Proposed development at popular Hawaiian tourist destination Pololu Valley sparks anger

Now, the Board of Land and Natural Resources and a private real estate corporation propose developing the area along the rim of the valley. The majestic overlook and hiking trails of Pololu Valley are some of the bigger tourist draws for the island, due in large part to social media. Just a half hour from resorts, the uptick in tourists has caused significant parking concerns, safety issues from trail congestion, and sanitation problems.

In 2017, as state representatives and local committees struggled to find a solution, local real estate company Surety Kohala Corp., which owns the several acres closest to the valley rim, offered to donate land to the state to potentially be used for an off-site parking lot and restrooms. Later, fewer than two dozen residents at a North Kohala Community Planning Committee meeting decided that the lot would be five acres, roughly the size of four football fields.

At a Dec. 11 meeting, the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) announced it was applying as a co-applicant with Surety Kohala for a reconsolidation of Surety-owned land on the valley floor. That land would be moved to the rim for a 13-lot subdivision, consisting of three to nine acre lots, most likely to be used for waterfront housing. The proposal would substantially impact not only the valley itself, but area water resources.

Once members of the community got wind of this idea, there was a vocal uproar.

“Pololu Valley is more than a place of ‘cultural significance.’ It is the history of the Hawaiian people. It is a place of refuge that we must protect for our future generations,” wrote Puanani Sopoaga-Faleofa, the creator behind a viral Change.org petition. It has garnered 16,000 signatures since December, and is continuing to grow.

Kohala was the birthplace of King Kamehameha, the leader who unified all of the islands of Hawaii in 1810 after years of conflict. He spent part of his youth protected by the residents of the Pololu Valley — one of the many reasons Kanaka Maoli consider the land sacred.

Sopoaga-Faleofa grew up in North Kohala, but currently lives in Humboldt County in Northern California, where she is part of an organization that works with Native tribes to protect sacred rivers and spaces. “I started the petition, because Kohala is my home. Pololu is my place … and when I think about Pololu, I think about ohana (family) … and our connection that we have to the land,” she said.

In a video of the meeting on Big Island Video News, DLNR board representatives said that community members had been consulted and were in agreement with the land proposal prior to the meeting. Community review and transparency are standard procedure, and mandated as part of the state’s Sunshine Law; however, the community has since refuted this.

“DLNR and Surety did not follow through with their promises to the community that they would run this by our eyes and voices and views before it went to the board, and that was a mistake,” said Toni Withington, a longtime community advocate.

Over the summer, Withington became privy to a map containing the consolidation and subdivision plans during a meeting with the advisory committee to Na Hala Hele, the State of Hawaii Trail and Access Program. Since the information was not on the agenda, the public was not allowed to speak at that meeting, and she said people eventually lost track of it, because back in 2019, both Surety and DLNR said there would be a public vetting before they went to the land boards.

After the backlash, DLNR and the Division of Forestry and Wildlife said that moving forward, they will hold informational web meetings in addition to the hearings. In the meantime, signs have been popping up all over the small town saying “Protect Pololu” and “No Homes on the Rim,” with hints of larger protests to come.

Some oppose the development because they do not believe the subdivision would be accessible to locals. “[It’s] not going to be benefiting the families [who have been here] for generations and generations,” said high school student Moses Emeliano, “[it’ll] mainly be benefiting the rich people and those who can afford to live up there.”

Residents in Kohala, much like the rest of the state, have been subject to the increasingly dire affordable housing crisis, which has disproportionately affected the Kanaka Maoli community. The high costs of living are due, in part, from the constant increase in out-of-state renters and buyers.

Emeliano is one of several students at Kohala High School who spoke out in the video Save Pololu, released in January. Created with their English teacher, Loa Patao, the students were encouraged to do research and interview local kupuna (elders) to learn more about the history and impact the development would have on the land.

“I think it’s important for giving opportunities to students to speak up, because I feel like they sometimes feel sheltered and insecure about their opinions,” said Patao. “[They] think that people aren’t going to listen.” He added that it was also vital for students to have an opportunity to connect to their history, which isn’t readily provided in the school system.

The Kohala High students did more than create a video; they also wrote letters to elected officials, including to David Tarnas, who represents the area in Hawaii’s House of Representatives.

“From the state’s perspective, they don’t want to pursue this unless the community supports it,” Tarnas said.

The state representative declined to comment on the rim development, but is publicly in favor of the parking lot. “We have a significant challenge, because there are so many people coming to hike Pololu Valley and it is causing a detrimental impact to the environment,” he explained.

Parking is unregulated at the popular lookout. Cars crowd either side of the highway, sometimes blocking driveways on private property. The state also considers the now-overcrowded trail a safety liability. During the past two months, there have been several rescues; the most recent involved nine hikers who were caught in a flash flood and required a helicopter rescue.

Another concern has been littering. Some local residents who volunteer to clean up the area say a lot of what’s found is used toilet tissue, along with other garbage that has gone deep into the ground soil.

Most of these issues apparently died down during the state’s shutdown, but increased once tourism re-opened this past fall.

“It’s a problem we have to address, and it’s been this way for many years, so when the offer came from Surety interested in donating land to the state, I said that’s a good idea,” said Tarnas, who added that the state has no funds to build a parking lot otherwise.

Tarnas also added that there are ample opportunities during these processes for the community to have their say. Yet, looking at the overwhelming response on social media, and the underwhelming attendance at prior community meetings, it seems that there is a disconnect with engaging the public.

“The more we get digitized, the harder it is for people to be aware of what’s going on,” said Withington, who said that even she was surprised by the meeting.

According to Sarah Pule-Fujii, another lifelong resident, there have been  only a few occasions involving a large community turnout. For one occasion that involved what color to paint the community’s prized King Kamehameha statue, several surveys were mailed to everyone’s post office boxes.

The highway that leads out to Pololu bears the name of Pule-Fujii’s grandfather and was once under threat of a name change. Pule-Fujii said that back then, there was also a large community turnout that came out to shut it down.

Pule-Fujii has been one of North Kohala’s most vocal elder residents, and while she is for portable bathrooms, she wants the rest of the land left untouched.

“I cannot stop progress, but if I can slow it down, I’m going to try my best,” she said, adding that she is moved to see the younger generation stepping up.

“Pololu Valley tells the story of my Mo’okuʻauhau (genealogy),” wrote former resident Kekoaopololu Kealoha on Facebook during an online rally organized by Sopoaga-Faleofa on Feb. 4. “My brothers and I were named by my Uncle Henry who grew up in Pololu before the tsunami that drove residents out. Our names all honor the legacy of the Kohala Valleys, whose residents protected [King] Kamehameha as a newborn and in his early childhood years. My name directly references Pololu and I will forever be connected to this ʻAina (land).”

“As Kanaka Maoli, our connection to this ʻAina is part of who we are,” Kealoha continues. “Our relationship to the land is the single-most important part of our cultural identity and connects us to our Kupuna. This valley is special and sacred. Not just to me, but to all descendants of this wahi pana (sacred land). There are also People who may not have direct ancestral lineage, but have come to call Kohala home and feel the same sacred connection. They, too, understand what it means to be connected to this ‘Aina.”

“Politics are not meant to unify people, that’s what we have ʻAina for,” said Sopoaga-Faleofa. “I know there is no way I cannot be involved in the political sides of things, because if I’m not, then these places would not exist. I don’t want to be in this world of fighting for our land, but I don’t have a choice.”