The Keamo family, who lost three members in their neighbor’s violent rampage along Waianae Valley Road on Saturday night, had pleaded with state officials in 2021 to address their concerns about illegal and dangerous activity associated with the man’s nearby, unpermitted party venue business.
Hiram James Silva Sr., 59, who owned and rented out a Quonset hut known as the “Silva dome,” shot five people at the Keamo property Saturday before being fatally shot by 42-year-old Rishard Kanaka Keamo-Carnate.
Honolulu police and witnesses said Silva went on the rampage after members of the Keamo household complained about cars speeding on the small lane going to and from a large party at the Silva dome.
It was not the first time that the Keamos raised their concerns.
In a March 2021 email shared Thursday with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Alison Keamo-Carnate, wife of Rishard, expressed safety concerns and extreme frustration about the Silva dome after a vehicle crash.
The email was sent to state lawmakers, including state Rep. Cedric Gates (D, Waianae-Makaha) and outgoing state Sen. Maile Shimabukuro (D, Nanakuli-Waianae-Makaha). It described how the Keamos were involved in a car crash with a vehicle coming from Silva’s property where a party was taking place.
“The collision resulted in the driver attempting to flee, hitting another vehicle, a fight breaking out as a result of that second accident, hundreds of cars lined up revving their engines at a dead stop with no way out because of the accidents on our one-way lane,” she wrote.
The email thread revealed a back-and-forth conversation between Alison Keamo-Carnate and Shimabukuro, who then included the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting in the thread and suggested that Keamo-Carnate file a formal complaint with the DPP.
A city spokesperson told the Star-Advertiser, however, that the DPP had not received any complaints about illegal operations or activities at the dome. The only complaint on record, from March 2021, addressed the illegality of the tent structure without a permit.
On the day of the gathering at the Silva dome in March 2021, an estimated 500 attendees arrived for a party featuring a performance by rapper Swae Lee.
The event occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, when social gatherings were capped at 10 people. Gates recalled that the large gathering, where many attendees were maskless, raised serious health concerns. In addition to the car accident and fight, the event was a public health issue.
Alison Keamo-Carnate also wrote in the email, “I whole-heartedly urge the city, state, our lawmakers, whoever to do something about this. Attached or at the links below, you will find evidence of the event that was held at Hiram Silva’s Dome. … This is illegal and against COVID restrictions, against DUI laws. It endangers us. It is not right and it is shameful that people ‘above’ have turned a blind eye at least 3 or 4 or 5 times before. We do not want these events in our community, these people do not care because this is not their home, and they have no respect!”
She further indicated that the “neighbor-on-neighbor” tension already had existed during the time of the March 2021 party incident: “We attempted to make peace with our neighbors, the Silvas. We hoped to plan for a safer future, but they declined to come to our home and discuss what happened, after over 20 plus years of being neighbors.”
Community members have voiced concerns that officials have not taken adequate steps to prevent such problems.
Patty Kahanamoku-Teruya, a Nanakuli resident and former Waianae Neighborhood Board chair, noted that when the board frequently requested the DPP to inspect structures due to community concerns — though not specifically the Silva dome — the department often replied that it lacked enough inspectors to do so.
“There’s no consistent follow-up,” Kahanamoku-Teruya said.
City Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam also noted that there aren’t enough inspectors to monitor every property continuously.
As a result, investigations are based on complaints since inspectors lack the capacity to make rounds to all neighborhoods and determine which structures are legal and which are not.
Kahanamoku-Teruya criticized the DPP for failing to ensure that all structures are properly permitted and legitimate.
While unpermitted structures do not necessarily lead to aggression, violence or homicide, she said, they are linked to community safety and quality-of-life issues, such as noise and unsafe conditions.
