{"id":17008,"date":"2026-02-03T11:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T21:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=17008"},"modified":"2026-06-23T12:22:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:22:52","slug":"new-noteworthy-adc-land-management-questions-in-keaau-central-oahu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=17008","title":{"rendered":"New & Noteworthy: ADC Land Management Questions In Kea\u2018au, Central O\u2018ahu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ADC Squatters:  <\/strong>Last March, Environment Hawai\u02bbi<\/em> reported on Pacific Biodiesel\u2019s rent-free use of 1.53 acres of land owned by the Agribusiness Development Corporation. The ADC\u2019s \u201cHawai\u02bbi Agribusiness Plan 2025\u201d report, dated January 2026, states that the parcel, in Shipman Industrial Park just south of Hilo, \u201cis currently vacant but being evaluated as a strategic site for agribusiness processing, distribution, and\/or value-added manufacturing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet Pacific Biodiesel continues to occupy the land. As of late January, dozens of its tanks were parked on the lot, which adjoins the company\u2019s refinery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not just the state that is losing money. County property tax records do not reflect any encumbrance on the property, whose market value is pegged at $750,400.  The state pays no taxes on unencumbered land, but property taxes on an adjoining vacant lot, of identical market value, come to nearly $8,000 a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADC\u2019s asset manager Lyle Roe was asked about the ongoing occupancy of ADC land by Pacific Biodiesel. The ADC response was to treat the query as a Uniform Information Practices Act request, stating that the agency \u201crequires additional time to respond to the request in order to avoid an unreasonable interference with its other statutory duties and functions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The form response noted as well that the agency would notify Environment Hawai\u02bbi <\/em>\u201cwithin a reasonable time not to exceed twenty business days\u201d of its decision as to whether it would even provide an answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For background, see the \u201cPacific Biodiesel Occupies ADC Land in Kea\u02bbau; No Lease, No Rent,\u201d Environment Hawai\u02bbi, <\/em>March 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The reportedly vacant ADC-owned lot in January.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Cart before Horse: <\/strong>In November, the Agribusiness Development Corporation approved issuance of a permit to Kun Hu Farm to utilize 136 tillable acres in Central O\u02bbahu. Because \u201ca slightly substantial financial investment by the applicant will be necessary to clear and prepare the premises for planting,\u201d the annual rental rate of $1,800 per acre \u2013 or $150 per acre per month \u2013 was discounted to $75 per acre per month for six months. After that, the full rent, amounting to $244,800 a year, would be in effect until the first rental reopening, in the tenth year of the permit. Crops to be grown on the site included basil, taro, dragon fruit, and purple sweet potato.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January, the ADC had to back up a bit. As stated in the staff submittal to the ADC board, \u201cAt the time of the November 2025 meeting, ADC\u2019s staff were unaware of the existing permit\u201d over 24 acres of the same land. They were \u201cnow requesting the cancellation of this permit so that a new license can be issued to Kun Hu Farms [sic].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADC property manager Alison Neustein explained that in November, staff didn\u2019t believe that revoking the permit to Robert\u2019s Equipment Service would require board approval. \u201cWe were hoping we could just cancel it \u2026, but the attorney general recommended taking it to the board to approve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the RP, issued in February 2023, Robert\u2019s Equipment Service was paying $14 per acre per year. Following board approval of the termination, Robert\u2019s was to be given 30 day\u2019s notice to vacate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ADC Squatters:  Last March, Environment Hawaiʻi reported on Pacific Biodiesel’s rent-free use of 1.53 acres of land owned by the Agribusiness Development Corporation. The ADC’s “Hawaiʻi Agribusiness Plan 2025” report, dated January 2026, states that the parcel, in Shipman Industrial … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,547,338,18],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-17008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-february-2026","category-land-use","category-new-noteworthy","tag-patricia-tummons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17008"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17010,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17008\/revisions\/17010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}