Kent learns about frustrations, ironies of ‘Princeville Market Saga’

from Grassroot Institute

Until very recently, the Princeville Farmers and Artists Market was a thriving hub for local small businesses that attracted both residents and visitors alike. 

However, zoning complaints led to the market’s closure in January, and now, other farmers markets across the county face a similar fate unless the Kauai County Council takes action.

That’s what Joe Kent of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii learned during the latest “Hawaii Together” episode on ThinkTech Hawaii when he spoke with Desirea Hirani, a small business owner and founder of the Princeville market.

Hirani, owner of Bloom & Prosper and one of the organizers of the market, explained that the vast majority of locals supported the market, as demonstrated by the outpouring of support following its closure.

“Kauai is extremely hard to live on,” said Hirani. “This [has been another avenue for small businesses to survive.”

However, persistent complaints from a disgruntled Princeville resident prompted an investigation by the Kauai Planning Department, which revealed that while the market was on private land, it was not zoned for “commercial activity,” forcing it to close. 

Hirani warned that many longtime farmers markets across the island are in technical violation of zoning codes too — making them just one complaint away from being shut down as well.

Fortunately, a county bill is currently under review that would expand where farmers markets are allowed to operate, permit existing markets to continue, and create a clear application process for new events and markets.

Hirani said if enacted into law, the bill would be “beneficial to the community members, homeowners, ]and[ residents within the areas of these parks” and a “win-win” for local artisans and farmers who would be able to continue making a living. 

Kent concurred, noting that while county officials often seek to boost the economy through spending and programs, events such as the Princeville Market — which directly support the local economy and businesses at no cost to taxpayers — should be encouraged. 

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2-10-25 Joe Kent interviews Desirea Hirani on “Hawaii Together”

Joe Kent: Aloha. I’m Joe Kent with the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, and welcome to “Hawaii Together” on the ThinkTech Hawaii broadcasting network.

The Grassroot Institute is an independent think tank that tries to work with many voices across the state to build a better Hawaii. And one thing that we focus on a lot is business, which is very difficult in Hawaii. Hawaii is one of the hardest states to start a business in. 

On Kauai, Desirea Hirani knows this all too well. After 2021, a landslide meant prolonged road closures, and she and other entrepreneurs started the Princeville Farmers and Artists Market. 

Now, it met every Saturday at the Prince Albert Park, but a zoning complaint to the county shut it down recently. And Desirea and others are fighting to bring it back. 

But I’ll let her tell her story. She’s joining us here. Aloha, Desirea.

Desirea Hirani: Aloha, thank you for having me.

Kent: Thanks so much for joining us. So let’s start at the beginning, though. I know there’s a lot to talk about with the policy, but I want to hear more about your background and your business.

Hirani: So in my previous life I was raised on Oahu and I had a professional employer organization — a PEO — which is like ProService, I believe. I mean, Altres, like those two businesses that are still there. And my primary focus was on small businesses, one to 10 employees. So I’m very familiar with small business and the challenges that we all face. 

Now, fast forward to today. Like you said, in 2021, we had the landslide that cut off access to the North Shore beyond Hanalei.

So, I was already hosting an event called the Princeville Artist & Flea Market, and many of the farmers had come to me and asked me to host them and do a Saturday market for them because they were displaced. And they really, you know, farmers — I’m a farmer’s daughter. Your crops don’t wait for you, right? 

So, I finally had decided to help them out, and then it turned out to be a really successful market for all of us involved, including myself. And so we made the decision to go ahead and keep that market going. So, it was operating all the way up until the first week of January this year.

Kent: And how many businesses participated in that market, on average?

Hirani: I have a cap that they’ve given to me, the association. So I maxed out that cap at 50 locally-owned small businesses.

Kent: OK. And you also run a small business there too, is that right?

Hirani: I do. My business is Bloom & Prosper, and what I do is a mix of home goods and apparel — vintage — but I specialize in vintage Hawaiian. And I also repurpose and upcycle clothing from vintage Hawaiian pieces.

Kent: OK. So just to set the stage, this is Kauai Princeville, and you’ve got all these different layers. You’ve got the HOA, the sort of homeowners association where the park and this business activity lie. Then you’ve got the zoning, which is I guess a county zoning. Is it an open space?

Hirani: Right. It’s in open space.

Kent: OK. So when it was discovered, what happened?

Hirani: Well, if I just take you back a little bit before. We had one individual who was trying to do everything he could to shut us down. 

