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Waiahole residents
face eviction
The state requires lessees
to build homes but makes it
difficult for them to get loans
Lawrence and Cookie Lagapa have been trying to build on the Waiahole Valley lot they lease from the state through a self-help program.
But they could not get a loan to build the house because they have not been allowed to buy the leasehold interest.
The Lagapas received an eviction notice that they must be out by Monday because they have not met the terms of their state lease that requires them to build a house on the site.
They are among about a dozen Waiahole-Waikane valley residents and farmers facing eviction by the state for similar reasons.
In 1977 the state bought Waiahole Valley for $6.1 million because of angry protests against a proposed housing development in Waiahole and Waikane valleys that threatened residents with eviction.
Last night at Waiahole Elementary School, state officials faced an angry crowd of residents and farmers, upset that Gov. Linda Lingle's administration wants to turn over the management of Waiahole and Waikane valleys to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
The Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawaii now manages the properties.
Stephanie Aveiro, housing agency executive director, said letters rescinding the eviction notices for residents such as the Lagapas, whose only violation was not building on their land, had been sent out Wednesday.
But Todd Eddins, attorney for the Waiahole-Waikane Community Association, said the terms in those letters would be impossible to meet in the 30 days required.
He said the state is requiring that the residents post a bond worth 100 percent of the cost of constructing a house. And residents would have to get the required city building permits, Eddins said.
"This is no recision letter," Eddins said.
He said residents dispute that there is a required time frame in which they must build homes on the lots.
