2026-03-09 - Minutes DRAFT 1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chr. Chang then asked whether the realtor could confirm the owner’s official access from the nearest public road and whether Spencer Road was a public road. Mr. Keeney stated that Spencer Road is not a public road. Chr. Chang expressed concern about what legal access would attach to the property if the County were to purchase it and what assurance there would be that the access routes could not later be closed. Mr. Keeney responded that the owners of the residential properties below the lower Cane Haul Road have an easement over Spencer Road. Phaethon Keeney (nominator’s daughter) added that she believed the subject parcel also had the same easement, and Mr. Keeney agreed that the parcel had legal easement access from Spencer Road. V. Chr. Britt noted that legal access must be reflected in the title report and cannot be merely practical access. Cmr. Markoff then asked that the nominators provide deeded legal access information in an amended application or at a later meeting, and Mr. Keeney agreed. In response to Cmr. Rosam’s question, Mr. Keeney stated that the property had been listed for sale about one year earlier at $2.5 million and had been reduced about two months earlier to $1.9 million. He stated that he did not know whether there had been active interest in the listing. Cmr. Markoff commented that he had previously camped on the property and believed it warranted preservation. He also noted that the application did a good job identifying potential partners. He requested that the nominators provide information on cultural and lineal descendants and their willingness to partner in future stewardship of the area. Mr. Keeney responded that the grandson of William Rickard serves on the board of the Honokaāmākua Youth Center is ʻa Heritage Center and that the director of the H also believed to be related to William Rickard. He stated that both were represented through the stewardship group being formed for the property. He further stated that questions regarding what legal rights those descendants might have in the property itself were complicated and that he did not know the answer. When Chr. Chang noted that time was running short and asked whether there was anything further the Commission should know, Mr. Keeney stated that the nominators were in the process of forming a 501(c)(3) for stewardship of the property. He described the group as including representatives from the Honokaāmākua ʻa Heritage Center, H Youth Foundation, Honokaʻa High School, the Haina Community Associa?on, and others with forestry and nonprofit experience. He stated that the vision for the property included restoration of native forest and food forest or agroforestry uses, including possible educational opportunities for Honokaʻa High School students. Cmr. Brandt asked whether the nominators had reviewed the archaeological survey for the neighboring property. Phaethon Keeney stated that they had recently obtained it and that, according to that report, no heiau was identified on the adjoining property, although she expressed uncertainty about relying on an archaeological report funded by the property owner. She stated that if the heiau was not on the neighboring parcel, then it should be on the nominated property. Mr. Keeney then explained that when the property was originally ceded to William Rickard, the heiau shown on the map was located on the boundary of the property. He stated that after plantation ownership and the later reorganization of the parcel boundaries in 1995, the heiau ended up on an DRAFT v.1 BS - Minutes of March 9, 2026 Page 10