So, from the grass becoming ugly to little traffic — I mean just really, like, first-world problems kind of complaints. But he did bring up last year that maybe we’re not in the correct zoning and that we needed to get a permit. 

And at the board meeting, they kind of had … I think they sought legal counsel after that. And it was thought that, because Princeville is private property and the park is owned by the association, that the park was private property, so we did not need permitting from the county.

And then we did find out — because this person persisted with complaints — that there is a zoning violation, that this one park out of all of Princeville is governed under the County of Kauai.

Kent: And so the zoning code, as I understand it, for the open designation allows certain activities and disallows other activities. One of those would be, I guess, business activities that are disallowed. And, you know, it’s even difficult to find a process by which the county could approve that. Is that correct?

Hirani: Yes. Everyone was kind of like, “What’s going on?” We didn’t know. 

So the county came out and did an investigation. They were very gracious to us, explained to me the whole procedure, explained to me that they were just out on an investigation because they, too, thought it was private, is my understanding. 

We come to find out that the law says that there can be no commercial activity. So commercial activity, meaning no exchange of money. And then we had to be shut down.

Kent: Let me ask a question, if you may. I want to go back before this —  we’ll get into the regulatory details a little later — but I wanted to ask you, just from a community standpoint, from a neighborhood standpoint, and customer and business standpoint, what was the perception that the market had just in the community? Were there a lot of complaints about it, or did people enjoy it? What was the state of the community around it?

Hirani: I would say the vast majority appreciated it, loved it. It is the only event that takes place in this ZIP code of Princeville that actually you will see local people — actual, true local people, kanakas. It was a place that brought people together — cultural, arts, food, you name it — and many residents did participate and enjoyed it as well. 

The complaints were very minor. Very, very minor — probably less than a dozen. I would say, safe to say, before this happened, even less than five. There was issues with some traffic issues. And that really was because Princeville is so strict with parking. If you’re in the wrong area, it’s $150 fine. You know, it’s just … the HOA keeps everything nice and aesthetically looking good.

Kent: Was there parking available at the location?

Hirani: We used to have an excess parking across the street with the library. There is the state library there. And recently, they went under renovations, so they had to block off all the parking. So, we lost a huge chunk there. 

We are allotted parking on the road on Ka Haku Road, which is the main road. And also the opposite road — it’s really weird; there’s Princeville I on the side where the park is, and then there’s Princeville II on the opposite side. So, they’re both owned by different entities.

Kent: I see.

Hirani: And Princeville II, we had the other side that we were able to park our cars as well. But as this market grew very popular, it grew to be a destination spot. Like, every concierge on the North Shore would say, “This is the spot to go to.” And then also he would get that same message from the hotels on the other side and locals in general also, but still …

Kent: Now, what about the community of the … I guess it’s, like I said, within an HOA or a community association. So what did some of the community members think of it?

Hirani: Again, I know that many, many people supported it. We have tons of letters to prove that — that are homeowners. It’s a handful of people who, if I’m really going to be blunt, just don’t have aloha at all. You know, they come to Hawaii, they buy their piece of property, and they think that if they put on a cap that says “Aloha” or a bumper sticker, that they’ve got the Aloha Apirit, you know, and that they’re local all of a sudden. And they’re not. 

So, there was a minority that was very against the market — didn’t want to see people coming into the community. They didn’t want to see … They just didn’t want us there, period.

Kent: You know, everyone has opinions about those neighbors that are around them, of course. But from what I understand, the private lands where this lies, were nonetheless underneath this zoning designation of open space that disallows, you know, commercial activity. And so, the only way to solve that would be to have some kind of a bill to change what’s allowed in the zoning designation. Is that right?

Hirani: Correct.

Kent: So, it seems now that there’s a county bill that’s been referred to the Kauai Planning Commission. It was introduced at the Council. You were there at that Council proceeding. What were some of the thoughts, why did they introduce this bill, and what were some of the discussions around this?

Hirani: So, what this shutdown — this targeted shutdown did — was kind of open up a can of worms, per se. And it really opened a can of worms that not only Princeville could get shut down, but there are several markets that are not operating, apparently, under the correct zoning. 

And these are markets that have been going on even before our market — so, years and years. If they’re not in the proper zoning, then they, too, could be shut down, if there is a complaint.

And again, the County did mention they’re not going out there to police people, and we don’t want to point fingers either because we don’t want that to happen to any of our locals for their market to get shut down. 

But basically, you know, you have to uphold the law evenly, right? And there are several that are just not operating the correct permits.

