LIHUE » The commission that oversees the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands agreed Tuesday to send termination notices to all tenants in its controversial month-to-month land leasing program, taking the first step in an attempt to reform the system.
Tenants who are in compliance with the terms of their rental agreements would get new, month-to-month "right-of-entry" permits that would remain in place for up to a year while the department works on permanent rules for a restructured revocable-permit program.
The Hawaiian Homes Commission, meeting here for its regular monthly meeting, approved by a 7-0 vote the planned changes in the wake of a Star-Advertiser series in May that revealed the program was riddled with problems of mismanagement, lax oversight and selective enforcement.
After the series ran, the department inspected nearly all the roughly 180 revocable-permit parcels statewide and found that 20 percent were not in compliance with the terms of the agreements, according to DHHL Deputy Director Darrell Young. The violations included nonpayment of rent, improper land use, not using the land at all and other infractions.
Under the process approved Tuesday, violators will be given limited "right-of-entry" permits and 30 days to correct any violations. If they don’t correct the infractions, they would face having the land taken from them.
The interim plan was immediately criticized by those who questioned why Native Hawaiian beneficiaries — the people the department was created to serve — didn’t have a voice in helping craft the proposal. DHHL and the 203,000-acre land trust were established to get Native Hawaiians with at least 50 percent blood quantum onto homestead lots.
"We’re talking about our trust lands," Blossom Feiteria, president of the Association of Hawaiians for Homestead Lands, told the Star-Advertiser in an interview before Tuesday’s meeting, "yet we never have the opportunity to engage in the basic foundation work."
But DHHL officials noted that before the commission approves any permanent rules, beneficiaries will be consulted — public hearings will be held statewide — and their feedback considered before a final proposal goes before the panel. The commission must approve the rules before they can take effect.
The permit program was established years ago to put tenants on land deemed not suitable or ready in the near term for homesteads, general leases or other long-term uses. While generating more than $2 million annually for the agency, the program helps minimize maintenance costs to DHHL because tenants are responsible for upkeep of the land.
But the Star-Advertiser found numerous problems with the program, which involves more than 38,000 acres of mostly undeveloped land.
While the permits are meant to be short-term, month-to-month deals, with tenants paying deeply discounted rates because of that, most have become long-term, and roughly two-thirds of the permits are held by nonbeneficiaries. Some agreements are more than 30 years old.
The Star-Advertiser also found violations that had gone unchecked for years, including a former DHHL commissioner who built an unauthorized home on DHHL land on Kauai.
Responding to the newspaper’s findings, DHHL implemented a moratorium on issuing new permits, vowed to inspect each permit parcel and promised to look for ways to improve the program. Gov. Neil Abercrombie assembled a task force to assist in the reforms.
Commissioner Kama Hopkins acknowledged that the department has taken some hits because of the program and that the staff faces a huge task in implementing reforms.
"This is a tough time. … We’re trying to see how we can fix it and make it better," Hopkins said at the meeting while applauding the job the agency’s land management staff has done thus far.
All the revocable permits actually expired at the end of June because the commission didn’t approve their annual renewals, as it usually does each year. But no notices were sent out pending Tuesday’s vote.
In reviewing the permits, the department found that insufficient resources created a challenge in keeping up with inspections and enforcement, according to a report to the board by Linda Chinn, administrator of the Land Management Division. She also noted that permit holders have developed a sense of entitlement and ownership of the land because of the long duration of the permits.
Another challenge the department faces is unpermitted subleasing and other violations occurring with some revocable-permit properties, she said.
One of the most blatant violations uncovered by the newspaper involved Stuart Hanchett, who violated his month-to-month agreement for the entire six years he served on the commission. Hanchett built a home on a 316-acre ranching parcel before he became a commissioner in 2005. Residential use is not allowed on revocable-permit land.
Young told the Star-Advertiser that Hanchett, whose term ended in 2011, wants to continue ranching on the land and has agreed to move the two-story structure off the DHHL land.
Hanchett could not be reached for comment Tuesday. He previously told the newspaper he built the home to combat a theft problem on the ranching property.
Even though the revocable permits will be converted to "right of entry" agreements under the interim plan, DHHL intends to keep the terms and rental amounts the same as the revocable permits, leading some to question the validity of the department’s actions.
KipuKai Kualii, who heads a beneficiary-run organization on Kauai, said the plan is "somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction" to give the appearance that DHHL is addressing the mismanagement of trust lands.
This is "just for show," Kualii said in an email to the Star-Advertiser. "It doesn’t actually change anything."
More seriously, Kualii and others added, the agency is going against the mission of the trust by continuing to disregard giving beneficiaries priority consideration for these lands.
DHHL said the permits were allowed to expire to began the transition to a new system.
"As we move forward, we will continue to keep our beneficiaries and the public informed of our progress," said Jobie Masagatani, DHHL director and chairwoman, in a statement.
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