Friday, March 29, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Monday, November 1, 2021
VIDEO: DLNR Clears Homeless Camp from Coco Palms Area
By Video @ 10:08 PM :: 2544 Views :: Kauai County, Homelessness

Koki Road Kauai Encampment Clean-up, Nov. 1, 2021 from Hawaii DLNR on Vimeo.

KOKI ROAD HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT DISMANTLED

News Release from DLNR, Nov 1, 2021 

(Kapa‘a, Kaua‘i) - Several dozen people who’d established long term camps on state conservation lands on Koki Road in Wailua moved out today.

More than a month ago they were warned by the DLNR Land Division to vacate the property, which is adjacent to the former Coco Palms Resort and tucked into a neighborhood with homes directly across the road.

Kauai district land agent Alison Neustein said everyone involved in today’s operation has empathy for people who find themselves houseless. “However, State conservation lands are clearly not the place for these large encampments. For example, the Koki Road site is in a flood zone, so it has potential human safety issues.” Neighbors report during flooding in 2018 water was half-way up the sides of their homes.

Over the past year, DLNR has received several complaints about the encampment. Neighbors, on a hill overlooking the encampment had complained about noise and smoke from campfires. Neustein notes there are no sanitary facilities on the land, though the campers had brought in portable toilets and put up a shower house. She added one resident had to shut off her water service after getting extraordinarily high bills and suspected one of the campers was stealing her water.

More than a dozen officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) and State Sheriffs oversaw the operation. They pitched in to help some campers get their heavier personal belongings up to the road. Campers kept what they wanted and identified items that will be stored for 30 days before disposal, if unclaimed. A trio of DOCARE officers even used a portable pump to inflate the tires on one car so it could be driven out of the area.

As contract work crews loaded up trucks with rubbish and materials the campers didn’t want to keep, several of the workers taped eviction notices and additional no-trespassing warnings to the guava trees in the camp. The complete cleanup of the parcel is expected to take all week.

Other than a few verbal disputes between campers the eviction was peaceful. One activist who’d announced his intention to enter the closed area was cited by DOCARE officers and then left the area.

“We all understand how difficult and expensive it is to find housing on Kauai, though some of these folks have refused offers of shelter or transitional housing and will likely show up elsewhere. We have to do our jobs and uphold the laws and rules which preclude these encampments on public lands,” Neustein said.

# # #

RESOURCES

(All images/video courtesy: DLNR)

HD video – Koki Road camp clean-up (Nov. 1, 2021)

Photographs – Koki Road camp clean-up (Nov. 1, 2021)

 

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT