Kailua-Kona council delays vote on Kapoho land purchase resolution

A sharp objection from one testifier stopped the Hawaii County Council just as it was poised to move ahead with a major land purchase tied to Kumukahi, the eastern tip of Hawaii Island. The delay put fresh focus on a proposal that would steer public money toward nearly 2,000 acres in lower Puna and decide whether the county should help shape the future of one of the island’s most culturally loaded coastlines.

Resolution 516-26 would authorize the county finance director to negotiate with seven lower Puna landowners for the properties collectively known as Kumukahi. The county wants to use money from the Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation fund, or PONC, which is supported by an annual 2% contribution from county property-tax revenues. Under county policy, PONC acquisitions are meant to preserve historically or culturally important sites, protect natural resources and create opportunities for public recreation and education, including access to beaches and mountains.

The land at issue is far more than an acreage tally. County materials describe Kumukahi as a wahi pana and wahi kupuna, a legendary and ancestral place whose name means “first beginning” or “origin.” It is also described as the place where the sun first rises. The area includes rocky coastline, old lava flows, burial sites, heiau and other historical features, along with a 125-foot lighthouse that has served as a navigational aid since the 1930s.

That mix of cultural and environmental significance is exactly why the county wants it preserved. Officials have said the long-term goal is to open the property for educational, recreational and cultural uses while protecting native ecosystems and marine resources from development. The site is bordered by the Puna Coast, Old Government Beach Road, Kapoho Farm Lots properties and Koae neighborhood farms, placing it at the edge of a landscape still shaped by the 2018 Kīlauea eruption.

The controversy in the room reflected how unresolved those land questions remain in lower Puna. The lone testifier who objected to a housekeeping amendment argued the public had not received enough notice or time to respond, and the interruption forced a recess before the full council could vote. The committee on Legislative Approvals and Acquisitions had already approved the measure 8-0 in March, showing broad support among council members even as process concerns persisted.

Public testimony in April included several supporters, among them local residents and landowners, and earlier testimony on a 2023 council resolution about visitor impacts at Kumukahi warned that vehicle traffic threatened graves, ahu, heiau and native flora and fauna. For former Kapoho residents still dealing with homesteads cut off or partially inundated by lava, the debate carries a deeper practical question: whether public acquisition will protect a sacred shoreline while finally giving the county a say in how this last stretch of coast is managed.