Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s plan to save Haiku Stairs is accepted

The tremendously popular but illegal staircase up a Windward Oahu mountainside nicknamed the “Stairway to Heaven” has a chance to live on under city ownership.

Leaders of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply voted unanimously Monday night to accept a plan by Mayor Kirk Caldwell to acquire more than 200 acres surrounding the Haiku Stairs from BWS and have the attraction managed respon- sibly by a contractor.

But the city agency, governed by an independent board, gave city leaders a deadline — 18 months — to complete an acquisition, or else BWS will proceed with a preferred plan presented by staff to remove the stairway in Kaneohe at an estimated cost of $1 million.

The decision followed a flood of testimony from about as many people as there are stairs — close to 3,800 testifiers compared with 3,922 steps — and the overwhelming sentiment was to maintain the more than 50-year-old metal stairway.

Of the testimony, nearly all by email, a little over 3,600 people voiced support to keep the stairs.

Supporters often called the apparatus a historic treasure, comparing it to recognized wonders of the world, and many said it can be managed appropriately to mitigate a longtime problem of nearby residents being disturbed by hikers cutting through their property to access the stairs, which have had no legal access for more than 30 years.

“It would be a terrible, terrible loss,” Matthew Kievlan told the board by phone Monday during a nearly four-hour meeting during which people testified by phone and a video camera in the agency’s lobby.

Some supporters also claimed that a managed stairway could generate more revenue for the city than it would cost to operate and maintain.

Ted Peck, a 30-year Hawaii resident, suggested that the city could earn $8 million a year if it charges $50 a person and 400 people a day visit.

Several hundred or more supporters who testified were former tourists who praised the natural adventure, which reaches a peak on Puu Keahiakahoe ridge 2,820 feet above sea level with distant ocean views.

“Please reconsider tearing down the stairs,” wrote Michael O’Brien, who visited from Ireland last year and said the hike was incredible. “It was the best experience I have had in my life. As we climbed to the top the sun broke through the clouds, which felt like we were literally in heaven it was a truly life changing event.”

About 180 people urged the agency to remove the stairs. They included many residents who live close to the base of the hike and for decades have had to deal with trespassers crossing their property and sometimes causing trouble.

“I implore you folks to follow through with your plan and remove it,” said Allen Walterman, who lives near the base of the stairs.

Some area residents said they believe that hikers will keep trespassing to avoid fees or go during off-hours because the hike is such a strong draw.

At least a couple of people contended that hikers would still hike up to the ridge even if the stairs were removed because of how popular the trek is.

The staircase dates back to the 1950s when the Navy replaced a wooden ladder installed during World War II to access radio transmission equipment on the ridge.

The U.S. Coast Guard took over in 1975 and allowed public use of the stairs under a system that required visitors to log in and sign a liability waiver.

Legal access was terminated in 1987 after vandals destroyed portions of the staircase.

In 1997 the Coast Guard prepared to remove the stairs after decommissioning a navigation station in Haiku Valley, but city and state officials expressed interest to take over the stairs as a public resource.

The city in 2002 spent $875,000 refurbishing the staircase in anticipation of acquiring the property around the stairs from BWS, which didn’t need the property for future water source development.

That acquisition, however, was derailed largely over challenges to create a legal public thoroughfare to the bottom of the stairs.

Still, people keep hiking the staircase despite BWS efforts to keep people away by spending about $250,000 a year on private security. Since 2017 about 10,800 people have been turned away, the agency said.

The agency has long claimed that its mission and use of ratepayer revenue is to provide a safe, dependable and affordable supply of water. It also has cited liability as a prime reason for removing the stairway.

BWS spent close to three years working on an environmental study that assessed options for the stairs, and last year determined its preferred option was to remove them.

Caldwell has previously expressed interest in having the city Department of Parks and Recreation take over the stairs and then lease them to a third-party vendor who would make repairs and improvements and then charge the public, or at least nonkamaaina, to visit.

The mayor restated his intent in an April 14 letter to BWS.

“I believe Haiku Stairs is an important and unique asset on Oahu, and that the stairs should be preserved as long as they can be renovated for safety, and that public access issues are addressed and resolved,” he wrote.

The city earlier this year solicited proposals for ways to have the facility managed and operated as a third-party concession and received 14 submittals, the mayor said. Based on that show of interest, the city is ready to start the process of requesting bids for a private partner, he said. “We will then select a qualified organization willing and able to restore, operate and maintain the Stairs for a fixed period of time.”