Citing violations ranging from poor land husbandry to evidence of a junkyard and the possibility of a cockfighting operation, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources will consider a request to revoke the lease on a 10-acre Panaewa parcel.
Citing violations ranging from poor land husbandry to evidence of a junkyard and the possibility of a cockfighting operation, the state Board of Land and Natural Resources will consider a request to revoke the lease on a 10-acre Panaewa parcel.
The board is set to weigh in on the request, submitted by state Department of Land and Natural Resources land agent Dan Gushiken, during a meeting today in Honolulu.
The property in question is currently leased from the state to Miyashiro Poultry &Hog Farm Inc. A general lease on the 10.097 acres in Panaewa was awarded via a public drawing in 1965. It was set to expire in November 2020. The land lease was for “piggery use,” a DLNR spokesperson said in an email.
The business itself was founded by Tokio and Kiyoko Miyashiro, both now deceased. It was involuntarily dissolved in 2012, according to filings with the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
According to the documents, the lease has since been assigned to Marvin Miyashiro, who could not be reached by press time Thursday. Attempts to reach Rodney Miyashiro, Tokio and Kiyoko’s son, also were not successful by press time.
A DLNR inspection of the property was conducted Jan. 29, initiated by a Notice of Default for rental payments.
The property has a rental rate of $2,630 per year, paid quarterly, according to land board documents.
The land board “typically does not conduct inspections of lease properties,” DLNR public information officer Deborah Ward said in an email. Besides Notice of Default, inspections also can be triggered by updates of a property’s conservation plan, complaints and requests for dispositions.
The January inspection found eight violations of lease terms, chief among them that less than 2,000 square feet of the property was being used as a piggery.
“… furthermore, the piggery was operating in conditions that may be deemed unsanitary and disorderly,” the document states.
Inspectors also found evidence that Bob’s Fencing Inc., was “operating its base yard on the property without authorization from the BLNR.” Fencing supplies and a Bob’s Fencing trailer were stored on the property, and “Junk used by the company was also observed piling up next to one of the buildings.”
A call to Bob’s Fencing asking if the company was still using the property was not returned by press time.
Also noted on the property was “evidence of an automobile junkyard” in the form of a tow truck and a number of “inoperable vehicles,” unauthorized truck storage and an excavated hole being used as a landfill.
A “showbird” breeding operation also was noted by the inspectors.
“Also, what looked like a cockfighting pit and cockfighting equipment and supplies were also observed on the property,” the submission states. The breeding operation is “assumed to be beyond the capacity of personal use and may be enough to consider it a commercial enterprise.”
Three residential dwellings were identified on the land, but only one is permitted based on lease terms.
A violation notice was accepted March 11, offering a 60-day correction period. As of June 29, inspectors wrote, “this breach has not been cured.”
The quarterly rent charge of $657.50 had not been submitted. Liability and fire insurance polices expired in March and April, respectively.
“Any lessee found to be in violation of the terms and conditions of the lease who fails to cure those violations in a timely manner is subject to forfeiture,” Ward said.
The property has twice had requests for forfeiture, both in the late 1990s. According to the current request, it has in the past 10 years also had 14 defaults for quarterly rent and two defaults for not having an approved conservation plan.
Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
