59-723 Kawoa Way Haleiwa HI 96712

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Property History from MLS

Tax Info including a Plat Map PDF and GIS Parcel Map

Department of Planning & Permitting General Information

Department of Planning & Permitting All Permits

Dept. of Emergency Management Public Safety Info

Tax Records and Property History in this Neighborhood

Tax Records and Property History on this Street

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How long have you lived in the Pupukea neighborhood?

I've lived in Pupukea on the North Shore for about 28 years.

What factors influenced your decision to move to the Pupukea neighborhood?

I like the roominess. There are acre and larger parcels throughout Pupukea, so you have more room between you and your neighbors. It's got a little more of that country feel, which was what we were looking for when we moved out here.

I guess it's been a long time, but how did it compare to where you lived before?

One area on this end on the North Shore was down on the beach, which is like comparing apples and oranges. The beach has a whole different feel. People who love living on the beach love it, and they would never live in Pupukea. I prefer Pupukea more for the privacy and the roominess. When you're down on the beach, you're exposed to more. You've got more people. You've got people walking through your yard and the beach. You'd have lack of privacy down at the beach.

So you were right on the beach. You would have people out and back then on the beach, that type of thing?

Yeah. I was on a property with two houses that were on the beach. It was an oceanfront parcel. But it was a dead end road, we had divers coming down there. There were just always people walking and coming through. They'd come and use your hose. You're just more open. I guess you can have an oceanfront with a rock wall around it and you wouldn't have that issue, but where I was living that's how it was. It didn't feel as secure. It didn't feel as private as Pupukea.

What about traffic in the neighborhood, or getting to stores, getting to downtown, that type of thing?

In the last ten years and each year, it gets progressively worse. I go and see my horses in the morning, afternoon, or evening. It usually just takes me about 8 minutes to drive there because of the tourist attractions--Turtle Beach or the big surf. Sometimes the longest it has taken me is almost an hour to go a 7-minute drive because of the big surf or the turtles. So going to Pali, like right now, the surf was big and beautiful, so everybody slows down a little to look at the surf. It wasn't too bad. I'd say it added on about 5-10 minutes. When I come home this afternoon, it's going to be a lot worse because there will be a lot more people in the North Shore.

Right, and it's Friday too.

Yeah. So that's a big negative for the North Shore--it's the fact of the traffic. We have a two-lane road, and that's it. A lot of people have moved away because of it. Unfortunately, they keep building more homes and they don't take any consideration the infrastructure that we're not built to have more homes with more people.

Overall, my feeling on living there because I've been there for so long, it has changed. A lot of us that have been there for a long time all feel that it's not as appealing to us, but it is appealing--we're getting a lot of money coming in. I've seen, in the last 10 years, a lot of people coming in with money. It's like all the little oceanside shacks are now two-storey little mansions, fortresses, and there's a lot of that. So it's changed from its old country style place. I should probably say that, but I don't want to be discouraging to people.

For new people coming in, it's a beautiful, wonderful place. The North Shore is really different. But like I said, the people who have come in the last 10 years with money, getting in their fancy houses and everything--they love it. It's the country. It's away from town. So us old timers all kind of feel the same thing--it's the traffic. It's kind of interesting.

Let's talk about the traffic a little bit more. What about getting to the grocery stores or local stores? Is that a problem or is that easy?

No, that's really easy. The very bottom of Pupukea hill is a Foodland grocery store. So that's where majority of people do their shopping. Anything off the North Shore, like Costco, that type of thing--depending on the time of day, there's no traffic. Other times of the day, the surf is big. Our traffic does not have a rush hour--there's no time wherein it's going to be bad. It depends on holidays and the surf. There are certain times of the day when it's worse than others.

Okay, so getting to the grocery store is never an issue because you just come down the one road which doesn't have traffic. But getting to Costco or some other stores like that, it could be dependent on the waves or that type of thing.

Yeah, you can almost say that the traffic can vary from hour to hour.