On Wednesday city officials released a statement, saying, “We are deeply saddened by the events that happened on Waianae Valley Road on Saturday, and our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected by this horrific event. The extreme violence that occurred that evening is beyond comprehension, and the City does not believe it is appropriate to fault an organization for the criminal behavior of an individual. The Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) has only received one community complaint related to the 85-1383C Waianae Valley Road property since 2021, and the subsequent investigation of that complaint resulted in the issuance of a Notice of Violation. DPP could not have foreseen these events, and the City does not believe there is any correlation between DPP’s permitting authority and the extreme acts for which Mr. Silva is personally responsible.”
But beyond Saturday night’s tragedy, Kahanamoku-Teruya said, DPP still holds significant responsibility and accountability for addressing the broader implications of unpermitted structures and their impact on the community.
The property has raised additional concern because it is located on agricultural land, and the owners have faced numerous investigations due to official complaints related to grading, grubbing, stockpiling and operating an illegal commercial trucking business.
With at least 20 com- plaints dating back to 2001, Kahanamoku-Teruya said, the city should have taken more decisive action or conducted more thorough investigations given the volume of concerns related to the property.
“If DPP or any city enforcement had stepped in to shut it down completely, demolish it or put gates around it to prevent access, we wouldn’t be here talking about this,” she said.
A DPP spokesperson said in an email on Friday that the department received a complaint from Kahanamoku-Teruya in March 2021 pertaining to the illegal structure of the “Silva dome”, which became a Request for Investigation that was logged into its system.
“The building inspector investigated and issued a Notice of Violation for the unpermitted structure, and called Kahanamoku-Teruya who was satisfied with the outcome, and no written response was required. The inspector received a complaint from Senator Maile Shimabukuro, around the same time period, and provided the same findings to her,” the email said.
DPP reported that it was “notified by email from Shimabukuro on March 25, 2021, of the event on the Silva property and has no records in our POSSE system of her email, but ‘illegal operations’ still falls under the illegal structure complaint and the complaint likely went directly to the same inspector.
The DPP spokesperson also wrote: “Not all of these types of complaints are logged into our Posse system. Because we received the complaint after the fact, we could not cite the owner for the activity because we did not witness it. However, the inspector was in contact with the complainant and made 8 drive-bys and stopped three times to attempt inspections. The owner did not respond and did not accept the (notice of violation.) There were no additional complaints provided to DPP about upcoming or ongoing events at the ‘dome.’ For temporary, one-time events such as this, we are best able to cite a violation if we are aware of it prior to it happening so we can warn the landowner that it is illegal and can witness the event if it occurs.”
DPP Director Dawn Takeuchi-Apuna told the Star-Advertiser on Wednesday that an unpermitted structure like the Silva dome leaves the property owner with two options: either apply for a permit or tear down the structure themselves.
Takeuchi-Apuna said the department lacks the authority to step in and demolish the structure; it can only issue fines for the violation.
While the property has accumulated over $587,200 in fines related to illegal grading, she could not confirm the exact amount of fines specifically tied to the Silva dome.
Silva could have avoided violations if he had adhered to permitting rules and used the Quonset hut solely for agricultural purposes. However, the Quonset hut had no permit for either the structure or its operations, and it was often used for large gatherings such as weddings, graduation parties, concerts and even funerals.
Santos-Tam, who is the Honolulu City Council Zoning Committee vice chair, explained that while property owners on agricultural land can engage in activities related to agriculture, such as farming or building a barn, they still must obtain permits and adhere to regulations.
He noted that the Silva dome isn’t the only unpermitted structure in the state.
While the dome may be one of the larger examples, Santos-Tam said he has received community complaints about other residential areas being used for large gatherings, including events with large sound systems or as makeshift churches or religious venues.
He said that while gatherings are acceptable, issues arise when they disrupt neighbors or the community and fail to adhere to codes, such as the installation of large sound systems or stages, necessitating further investigation.
Both Richard Landford Jr., a current Waianae Neighborhood Board member, and Kahanamoku-Teruya said Waianae must be taken as seriously as other districts.
Landford said when Waianae community members voice their concerns and needs, they must be addressed and not dismissed, especially in light of recent high-profile crimes in the area.
This story has been updated to include a response Friday from a DPP spokesperson.