So when we went through social media, we gained a lot of traction — as you might have seen that. Tens of thousands of people, you know, following this now and …

Kent: On social media, are they generally supportive of the effort to allow?

Hirani: Oh yes. I would say 95% is supportive. The 5% that I have seen myself comments are really just misinformation. A lot of misinformation.

Kent: So why are people supportive?

Hirani: Because, I mean, it’s the right thing to do. Markets like this exist now all around the world, and I have shared that. My family and I are just very well traveled, and we make it a point in every country, every state, to go visit a market, to pull ideas, to exchange, you know. 

This is the way of the world now. This is another avenue for small businesses to survive. It’s a way for people who can’t survive on one income to have a side hustle. 

And what it really does is it boosts the economy also of where the market is — the island, the state, wherever that may be. 

I mean, there’s so many reasons why it’s important, and I think all of that is completely recognized by everyone who’s following the case and supportive of it.

Kent: Now, this bill that’s been introduced at the Council and now is going to go towards the planning commission — where it will, you know, go back to the Council eventually, presumably — this bill affects more than just your market, wouldn’t it? It would affect all of those other ones that you mentioned. So, on Kauai, are those other markets getting involved in this?

Hirani: We have had support from many of the artists. We’ve had support from some of the coordinators as well that do those — send us messages and support, or they’ll repost, sent in letters. Some kind of just want to stand under the radar, and I understand, you know, they don’t … yeah. But we definitely have their support for the most part.

Kent: You know, if you look at the other counties, I believe that they allow farmers markets in many more places than compared to Kauai. So, Hawai‘i County, for example, does allow some sort of farmer’s market activity, at least in its parks. And Maui County also has a mechanism for that. So what do you think about that, the difference between how rules are implemented amongst the counties?

Hirani: I do think each island has its own personality, you know, its own culture, even within the state of Hawaii. So, I could appreciate why Kauai has some of the strongest laws. You know, like here, you can’t build a building beyond four stories. That’s fantastic,you know, for those of us who want to keep what we have left of this island, you know? So I can see why there would be differences, and that gives the individual the opportunity to …

Kent: So let’s talk a little bit about some of the fears that people might have. Even well-meaning fears that people might have about this idea or maybe even misconceptions. What are you hearing about this proposal?

Hirani: OK. One of the biggest ones I saw somebody was spreading, like a big post that said “Commercial now is going to be in parks,” you know, and the whole caption was a little misleading in that, you know, when you hear the word “commercial activity,” you know, people might be thinking, you know, I don’t know, just …

Kent: Waikiki.

Hirani: Big commerce, big businesses, you know. Big commercial companies coming into the parks. And really that’s, one, not the case at all. 

This bill that we are trying to rewrite and work collectively with the Planning Department and the Council members is for farmers and arts that are made or grown on this island specifically. So, that wipes out that whole idea that all these mainland corporations or commercial businesses will be in our parks. That’s one that will never happen. It’s not intended for that.

Another one is that they’ll just be overuse of the parks. Now, everybody will go, get a two-day permit, and just start popping up everywhere. 

And that also is not the case. I wouldn’t want to see that happen either. To counter that, I just want to say what it is, it’s this new bill is to allow sunshine markets — markets that are already existing to continue using the parks. On top of …

Kent: What is a sunshine market, what does that mean?

Hirani: What I believe is it’s like the market is already in place. It’s an existing market that’s already been pretty much accepted by the community and is already operating.

Kent: Oh, I see. OK.

Hirani: It’s not for a ton of new popups to start coming. But however, if you wanted to throw something like a one-year … I know we have a wahine-made festival. What if they had made a kane-made festival? That would have to go through a whole checks and balances, like an application process to see if that would be allowed in the future.

Kent: So even with this bill, you’re saying if there is some allowance made, there are all these approvals that are still needed and checks and balances and the process so that you can’t just bulldoze and build Waikiki or something.

Hirani: Right. That was one of the comments that one of the Council members was kind of putting out there, but we put a stop to that. It’s like, “Oh, we’re going to become Mexico and Bali.” You know, no, that’s really not the case.

Kent: So, what are the next steps for the bill right now and what do you hope happens with it?

Hirani: Okay. So, the first initial draft was the Bill 2942. That was just, it’s very open, but it was to get the discussion going. 

Now, we have the month of February where we’re really trying to meet with all of the right departments to make sure that we write a bill that is beneficial to the community members, homeowners, residents within the areas of these parksm and also a win-win for the local artisans and farmers. 

