Group Argues To Save Haiku Stairs For Historic Preservation Reasons

The city’s efforts to demolish the Haiku Stairs are again being challenged by the Friends of Haiku Stairs, which on Friday argued for a preliminary injunction to stop the demolition.

In a lawsuit filed in April, the group said the city and two state agencies failed to comply with historic preservation regulations. Environmental regulations were the focus of an initial lawsuit filed by the group last August but dismissed by a judge in January.

“This case raises entirely different legal issues,” the group’s attorney, Tim Vanderveer, said during a court hearing Friday morning.

The new lawsuit says the existence of the stairs is protected by a 1999 historic preservation covenant. To remove the stairs, the city would need permission from the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ state historic preservation division.

“We just think their approval of the city’s plan was wrong, we think it was misleading and based on incorrect information,” said Justin Scorza, vice president of Friends of Haiku Stairs.

Specifically, the group’s lawsuit claims the city did not inform SHPD of the covenant and did not consider reservations an option.

Defendants from the city, DLNR and the Department of Hawaiian Homes, which owns the land surrounding the stairs, argued that proper procedures were followed, while Friends of Haiku Stairs simply disagreed result.

“These are policy decisions,” DLNR attorney Miranda Steed said at the hearing.

Mayor Rick Blangiardi decided to remove the stairs, citing hiker rescues and complaints from nearby residents about trespassing.

Friends of the Haiku Staircase wants the staircase to remain untouched in case Judge Lisa Cataldo rules in its favor.

Cardado said she would try to make a decision by Monday. Previously, spokesman Ian Sherling said the city had agreed not to remove the stairs, but preparations such as loosening bolts or clearing vegetation could still take place.

The fate of the staircase after it is demolished remains an open question. City Hire Nakoa Cos. demolishing the stairs, their contract stipulated that Nakoa would own them.

The Koolau Foundation says Nakoa is willing to donate some of them to further its plans to transform parts of the Haiku Valley Enter the cultural reserve.

“If we install some stairs, it will help to access the sloping parts of the valley. So we thought we could include that as part of our landscaping plan as we will once again convert the valley into native forest,” said Mahealani, Koolau Foundation board member Cypher said.

Kualoa Ranch has also expressed interest in acquiring some of the tourist attraction’s stairs.

After the hearing, Skorza gathered about 20 Haiku Ladder supporters outside the courtroom.

“Even if the judge rules in our favor, we still have to move forward. If the judge rules against us, we will still have a hearing on Tuesday,” he said. The group will appear Tuesday at a closed administrative hearing held by the state Historic Preservation Department on many of the same issues.

The original lawsuit said a new environmental impact report was needed because the 2019 one did not consider the impact of complete removal of the stairs. A judge rejected that argument in January, and Friends of Haiku Stairs appealed in February. No hearing has been scheduled.