What about crime in your neighborhood? Is that a concern?

I leave my keys in my car in my driveway, both cars. I've done this for 30 years of living in Pupukea. I have one door that's locked, and one that's not. I feel pretty safe. I have an acre that's fenced in. Everybody in the neighborhood kind of has the same thing, and they all have dogs. So if somebody's in their neighborhood messing around, the dogs go off. They are our alarm system. I have not been ripped off. So for me, in my neighborhood, it's not bad. There have been reports of rip offs in our area in Pupukea, and it's usually during the daytime hours, when somebody's watching the house, and they figure out somebody's routine. That's been our worst crime.

Down on the beach side of the North Shore, it's totally different. There's a lot more rip offs. Cars parked anywhere along the beach can get broken into. It's a little different down there. But for Pupukea itself, it's pretty safe.

What about the schools in the area?

Pupukea is actually kind of unique. You've got the Sunset Beach Elementary School. You've got the Christian School too. So those are both pretty good schools. What's unique about the high schools for Pupukea is they are able to go to either Waialua High School or Kahuku High School. They actually have two different buses that come through, and one picks up the kids going to Waialua and there's a bus that goes to Kahuku. I have no idea why, but that's the way it's been setup forever. They can always get a geographic extension to go to a school when you're not, but Pupukea seems to be right in the middle of the two for some reason.

And you said that there's a Christian private school there?

Yeah, we've got this Sunset Beach Christian School that goes up to eighth grade. And then they have St. Michael's, which is a Catholic School that's over in Waialua. That goes to eighth grade too. So those are the two private schools in the area.

What's the noise level like? Any excessive noise from traffic, planes, neighbors, that type of thing?

There are dogs barking occasionally and probably our biggest problem is roosters.

So roosters in the morning then. Or all day?

No, when there's a full moon, the roosters can go off in the middle of the night. I think it's because they think it's daytime.

They think the sun's coming out or something. They get confused.

Yeah. So it's pretty quiet. The roosters are our biggest problem. It's country. We don't have any airplane traffic.

There's no street traffic unless I guess you're down right on the beach or right next to the road there?

Well Pupukea Road, my road, you can get cars going by occasionally, but it's not anything to really complain about. And my house is still close to the road, because it's an old house. Now the style is to build off the road, so you wouldn't get any traffic. So I'm not really disturbed, I just hear cars and trucks going by.

So have you gotten used to the roosters then?

Oh yeah. When I first moved in, my next door neighbor raised fighting cocks. So they had about 200 roosters. And people would come visit me and they wouldn't be able to sleep at all. And I go, "It's like because you live next to a freeway, it becomes background for me."

So you get used to it then?

Yeah. When you have just one rooster, it's worse. There are some loose roosters in the area, and they come to my yard sometimes. And they're right outside my bedroom window and they decide to crow at 5:00 in the morning, so yeah, that can disturb you. But it doesn't bother me.

What are the things you like best about your neighborhood?

The quiet. It's just more of a country feel. Everything is an acre and larger, so you can't reach out and touch your neighbors. Sometimes you don't see neighbors for a long time because you've got more space. It's more spread out. It's more private. So I guess that's what I like about it.

Is there anything that you would like to change about your neighborhood? Probably the traffic I guess is one thing. You probably wouldn't mind less traffic.

Well, when you say my neighborhood, I'm thinking of just Pupukea. But the North Shore overall, yeah, the traffic. That's the biggest complaint everybody has. In some areas, you got some homeless people and drug use, stuff like that, and they go plant themselves at the beach park.

And the neighbors? It sounds like the neighbors are pretty friendly then?

Yeah. I got neighbors that have been there for 22 years. I don't see them that often.

What about favorite restaurants? Any restaurants nearby that you'd like to eat in?

Haleiwa Joe's in Haleiwa. Lei Lei's is up at Turtle Bay at the resort there with the golf course. What's good about that time of day--at dinner time--is there's no traffic. You can never have traffic at that time. It's always during the day.