So that will have a lot of discussion and debate back and forth. I’ll be meeting with the Planning Department again, with the director and the mayor’s office. I’ll be working with the principal association closely so that this can be definitely, you know, beneficial. It’ll be beneficial, and it’s a win-win for everybody.

Kent: Are there fairs allowed as well, or is this … You know, if somebody has a one-time fair, you know, let’s say a county fair or something, would that be allowed under this?

Hirani: A county fair, I think that would just have to be based on what the Planning Department makes their new application.

Kent: Oh, OK. That’s basically up to the Planning Department.

Hirani: Yeah. There are existing one-offs right now that would be in jeopardy right now for the Princeville area. And these are nonprofits — the Ohana FitFest that’s heavily relied upon this space here. We have Ohana FitFest, we do some …. anything, really. 

And they have a whole calendar of activities that are happening within the community center where there is an exchange of money, whether that be $5 or $15 entry fee, all of that is technically illegal at this point.

Kent: You mentioned there were many other fairs, excuse me, farmers markets that might be affected by this. So are those farmers markets also being shut down at the moment, too? I mean, is there a massive extinction of farmers markets on Kauai?

Hirani: Technically, there could be. It just takes one phone call to the Planning Department if somebody would like to shut that down. It would be investigated, and then, within a few weeks, it will be determined. 

And that is why I think the mayor understands now more than ever to push this bill forward sooner than later because if you start shutting down all these markets that are operating illegally, like, you’re going to have a … You think we made a big noise? Like, it’s going to just get crazy, you know. 

Kent: I see.

Hirani: Because you’re messing with people’s livelihoods. This is just, yeah. 

I hope that they don’t get shut down, but if you follow the law, I mean, that, you know, the law is the law, and they’ll have to do exactly what they did to us.

Kent: I was watching the Kauai County Council hearing recently on this, and it was interesting to hear the — it might have been the planning official that was commenting on this — and a lot of the bureaucrats seemed to not be so apt to want to crack down on this, but kind of had to because a complaint was made. I mean, I’m sure they’ve got other things to do …

Hirani: Yeah.

Kent: … than shut down farmers markets, right?

Hirani: This is actually one of those issues that comes up, and like, it’s a no-brainer across the board, except maybe, like I said, a handful or two handfuls of people. It’s something that’s already been allowed, even though maybe they’ve been able to maybe look the other way or something because everyone sees the benefits. Most everyone sees the benefits of these markets. 

Now, it’s just a matter of instead of, like you said, go wasting resources to go and, you know, evaluate all these markets, let’s just cover them under one umbrella.

Because Princeville, we are in conjunction with what the County is doing, as we’re doing our own bill just in case, you know, so we’re …

Kent: I see. OK. Oh, you folks are making your own bill for this.

Hirani: Correct.

Kent: There’s multiple bills to address this issue, actually. I see.

Hirani: Yes, but our bill takes longer. So when the County … since they’ve made this a priority because there’s such an outpour of support, their law will just override ours and automatically include open space.

Kent: At the end of the day, what do you hope happens with this, and what do you hope it will do for people who live on Kauai and, you know, live and work and try to find jobs and also shop there, too?

Hirani: At the end of the day, what I see happening is that our Council members and our mayor listen to the people who matter, the people in the community who have voted them in, that they’re listening to us. And I see them passing a bill very soon. 

I see this going up already in the next month of March, that we’re going to be having another meeting and we’re going to be on the agenda.

And sooner than later, you know, everything will be pono, everything will be in writing and legal, and we can all get back to, you know, making our living.

Kauai is extremely hard to live on. Most houses here, many houses are owned by outsiders, visitors that buy homes, rent homes, they don’t live in them full time. And the locals are the ones that suffer from that. So you will see that many, many residents use markets like this as a primary source of income. So, I think it will be overall beneficial to everybody.

Kent: It makes sense to me, especially when there are so many officials who sometimes even spend money to try to boost the economy. This is something that would be free if it were allowed. 

Thanks so much, Desirea, for joining us. Any final thoughts?

Hirani: I want to say thank you so much for taking an interest in what’s happening here on the island of Kauai. Thank you for spreading this information. 

If anyone wants more information, they can go on our website, which is Princevillefarmersandartists.com. And my contact information is very easy to find if you want to reach out to me directly and help us out, you may. That would be wonderful.

Kent: Desirea Hirani, owner of Bloom & Prosper. Thanks so much for joining us today and explaining the issue.

Hirani: Thank you so much. Aloha.

Kent: Thanks. Aloha.