Kukuihaele is a unique community village, the last Hawaiian homestead besides Milolii in Hawaii. Nestled in a central location with awesome ocean and Waipio valley cliff views is a small park where neighbors have gathered for decades for luaus, weddings, kite flying, bike riding, basketball, soccer and picnicking in the lush green grass.
The community began attending county meetings last year about the Kukuihaele Park improvements, to be funded with $2.5 million available from the $99 million dollar bond. The first mention of a baseball park was rejected by many village residents, now it is obvious the majority of landowners just say no! Yet at every meeting Valerie Poindexter and James Komata discount what the residents want and their educated concerns over the expenses and damage the ball field will bring to our precious historic village.
Kukuihaele Road is extremely narrow with a one lane bridge and blind curves. Kings walked this road for hundreds of years and it is dear to residents. We walk this same road with babies and strollers, kupunas walk, bicyclists ride, toddlers take their three-wheelers for a spin. We have no sidewalks, the plantation home front yards come to the edge. The traffic being suggested by the county would make the road unsafe for our families unless the road were to be widened. Widening the road would change the village forever.
Tourist counts increase every year. The Honokaa-Waipio Road (Highway 240) can handle all the traffic projected between Honokaa and Waipio. The ball park needs to be on Highway 240.
Many residents are organic gardeners and have posted “No Spray” signs along the road already. The proposed ball park plan includes mega fencing which means regular mega spraying of poison for the grasses along the fence. Lime laid on the field has also been found to be toxic to humans.
Let us look into decades to come and preserve peaceful, healing Kukuihaele village. What we do want is a playground for keiki and all age workout area for 7 to 100 year olds!
Don’t it only go to show that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone — preserve Kukuihaele Village and Road so future generations may experience the mana here. Mahalo.
Colleen Lawrence is a resident of Kukuihaele
My Turn opinions are those of the writer and not West Hawaii Today