Homeowners in Hawaiian Paradise Park have thrown the brakes on a controversial mailbox project after construction crews uncovered a lava tube and what residents say are iwi kūpuna at the site. The move freezes work on one of four planned cluster-mailbox parks in the sprawling Puna subdivision and sets the stage for a battle over permits, money and cultural protections.
Burial discovery halts work
In July 2024, crews working at the corner of Makuʻu Drive and 16th Avenue exposed the opening of a lava tube and found human skeletal remains, prompting the homeowners association to seal the entrance and stop construction, according to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. State preservation officials and the Hawaiʻi Island Burial Council were notified, and cultural practitioners began taking part in follow-up reviews at the site.
Owners hit pause on stewardship deal
At a December 14 owners meeting, 46 of 56 members voted for a resolution that halts a stewardship agreement the board had signed with burial expert Keoni Alvarez and bars anyone from handling, removing or altering the burial site until the State Historic Preservation Division signs off and a burial treatment plan from the Hawaiʻi Island Burial Council is in place, according to Big Island Now. The resolution cancels the board’s July stewardship arrangement and requires additional state-level approvals before any work can resume.
“Keoni is not on the Hawaiʻi Island Burial Council and he does not work for the State Historic Preservation Division, so he does not have the authority to give the ‘go-ahead,’” committee chair Lanell Lua-Dillard told owners at the meeting, according to the outlet.
State archaeologist flags cave connection
Nicole Mello, a lead archaeologist with the State Historic Preservation Division, inspected the newly exposed opening with a cultural historian and an ethnographer and concluded the tube is likely part of an interconnected cave system tied to a burial cave documented by the state on Oct. 16, 2023, about 65 meters away. “Based on our inspection, there appear to be three sections of lava tube leading from the new construction area to the previously identified lava tube,” the inspection report states, as cited by Maui Now.
Board faces budget questions and permit doubts
The association’s board has repeatedly argued that relocating the mailbox park would be too expensive, saying roughly $600,000 is budgeted to build all four parks and suggesting residents who want a different location “come up with $200,000 for a new acre to clear,” according to reporting by Big Island Now. During the December meeting, treasurer Kari Hoffman told owners the State Historic Preservation Division and Hawaiʻi County had already approved permits to complete the work, but she was unable to produce the permit documents when homeowners asked to see them, the outlet reported.
Legal stakes and what comes next
The owners’ resolution prohibits anyone from handling or altering the burial area until SHPD approval and a burial treatment plan from the Hawaiʻi Island Burial Council are finalized, and it warns that disturbing the site could expose the association to civil fines of up to $10,000 per violation per day, according to Maui Now. The association maintains it still intends to install all four cluster-mailbox parks by next year. So far, only the park at Kaloli Drive and 4th Avenue is finished, and many homeowners continue to rely on P.O. boxes or help from friends and family outside the subdivision to get their mail.
The clash highlights a recurring tension in Puna between basic infrastructure upgrades and the protection of Native Hawaiian burial places. The issue is expected to return to the Hawaiʻi Island Burial Council and to county permitting officials as owners, cultural practitioners and state archaeologists work toward a burial treatment plan that complies with state law.
