HanaMana public hearing closes

LIHU‘E — Members of the Kaua‘i County Planning Commission Tuesday closed a public hearing on a request for permits necessary to open the island’s first residential drug-abuse treatment facility.

The move sets the stage for a decision by the seven-member board, which meets the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at the Lihu‘e Civic Center.

Commission members Tuesday continued to hear support for and protests against establishment of the HanaMana Healing Center, whose leaders propose to convert the former Wong’s Care Home in Kapa‘a into a residential drug- and alcohol-treatment center.

Commission members heard testimony on the proposal for three months before closing the public hearing portion of their deliberations. No action was taken by the commission Tuesday.

Jesse Fukushima, a former Kaua‘i county councilman who lives near the proposed project site at the end of Kawaihau Road, said he and at least 200 residents are ready to pursue any government appeals if the commission approves the project.

“We are going to have to go back and put our minds together and see what can be done in terms of appealing the decision,” Fukushima said after the public hearing.

Fukushima said he and his neighbors put up with runaways and disruptive activity of patients when Wong’s Care Home operated for 30 years before closing in recent years.

Neighbors also have lived on the edge for years because of a youth treatment center in the area, and because of another residential-treatment program that had been proposed in the neighborhood, Fukushima said.

“We have gone through this experience, and because of that, I think, that is why the community has brought up a lot of concerns,” Fukushima said.

Harold Brown, a Kaua‘i Fire Department captain who lives next door to the proposed project site, said there was never “an open door” or strong lines of communication between the proponents of the project and neighbors who had questions about it.

Had Hans Tangelder, executive director of HanaMana Healing Center, and his staff or supporters done so, and solicited input from the neighbors, the project might have been more readily received by neighbors, Brown said.

Meetings were called on short notice, and documents were too late for proper evaluation, Brown said.

Tangelder said, however, that he believes his group has done the best job possible in sending out information packages, holding meetings with the public, and addressing concerns of the neighbors.

But Barbara Elmore of Lihu‘e said it was an “insult” for Tangelder and his group to have sent a 60-page document on short notice, leaving recipients insufficient time in which to digest the information.

The documents dealt with supplemental information about the project and staff to be hired.

Elmore asked whether Tangelder and his group should be allowed to operate a 24-hour-a-day facility.

She said there were still questions about the project that Tangelder has yet to answer, and urged the commission to look over the proposal thoroughly before acting on it.

She said she doubted, among other things, whether a drug addict could afford to pay the estimated $5,000 a month that treatment might cost.

The treatment could be covered by some health insurance, Tangelder said. Following 30 days of residential treatment, some patients, depending on their progress, would probably receive outpatient services.

In the future, proponents of HanaMana Healing Center would want to open an outpatient clinic somewhere else on Kaua‘i, Tangelder said.

While there were detractors, Melinda Barnes was not one of them, noting that the HanaMana Healing Center is needed, and can work at the proposed site.

“It is incredibly needed,” she said. “We all know we have a drug problem. I know the treatment will work.”

Barnes said she believes the operation of the center will put a dent in drug traffic. Drug users will be less likely to buy drugs if they sense they can lick their addiction, Barnes said.

Putting a residential drug-treatment center at Mahelona Medical Center, as has been advocated by critics of the proposed HanaMana Healing Center, is not an easy thing to do, Barnes said.

Barnes said she tried twice to set up a residential, inpatient care facility at Mahelona Medical Center, and had the support of former Mayor Maryanne Kusaka and current Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste, but failed both times.

But Tangelder said the proposed healing center, from his point of view, is in the right place.

The former Wong’s Care Home was “built and used as a caring and healing facility for 30 years,” Tangelder told the commission.

To opposition to the proposed project, Tangelder said, “our sincerest wish is that some of the neighbors may have a change of heart — a change of mind, (and) help us, work with us, to bring this opportunity, for the greater good, to Kaua‘i.”

In closing the public hearing, commission members said they would accept written testimony through Tuesday, Feb. 17.

Commission members have a maximum of 60 days from the closing of the hearing to reach a decision on the permit requests.

Tangelder’s group is seeking various permits, including a use permit and a Class IV zoning permit.

If renovation work is done, the facility could accommodate up to 35 patients, with four existing one-bedroom apartments set aside for their use.

Plans also call for the renovation of a recreation room for group meetings and other patient uses.

Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net.