The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) held a groundbreaking ceremony recently for Phase 1 of its Honomū Subsistence Agriculture Homestead Community in South Hilo on Hawaii Island, a news release from the governor's office said.
"This development is going to be a tremendous opportunity for native Hawaiians to live and grow food for their families," Hawaiian Homes Commission Chair William J. Ailā Jr. said in the release. "Kūhiō's vision was not only getting native Hawaiians back on the land but also to bring life forth from it. This entire subdivision will be homestead farmers who will be doing just that."
The project's first phase has an estimated cost of close to $3 million, the release said. It will include 16 one-acre agricultural homestead lots under DHHL's new Subsistence Agriculture administrative rules.
DHHS completed Beneficiary Consultation along with the Chapter 91 rulemaking process for the new Subsistence Agriculture rules in 2018.
The Department has begun installing infrastructure on 125 residential lots in the Villages of Laʻi 'Ōpua Village IV Hema Phase 2 subdivision in Kealakehe on Hawaii Island, the release said. The Big Island's next capital improvement will be the installation of a new water tank for pastoral lessees in Ka'ū, with groundbreaking expected to take place this summer.