KOLOA — Grove Farm has told its Koloa Camp tenants it’s time to move out and make way for progress. On Nov. 8, Grove Farm gave eight tenants residing in Koloa Camp — a 100-year-old, sugar-era neighborhood also known as
KOLOA — Grove Farm has told its Koloa Camp tenants it’s time to move out and make way for progress.
On Nov. 8, Grove Farm gave eight tenants residing in Koloa Camp — a 100-year-old, sugar-era neighborhood also known as Japanese Camp — a 120-day eviction notice, citing the company’s previously disclosed plan to redevelop the area with new residential housing.
However, Koloa Camp residents say they don’t want to go. Others residing in proximity of the camp say they are concerned about the potential impacts of Grove Farm’s planned development on a nearby Wailani Road and Waihohonu Stream.
Residents’ concerns and Grove Farm’s plans will be the focus of a community meeting today at 6 p.m. at Koloa Neighborhood Center.
The plan, according to a Grove Farm presentation, calls for 50 modular homes, 30 percent of which will be “affordable homes, geared toward the residents,” and located near Old Koloa Town’s core “to create a walkable community.” It will “incorporate energy efficient measures, such as solar water heating.” The houses will be “prefabricated homes,” which will “reduce construction costs and reduce waste that end up in the landfill.”
Grove Farm Senior Vice President Mike Tresler said the tentative plan is to purchase the prefabricated homes from Green Place Ltd. in China. Each modular home is shipped in three containers and includes everything needed to construct and furbish the home. Two of the three containers are used as part of the frame for the house and the other one is shipped back.
Currently, the homes’ site is in a flood zone, but Tresler said the plan is to raise the site above flood-zone levels. The Koloa Camp homes will be demolished, he said.
Tresler said other benefits of the prefab homes include lower construction costs and a shorter timeframe for construction.
“It’s supposed to go up in less than three months,” Tresler said. “The bottom line is, you cannot find a single-family house and lot in the price range we’re targeting.”
Market prices will range from $375,000 to $440,000, Tresler said, and as required by a county ordinance, 30 percent of the homes in the project must be priced as “affordable” relative to local median household income of $76,300.
Grove Farm estimates the price range for “affordable” homes, based on a conventional mortgage rate of 4 percent, is between $260,000 and $410,000 for a two-bedroom and between $280,000 and $485,000 for a three-bedroom house.
Grove Farm’s target mix will be 23 two-bedroom, two-bath houses with 800 square-foot living area, 17 two-bedroom, two-bath houses with a 500-square-foot living area, and 10 three-bedroom, two-bath houses with 1,200 square-feet of living area.
Koloa Camp tenants will be given first right to purchase, Tresler said.
But the tenants said given the current economic climate, middle-class working people may not be able to obtain a mortgage for a new home, especially the older tenants who are approaching retirement age.
One tenant who has lived in Koloa Camp for 30 years said he has a Hawaiian burial site in his backyard; however, Tresler said there is no record of burials on that site and the tenant may be referring to an old Japanese burial site.
Tenants also contend that this is the last of the plantation-era camps in Koloa and, as such, should be preserved rather than destroyed.
Area residents expressed concern about the potential impact on Waihohonu Stream of bringing in fill to raise the site, the impact of development on the nesting grounds of the Hawaiian duck, and the impact of added traffic on their narrow residential streets.
Many of the Koloa Camp tenants said that they wish Grove Farm would delay eviction at least until the project is permitted.
When asked whether Grove Farm would consider allowing the tenants to remain longer, Tresler said, “That’s a tenant-landlord issue. That’s a private issue … They’re trying to make it a public issue and we’ll push back and just say it’s nobody’s business. We’re required to give that notice, so we’re going to give them that notice. … have we applied for any permits or anything yet? No. Are we in the whole planning stages of it? Yes, we are.”
Grove Farm has yet to determine a tentative start date for the project, he said.
For more information, visit www.savekoloacamp.com or contract Grove Farm at 245-3678.
• Vanessa Van Voorhis, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or by emailing vvanvoorhis@thegardenisland.com.