Because it's late at night, people aren't looking at the waves or that type of thing, so there's no traffic.

Yeah, if you're going out to dinner. So those are the two nicest restaurants, I would say. Amazingly, we have some wagons that offer some really good dinners. We have a lot of them at the North Shore. Impossibles Pizza, it's a big one. We've got a good one in there. And there's a couple others open for dinner that are pretty good, too.

What about your favorite places to shop? I know you got a grocery store, the Foodland, but is there any other place to shop there, or do you have to go to Mililani or something?

It depends on what you're looking for. I do a lot of online because I go through different things. I'm not a real shopper. Most of the stuff is horse-related, because that's my lifestyle--I have horses and everything. There's not much to shop on the North Shore, so I go online to do a lot of that.

Haleiwa has a wide, wide assortment of shops. So there's clothing, art galleries, and lots of really good artists and photographers are in there. The Wyland, the Tabora, Clark Little the surf photographer--they all have places there. They have a Long's Drugs in Haleiwa--that's the new addition this past year. So there is a lot in Haleiwa. With Long's opening in Haleiwa, I don't go to Walmart as much. It's so convenient--instead of buying that item at the grocery store where it will be a lot more expensive, I just run to Haleiwa and go to Long's. That's definitely a big convenience.

What about events in your neighborhood or nearby that you might take part in? Are there any parades, neighborhood parties, or meetings, those kinds of things?

The North Shore overall is mostly known for the Triple Crown of Surfing. It's in the months of November to December. I don't participate, but it brings a big crowd to the North Shore, which is of course not what I like, but that's probably the biggest event.

Being into the horses, there are a lot of horse events. We have High School Rodeo at our ranch this weekend. I do my Extreme Cowboy Race a few times a year.

They have a pretty Christmas parade down in Haleiwa, which has gotten bigger and bigger. It's pretty nice. We ride our horses in it. We got a group of us that go and participate.

There are mostly tourist type of attractions, like Waimea Valley, the Polynesian Cultural Center, things like that, that are more geared towards tourists.

The Farmer's Market is a big deal. They lost the spot, the city took the spot away from them, so now they're having it up in Waimea Valley. But we have a lot, because it's country, even people on their acres up in Pupukea are doing enough farming to have a good farmer's market and that has a lot of local farmers. So that's a good thing right there.

Would you recommend buying a house in your neighborhood?

Yeah, definitely. I like the lifestyle, but it's not for everybody. If you want a little bit to get away, get that country feeling, Pupukea is very good. If you're a surfer, if surf is important to you, if you're an ocean person, then the North Shore overall is attractive, definitely.

What type of people are living up there? Are they surfers, ocean people, horse people, or farmers?

Horse people is small. And the farmers is probably small. The surfers is a big thing in the North Shore, but they've got other sports, too. They've got the paddle. They've got the fishermen out there--they just got a harbor in Haleiwa. You got a real mix out there, because even our horse community is small.

Probably the biggest community is the surfing community, which involves not just surfing, but also boogie boarding, paddle boarding. They even have the outrigger paddling. They have tournaments there every year too in the summer time. In the summer time, it becomes a diving spot. Some of the best diving on the island is on the North Shore in the summer months. It changes.

And what do these people do? Do they usually work locally? Or do most of them work in town? Surfing might be their hobby, but for probably majority of people, it's not their profession.

That's probably very split. I'm sure there's people who self-employ live in the North Shore. There's definitely a certain amount of people who do that. There's a percentage of people that commute, like myself.

Probably what has changed in the last 10 years would be money coming in--people who are probably semi-retired or retired even if they're younger, or independently have enough money to not have to go to a job. There's got to be a lot of that. I just look at my neighbors and around me. They get pretty creative and create their own businesses, whether it's farming or whatever.

Local businesses, or even businesses where they can work from home, that type of thing?

