor to the grantee that the title is clear.The exact nature of the warranties vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Quitclaim deeds are sometimes used for transfers between family members, gifts, placing personal property into a business entity, or to eliminate clouds on title, or in other special or unusual circumstances.

An example of a circumstance where a quitclaim may be used is where one spouse is disclaiming any interest in property that the other spouse owns.

Another common form of deed similar to a quitclaim deed is the tax deed, which is used by government authorities when selling properties seized for nonpayment of taxes, as the authority will not promise that the buyer will obtain clear title to the property. It may be possible to obtain such assurances, for a fee, from a title insurance company or an attorney who performs a title search.

Of the different types of deeds, the quitclaim has the least assurance that the person receiving it will actually get any rights. In most common law jurisdictions, a quitclaim deed is not technically considered to be a deed at all, and, in some jurisdictions, a buyer who receives a quitclaim deed may not be considered a bona fide purchaser for value unless the quitclaim deed meets certain requirements.

It fails to meet all five traditional tests of a true deed found in common law. Instead, it is considered to be an instrument of estoppel, which means it estops or prevents the grantor of the quitclaim deed from later claiming that he or she has an interest in the property. Title companies may be unwilling to issue title insurance based on a quitclaim deed; thus, quitclaim deed holders may have to obtain further proof that a bona fide sale occurred or institute a quiet title action in a court to obtain clear title.

The grantee in a quitclaim deed (or a grant deed or warranty deed) receives no better title than what the grantor possessed.

A quitclaim deed does not release the party quitting claim to real property from their obligations under any mortgage or other lien secured against said property.[citation needed] The most accessible means of being released from one's obligations under a mortgage pursuant to the execution of a quitclaim deed is through refinancing. The party to whom the property was conveyed must refinance the property using their own income, assets and credit, and may not use the income, assets or credit of the party who has quit claim.

 

see also:
Island Breath: Save Poipu 8/3/05
Island Breath: Pall Over Poipu 8/1/05
Island Breath: Haena Burial Site 6/9/08

 Pau
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