LIHU‘E — Grove Farm has filed for a declaratory ruling in the Fifth Circuit Court regarding its land gift to the County of Kaua‘i, according to a Wednesday press release.
The company feels the court action is necessary to prevent the improper transfer of the land to a third party that may not use the facility as intended.
“The end goal is to use the facility in the manner for which it was intended — to heal our families and community,” Grove Farm said in the release.
The late Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste sought to address issues relating to teen substance abuse, suicide, and drug-related crime with a residential drug treatment center for youth, the Adolescent Treatment and Healing Center.
For the past 20 years, the goal of developing a youth healing facility for our island’s youth has been supported by affected families, loved ones, behavioral health professionals, law enforcement, and the Kaua‘i community in general, including former Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho Jr., who continued to push for the healing and treatment center with passion.
Following years of the county working to locate an appropriate site that included community support and financial assistance, Grove Farm and the County of Kaua‘i signed a Memorandum of Understanding in August 2015, whereby Grove Farm agreed to donate 5.8 acres of land to the county.
In the release, Grove Farm says the MOU states “the dedication deed shall contain a reversionary clause requiring that the County, and its successors and/or assigns, continue to use the subject property solely for the permitted use, unless Grove Farm, its successors or assigns, provides prior written consent to the change of use.”
This was adopted by the council through a resolution that expressed support for the proposed ATHC with note that the County Council approved the MOU on June 3, 2015, for the approximately five acres from Grove Farm located in upper Hanama‘ulu.
Grove Farm has been a strong supporter of this vision, and in an effort at facilitating the development of a youth treatment center, donated 5.8 acres of land to the County of Kaua‘i in February 2017.
“Unfortunately, in the five years and five months since Grove Farm made this donation, the intended use for the property as an adolescent treatment center has never materialized despite repeated assurances from the county that it would,” Grove Farm said in its release. “Although the Adolescent Treatment and Healing Center was constructed and dedicated in 2019, the facility has never been used to treat at-risk youth.”
Grove Farm states that “through state and county funding, the ATHC was completed and dedicated in December 2019. However, the county terminated its agreement with its intended operator, Hope Treatment Services, in February 2020 without ever starting operations.”
In March 2020, the county transferred authority over the facility to the State of Hawai‘i Department of Health for COVID-19 isolation housing for residents and tourists.
“To the dismay of many in the community, and especially the families of those most in need, the county has proposed using the ATHC for the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney staff, or teen drug court. The County has alternatively proposed simply giving the property away to the Hawai‘i Health Systems Corporation, Kaua‘i Region.”
Grove Farm claims the reversionary clause on the Dedication Deed remains in effect and prohibits the use of the property for anything other than its intended purpose.
“Because it has never been used for adult and adolescent healthcare for more than two years, and has, pursuant to the explicit agreement of the parties, and by operation of law, now reverted to ownership by Grove Farm,” states the release. “Grove Farm is requesting that the Court confirm this fact, and clear title to the property.”
“Our sole objective is to get the facility in the right hands as expeditiously as possible,” said Grove Farm President and CEO Warren Haruki. “Now, more than ever, we need to fulfill this huge community need for an on-island residential treatment center for Kaua‘i’s youth. The ATHC will give our youth a chance to thrive in a setting that allows them to heal with the reassurance that their loved ones are nearby. It is our responsibility — our kuleana — to give our youth hope and success. For these reasons, it was necessary to file this request for a declaratory ruling with the Court, today.”
Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami responded to some of the Grove Farm concerns.
“Grove Farm has not yet served the County with the lawsuit, although the general concerns raised are not new,” Kawakami said in a statement. “We too remain frustrated a suitable operator has not found the right conditions to open this vision of Kaua‘i-based residential youth drug treatment. We share the philosophy of previous administrations that many hands beside the County will be required to open the center as soon as possible. However, rumored and implicit threats of litigation by Grove Farm over the past two years have made potential operational partners scared to engage and assume control of the center.
“Following more than two years of legal threats by Grove Farm to take the land and facility back, we look forward to having the Court review all of the actions the county has taken, including using the center for pandemic emergency response.
“Grove Farm’s past and present actions related to litigation raise questions about the credibility of their desire to really open this center quickly,” Kawakami said. “For our administration, the priority has never been about who owns this facility, rather getting this center up and running for our keiki as soon as possible. In a tight community like ours, we will never stop working with any partners, including Grove Farm, to get the original vision realized.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.-
