Plantation town fears for future

Varona Village residents worry they will lose homes to developers

When Chris Malate and her friends get together to talk about their lives at Varona Village in Leeward Oahu, they can't help discuss how their days at the plantation homes might be numbered.

"We love each other, we help each other. That's why we love to stay here," Malate said.

But growth is on the way, seemingly from all sides, and Varona Village's land, owned by the City and County of Honolulu, might have become too valuable, tenants fear.

Yet residents have not given up hope that they will be able to buy the land and their homes, something that they were promised decades ago, they said.

Varona lies at the end of Renton Road, just south of Ewa and Diamond Head of Kapolei.

Engines rumble nearby, laying down the North-South Road that promises to alleviate some of the congestion in Ewa.

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is building its new headquarters and a regional shopping mall, and is developing a large parcel of land for 403 single-family homes near Varona Village.

And residents say a light industrial park will be built across from the village. The city also is driving growth, proposing a transit station right across the street from Varona Village.

Today, the state House will discuss a bill to build enterprise zones around the transit stations, which are expected to encourage business and housing development in the surrounding areas.

"Seeing all the construction and everything that's going on, that's why the sudden push now," said Patrick Hange, a Varona resident who started a petition among residents asking for a chance to buy their homes.

Hange, the son-in-law of a former plantation worker, imagines how easily developers would be enticed by Varona Village because all the residents are only renters.

"It'd be very easy, and it could be a way for the city and county to pull more money out of the area," he said.

Several weeks ago more than 60 Varona Village residents approached the Ewa neighborhood board for help. The board passed a motion to ask the mayor for a public hearing on the residents' issues.

"The communities in Ewa would be happier if he (Mayor Mufi Hannemann) can attend to this matter," said board Chairman Kurt Fevella. "They want to own the land. We support that. If we can find out more information, they'll feel happy."

Varona Village is one of several historic sugar plantation villages in Ewa. The city, which retained ownership of Varona and the surrounding villages, has refurbished Fernandez and Tenney Villages.

Varona Village residents have been waiting since the 1980s for the city to offer them an opportunity to buy the houses and the land as in other Ewa plantation villages, they say.

But Varona has been left untouched. Today, houses are still connected to a cesspool, not the city's sewer system. And some renters still pay the plantation rates from decades ago: $57 a month.

An estimated 160 people, former plantation workers or families of plantation workers, live in 40 of the houses, while five houses sit empty and 30 lots are vacant, Hange said.

Malate says she is willing to fight the city to stay in Varona Village. She is not interested in living in other Ewa villages and wants to buy her house like residents of other villages.

Malate recalled how her daughter, now 44, cried when her husband considered moving for a new job after the plantation shut down.

"We like buy because it's very sentimental and we know all the neighbors, who's bad and good," she said.

Varona reminds her of the Philippines with its 50- to 60-foot mango trees, banana and calamondin trees.

One Varona resident, whose father is a former plantation worker, said that after moving to Varona Village several years ago, he felt like he never left the Philippines -- still conversing in his native tongue with neighbors. Only when he leaves for work at a Waikiki hotel does he see the stark differences.

Varona Village houses are old, many built 50 or 60 years ago, residents say, and major improvements are needed to meet current housing standards, such as replacing the electrical, water and sewage lines.

Residents have agreed, Hange said, to take responsibility for improvements.

The residents have not made an offer, and they hope city officials will meet with them to discuss what options they have.

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is also considering the Varona Village area for a land swap with an area near Leeward Community College.

DHHL Director Micah Kane said the land swap would lower construction costs and improve usage of the area by consolidating future development.

But the land swap, still in the preliminary stage, would not include any areas with residents.

"We're not going to be a part of displacing any families," Kane said. "We would be patient in giving the county the necessary time to address issues."

The Ewa neighborhood board asked the city to respond to its request for a public hearing within 90 days of a letter sent out last week.

The Mayor's Office is looking into the matter, city officials said.

---