Musings: Hit and Myth

Testimony at Tuesday's homestay/B&B hearing exposed as myth the idea that small farms can be self-supporting on Kauai.

One self-described farmer after another said they can't make a go of agriculture without income from their visitor accommodations.

Bruce Ferhring, a former Realtor who previously owned a TVR, first said he would have a difficult time keeping his “farm” afloat without income from his guest cottage. Then he urged the Council “to help us to continue to create local food security on Kauai.”

But if that “food security” is dependent on tourism, is it truly secure?

Larry Ruddell said it probably costs $30 to produce a dozen eggs that he can sell for $6, while his wife, Mervyn, said they're trying to grow coconut trees to sell, but it will be a while before they can show revenue.

Others said their ag land was unusable. In short, many of those operating accommodations on ag land can't really show any significant farm income.

Which prompted Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura to note: “We're trying to distinguish commercial ag versus ag that's for a homestead.”

Farmer Jerry Ornellas urged caution in allowing B&Bs on ag land. He spoke of the disparity between income derived from farming and tourism — on a good week, he clears $500 while B&Bs can make $2,000 — and said a proliferation of these uses will cause problems for farmers. “These are the guys that are gonna complain when I start my tractor at 7 o'clock in the morning.”

Jerry also reminded the Council about the farm dwelling agreement, noting that the last time he brought it up at a meeting, one of the Councilmembers “laughed out loud.” The agreement requires any house built on ag land to be occupied by a family who derives income from ag activity.

“That's pretty straight-forward,” Jerry said.

Yeah, it is. But the Council decided to ignore it completely when they allowed vacation rentals on ag land.

“The county has chosen to ignore enforcement of this, which is a state law, as have other counties in the state,” Jerry continued. “I think we're seeing the results of that today.”

Indeed. Which is why we've got a lady saying her neighbor from California got a TVR permit for his five-bedroom mansion on ag land, so she's quite rightly wondering why she, as a resident, can't get a B&B permit.

We warned the Council about opening that can of worms. But JoAnn, former Councilman Tim Bynum and others just ignored us and pushed ahead. And now we're seeing the ramifications of those ill-conceived actions.

Another woman testified that planning inspector Bambi Emayo told her that the County Council had made the department write the cease and desist letters.  It's true. Rather than investigate the department after it bungled the TVRs, the Council told the department to go after the low-hanging fruit, e.g., those without any permits at all.

So that's what's going down. And yes, B&Bs were caught in the net along with illegal TVRs, since it's really hard to tell some of them apart.

The testimony also exposed as myth the claim that locals are doing B&Bs to keep their homes. Though I guess it depends on how you define that term, with Bruce Fehring declaring: “I consider myself both a local and a kamaaina.” 

Based on those who spoke, the homestay/B&B gig, like TVRs, is largely a haole thing. Pretty much the only locals who testified in support are working for the ag homestays.

As Kukuiula resident Julie Souza observed of the B&B owners: “Most are just trying to pay their mortgages. Do you see our local families trying to do this? I don't think so.”

Giving haoles a bad name was Sean Tesla — aka “crazy” Suzy Brown— who claimed that as a tenant, she'd been running a TVR in Anahola until she was shut down, and is now facing eviction at the behest of the planning department. Though upon questioning by the Council, she didn't think she actually had anything in writing.

“There is nowhere more — pardon my French — fucked up on this planet than the Kauai County planning department,” Sean/Suzy barked.

The testimony also provided insight into how some of these places operate. Lorna Hoff, whose kids CPRd the 10-acre family parcel, was renting out five bedrooms, each with a separate entrance, and a room she described as “like a closet,” until the planning department told her it was functioning as a hotel, prompting her to stop renting the closet. Since they were renting all the bedrooms, she and her husband sleep in the kitchen.

Which leads us to testimony from Tina Sakamoto, who said the permit should include annual “inspections for health and safety.”

Joann Allen objected to the requirement that owners must live in the unit, “which means they can never expand to the property next door.” Uh, that's the idea. To discourage these things from growing like the Blob and devouring all in their wake.

She thinks the 10-per-year limit on applications is the  planning department's “tactic used to wean out those pre-judged as violators”

Yes, it is, and that's good, because some of them are clearly illegal vacation rentals.

Sam Lee, whose Poipu neighborhood has been consumed by TVRs, urged the Council to stick with the 10, saying it represented “a compromise under very difficult circumstances.”

Barbara Robeson and Caren Diamond testified against granting any of the 10 permits in the Hanalei district, which extends all the way to Kee. They said it already has nearly the same percentage of TVRs/B&Bs — many of them illegal — as the visitor destination area.

I do feel a tiny bit sorry for the Cowerns. They've been operating for 25 years and as Bill noted, their first guest was the former planning director and his wife, who stayed for two months. It's true, as he said, that nobody used to care abut B&Bs/TVRs. And now we do, because they got out of control. But still, why did Cathy tell JoAnn she only has two units, when her website (now taken down) advertised five?

And is it really appropriate for JoAnn to publicly apologize to Cathy, but no one else, “for what you've had to go through?”

I wish the Council good luck in unraveling this mess.

Meanwhile, a bit of real ag died yesterday when Pioneer closed down its Kekaha parent seed facility, which has been in business there for 47 years. No doubt all the anti-GMO TVR-owning faux-farming folks in Kilauea, which advertises some 39 tourist properties on VRBO alone (with 1,012 – yikes— on the North Shore), will be celebrating this blow against their foe. Sadly, 34 people lost their jobs.  

The Garden Island inexplicably failed to report this bit of important news, though it gives front page coverage to any press release issued by the anti-dairy folks. I guess it was too busy covering a T-ball tournament or KIFB fundraiser.

Pioneer's Waimea facility, which employs about 100 residents — far more than those working for the ag TVRs — will remain open.

And no, the closure didn't have anything to do with the dust lawsuit. Pioneer, like other ag operations, is tightening its belt in the wake of softening corn prices by consolidating parent seed activities at its Waialua facility on Oahu, where it owns the land.

Maybe it should plead hardship to the county, and put up some B&Bs/TVRs to help subsidize its Kauai operations before they go belly up, too.