Yes. I don't think there's a big amount of people who commute, but there is definitely a few.

What is the commute like? You go into Waikiki and what does it take you?

It takes me an hour, but I miss the traffic. If I had to sit in traffic, it could easily be an extra hour, making it an hour and 45 minutes if I had to come in and the traffic's on.

So if you can miss the traffic coming into town, you can do it in an hour. And same thing going out, as long as you miss the traffic?

Yeah. Pupukea's a neat place. It's unique, because the other thing too is that it's zone country. There's not too many country zone properties on the island. It's either ag (agricultural) or residential.

So everybody has a lot more space then, in other words?

This is a little history--it used to be ag land in Pupukea. If you've got an acre of land--some of them are steep cliffs and they have maybe 10,000 square feet of usable land--they can't grow on it. So what they had to do to get around the ag price, which is way higher than the residential price for paying property taxes, is to dedicate their land to ag use.

So I had a section at the back of my acre that we were trying to grow papayas. For ag taxes, I think it's $10 something per $1000 of value. For residential, it's like $3 something per $1000 of value. This is a lesson on ag, residential, and country. What they did with us, they put the property taxes way high for ag. But for some others, it's not. If you go look at big parcels, some of them pay nothing. Somehow they got around it with the tax office with some kind of long-term dedication or something. So when you get it dedicated, it goes down to practically nothing, because you're using it for ag use--you dedicate that section.

What they did in Pupukea is they set us up, and they gave us like 10,000 square feet residential rate and then the rest is agri. We got two tax bills every year, so somebody in our council came up with "country zone". When you say "country", that's what it is. It's basically smaller than a neighborhood at certain areas. Pupukea is one of the few on the island. There are some acre parcels on the North Shore that aren't on Pupukea that have country zone. I don't know how you get your property switched to country zone, but it's not farmable. Bottom line is, it's not farmable.

So it gets you a cheaper tax rate?

We're on the same as residential. They've gotten real strict now because there's a whole controversy in the last couple years about the gentleman farmers getting some ag land. For those people, they pay a high tax rate unless they dedicate some of the land. And what they did is they took off horses. For those people who had boarding facilities, their property taxes are going to kill them. They're going to have to shut down, but they did get that changed back now. I guess because they were saying that horses are not a marketable item--it needs to be something like cattle, goat, chickens, or something like that, where you can make money on it. But you can make money off the horses grazing in your pasture, if you got somebody paying you. Like our facility, she's got 75-80 horses on their ranch on the average, and we pay almost 300 a horse or some more per month. So she paid the GE on that.

So they did get it switched back--I don't know whether it is exactly now--but we're not affected anymore. So if you have a five-acre parcel, like my friend has a five-acre parcel, not only do they have to dedicate it, but they have to show GE income from selling the products. So they have coffee trees, different kinds of fruit trees, and they have goats now. They only have a couple of horses that they'll board there, but the horse thing kind of got them so they went into other things like goats. They have to use that land for ag use to get the lower property tax.

So they actually have to sell stuff, show revenue, and pay GE tax in order to get the lower property tax?

Yeah. So that's ag land. It's a lesson. It's kind of crazy, but back when I dedicated my land, they didn't do that. You just had to get a GE number, but they weren't policing it at all.

So now they've been a lot more strict then?

Yes, because of what they're calling "gentleman farmers". They're just putting horses on it, not making any money, and getting the low tax. So there were a lot of complaints about that. So that's why they would pick the horses out. But truly, if they got somebody paying money for their horses, it's like cattle. So it's pretty interesting. It's definitely changing, and part of that is because they're taking a lot of this usable land.

When you're driving up through certain areas, a lot of ag land is up for sale--pineapple fields, sugarcane. People have got to beware when they go to buy something like that because this is what's going to happen. They're not going to get country zone because they're going to pay the higher ag rate on their property.

Unless they can dedicate some of it to farming then, and show income?

Yeah.

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