The combination of frustrated Haiku residents and risk-averse government agencies led to a decision by the City Council and Mayor Rick Blangardi to remove the Haiku Stairs, disenfranchising stakeholders who had recently weighed in by a 9-to-1 margin to keep the stairs. It was a brazen display of political power to stop a community that was within sight of the finish line.
First, no one should live with regular trespassing through their yard. Trespassing on residential properties began shortly after 2008, when the city hired private security and the state repaired their fences. The result was that the path of least resistance sadly became Haiku residents’ yards.
For many Oahu hikers, including myself, this was the end of hiking the stairs. The governor could pick up the phone and fix this in 15 minutes by directing the five state agencies that completely surround the Haiku Stairs to protect the state and provide access.
The second issue is safety and liability. The stairs are an engineering marvel when you consider that what you see today is 90% original from 1955 despite never being maintained. The stairs are so well constructed that the Kualoa Ranch expressed interest in using the removed stairs to construct their own stairs. The Haiku Stairs have a proven track record of not a single, zero, zilch accidental death in 64 years.
Sometimes we have to be reminded by others what’s really important. Immediately after the mayor approved the removal, the story went viral on social media, especially Instagram, and articles in major media, including The New York Times, New York Post, Travel+Leisure, CNN, Forbes, The Guardian, ABC News, AP News and Reuters.
“A Hawaiian Landmark Is Set to Be Scrapped” — The New York Times
“Hawaii’s famous Haiku Stairs will likely be removed” — CNN
“Sorry Instagrammers. Hawaii Is Getting Rid Of This Coveted But Forbidden Attraction” — Forbes
They say “Any press is good press” — but I think the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau would disagree. HVCB spent the last five years differentiating Hawaii from our competitors, using Instagram to promote Hawaii’s culture and adventure such as Kauai’s Na Pali coast, Oahu’s surfing, the Big Island’s volcanoes. Removing Oahu’s best adventure, the Haiku Stairs, sends the wrong message.
The last reason cited by the mayor is the impact on invasive species. At the moment, there are no exposed soils or erosion for invasives to invade. After removing the stairs, it will be a completely different story. There will be a 4,000-by-10 foot swath of exposed soils freshly loosened at a slope of 35-55 degrees in the area of Oahu’s greatest annual rainfall (80 to 120 inches annually) next to 2,000-foot cliffs.
For 64 years, dirt and vegetation have built up on the sides of the stairs, so when the stairs are removed, there will be a trough where water will quickly reach terminal velocity. It’s the perfect storm for brown waterfalls and catastrophic slope failures common in these locations. And this couldn’t occur in a more sensitive area, designated as a “conservation district” and where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified seven endangered fauna species that may occur, and six critical habitats that do occur. This is in addition to 30 endangered plant species.
As if matters couldn’t be worse, all this will be done by helicopters at $1,200 per hour. The true cost is not affordable.
Haiku Stairs has a 64-year track record of being safe, secure, well-built and good for tourism. Maybe it’s time for the governor to make that phone call.
Chris Dacus worked at Hawaii’s Department of Transportation for nine years and Honolulu’s Department of Parks and Recreation for three years before retiring in 2016.
