Something is wrong with this picture: On Sept. 8, our governor presided over a much-publicized groundbreaking for Ho‘opili, where 11,750 unneeded homes will be built on 32 percent of the Oahu farmland currently producing food for the local market. A couple of days later, the governor announced that he is moving back the date for his goal of doubling food production on Oahu from 2020 to 2030. Department of Agriculture Director Scott Enright, when asked whether the state has made any progress in recent years in moving the needle on local food production, said, “The short answer is no.”
It is a fact that we import 90 percent of our food, and that we only have roughly one week’s supply of food on-island. Any of a number of possible calamities could cut off our supply of food. If no progress has yet been made on developing more farmland, does it make any sense to pave over a third of our active farmland?
We have 71,000 homes zoned and ready to build in Central and Leeward Oahu alone. Last year the state produced a study stating that we will only need 25,000 homes on all of Oahu in the next 20 years. A large number of Ho‘opili homes will be bought by people who don’t yet live here, since many of our first-time homebuyers will not be able to afford Ho‘opili’s “affordable homes.” It is a fact that we are looking out of state for construction workers. We do not need these homes in any way whatsoever.
Most of the crops at Ho‘opili need full sun to grow, and efforts to grow them at higher elevations with more cloud cover and rain have failed. Ho‘opili is the last piece of full-sun farmland on this island, and when this farmland is gone, we will never be able to provide several basic foods for the million people living here.
There are other reasons to stop Ho‘opili. The state has just added a Zipper Lane, opened a shoulder lane, and is planning to add one more freeway lane, eastbound. This combination could work miracles for today’s morning drive, possibly cutting commute time in half, letting tens of thousands of people sleep an extra hour every day. But to get that benefit, we need to stop building houses in Central and Leeward Oahu till we get the new lane done. Four neighborhood boards in Central and Leeward have passed resolutions supporting this idea. Why can’t we put the well-being of our people before the profits of developers?
The U.S. Constitution gives government the power of eminent domain, the power to take private land, with fair compensation, when the public good requires it. The state has a billion-dollar surplus this year. Since the Ho‘opili farmlands produce a third of the locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables in our markets, “public necessity plainly demands” that those farmlands must be declared essential to the state, and acquired through power of eminent domain.
This could be a win-win for everybody. The state could pay D.R. Horton, a Delaware corporation, the $73 million it initially paid for the land, while letting Horton keep and develop the non-contiguous 34 acres of Gateway land, across Kualakai Parkway, which is worth $38 million. Horton could cover its expenses and walk away with a considerable profit.
University of Hawaii-West Oahu is across the street from Ho‘opili. Farming is experiencing a new popularity among young people, and UHWO has a fine farmer training program, expecting to graduate 75 farmers a year. As a state-owned farm, Ho’opili could provide land for students, and affordable, long-term leases of the state’s best farmland for graduates.
For our people, and for our future, we must save the Ho‘opili farmland. Aloha ‘aina!
Kioni Dudley, Ph.D., is a retired educator long involved in the Ho‘opili issue; he submitted this on behalf of 42 co-signatories.
