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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – City officials are working to address a large homeless encampment along Keehi Stream in Kalihi that includes a floating two-story structure anchored in the middle of the waterway.

Officials with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the city’s Office of Housing and Homeless Solutions say removing the homeless people and structures will be a huge task.

The largest structure, hidden behind kiawe trees and mangroves, extends nearly halfway across the stream.

Hawaii News Now’s cameras watched residents traveling to and from it by raft and kayak.

Structure moved across stream to avoid prior sweep

State DLNR homeless coordinator Pua Aiu said the structure was first discovered on the south side of the stream in June 2024 during a state land department survey.

When the state swept that shoreline of a large encampment, the structure was relocated.

“I got there, I like, we’re ready to move this boat and like, well, it moved across the stream — to the city’s jurisdiction,” she said.

While the state owns the south side of the stream, it conveyed the north side to the city several years ago, along with property where housing for formerly homeless people was constructed on the site of another former camp.

City drone video reveals scale of encampment

Drone video shot by the city 15 months ago shows the two-story structure surrounded by numerous smaller structures, some of which have been absorbed into the surrounding vegetation and are not visible even from the nearby Kahauiki Village.

City director of homeless solutions Roy Miyahira said the footage was striking.

“It’s impressive what they’ve built — from a two-story home to use of solar panels and just able to access electricity,” Miyahira said.

Miyahira said conditions at the site are unsanitary and pose a threat to the ocean environment. He also cited safety concerns for those living there, particularly during severe weather.

“That’s obviously a concern of mine when folks have their lives put at risk and seem to be off the radar,” Miyahira said. “But now we recognize where they are, where we think we can deliver some help to them, have more of a suitable type of place to live, and away from any type of danger.”

Residents described as resistant to outreach

Miyahira said residents of the encampment have been uncooperative with outreach workers.

“They’re not so open to saying who they are, what they do for a living, how long they’ve been out there — they seem to be very reclusive, and maybe resistant to change,” he said.

Asked if ultimately, authorities may need to use force, he said, “I don’t want to go that route ever.”

He said he is asking multiple agencies to assist in finding indoor housing solutions for those living at the site.

Area has been a persistent homeless hotspot

The Keehi Stream corridor has been the site of repeated homeless encampments for more than a decade.

The largest prior displacement occurred under the Nimitz Highway viaduct in October 2017, when the majority of residents declined offers of housing and services and relocated elsewhere.

The mayor’s office said outreach to current encampment residents began last month. The goal is to have people out by the end of April.

Cleanup poses significant logistical challenges

State officials who conducted a similar cleanup along the opposite bank of the stream two summers ago said the process is labor-intensive and costly.

“It takes a huge amount of crew and a huge amount of time. It’s very costly, and also quite a bit of risk to the workers,” Aiu said. “The water’s not that clean — you don’t want to fall in the water.”

The work took three months and cost just over a million dollars as workers cut back the foliage with hand tools and dismantled the structures piece by piece.

Heavy equipment cannot be used along the shoreline due to unstable ground conditions.

“You can’t take heavy equipment on the shore side because the ground’s too soft,” she said. “One of our bulldozers sank. So we had very bad experiences with this area.”

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