Fifteen Department of Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiaries became the first to be awarded subsistence-agricultural lots Saturday at the Keaukaha Elementary School gymnasium.
The Panaewa Lot 185 project consists of first-of-its-kind half-acre parcels providing Native Hawaiians with the opportunity to both live and farm on their lots.
“It actually was a 10-acre lot they took back from a lessee and then broke it down,” said Hawaii County Council member Sue Lee Loy, a homesteader who represents the district in which the project is located. “A few years ago, DHHL put into their rules the ability to have subsistence-ag lots. So, they were able to get a lot more lots out of this 10-acre lot.
“It’s near roads and sewer and all the good stuff you need when constructing a home.”
The DHHL broke ground on the 10-acre parcel in August 2021. The infrastructure contract for Panaewa Lot 185 was awarded to Drainpipe Plumbing and Solar for slightly less than $2.5 million using trust funds.
By design, subsistence-agricultural lots are less than three acres in size and in close proximity to existing infrastructure in planned communities. This homestead model will allow for small-scale farming for home consumption or supplemental income through commercial sales, according to the DHHL.
“The people that are participating in this new award program are very excited, and we’re excited about that in the sense that it’s an innovative program,” Hawaiian Homes Commission Chair Kali Watson said. “Whereby it’s a subsistence farm lot with infrastructure, and they have the option of putting a home on the lot but more importantly growing food for their families and neighborhoods, as well as having animals.”
In an attempt to better support the new agricultural lessees, DHHL will provide agricultural training workshops through the University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources program. Other resource partners were available Saturday to not only help the beneficiaries with the planning of lots for farming, but also with construction and financing assistance.
“It was joyful to hear my name called,” said DHHL beneficiary Charlotte Seals. “After 47 years on the list, it is wonderful, and to know that I’m Hawaiian and this was offered to Hawaiians to better their lives, I am very grateful.”
The list Seals referred to is a waiting list of about 28,700 DHHL beneficiaries seeking homestead, agricultural or pastoral lots. Many of those beneficiaries, like Seals, have been waiting for decades.
“By dividing and awarding lots that are smaller, we’re able to get the density, and more importantly, make more awards,” Watson said. “We have a limited supply of land, so by doing it this way we reduce infrastructure costs and, more importantly, we reduce the wait list.”
Beneficiaries were provided immediate access to their lot upon signing their lease. Any and all structures must be built to county code.
“I think that this leadership with Kali and his understanding about how complex housing is, maybe this will become a new model for DHHL,” Lee Loy said.” We all know that with the current interest rates (on mortgages), home ownership is going to get more and more out of reach. And anything that the department can do — you know, finding the lot is a huge part of it all, the land cost.
“So, anything that the DHHL can do to award lots and let our beneficiaries have some self-determination on the kind of housing they want is a new way forward.”
Six additional subsistence-agricultural lots are planned for development in the area. Subsistence-agricultural lots also are slated for development in Honomu, north of Hilo, as well as Honokowai, Maui, and Anahola, Kauai.