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Waiehu property cleared of people and structures

Dozens of people were evicted and structures were bulldozed on 277 acres at the top of Malaihi Road in Waiehu last month, two months after trespass warning notices were served at the property.

The evictions were done beginning Feb. 16, with state sheriff’s deputies involved in enforcing a court order authorizing the evictions.

A federal court order, granted in March 2011 while the property was in bankruptcy, ordered more than a dozen people to vacate the land and remove their belongings.

In a 2nd Circuit Court case, filed in 2005 against Mahealani Ventura-Oliver and John Oliver, Judge Joseph Cardoza granted a request by property owner Waiehu Aina LLC to expunge filings with the state Bureau of Conveyances and prohibit future filings regarding the property. The filings, beginning in 2005 and continuing as recently as last year, included “warranty deeds of royal patented title” for the property, according to court records.

In a court filing, two people claimed to be “native tenants” of their ancestors’ lands.

A writ of possession for the property was filed June 26, giving Waiehu Aina six months to enforce the eviction order. Trespass warning notices were served Dec. 11 at the property, court records show, before the property owner was granted a six-month extension to enforce the order.

David Singer is listed as managing member of Waiehu Aina.

According to the state Department of Public Safety, Steve Goodenow of Goodenow Associates in Honolulu was the lead agency and was hired by the landowner to coordinate the eviction.

No incidents were reported during the evictions, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Goodenow referred questions about the evictions to Wailuku attorney Matson Kelley. He couldn’t be reached for comment.

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