149 gathered details and enshrined them in a new type of building code, protecting Kaumakani’s roots from cultural erosion. Island Camps Sugar is no longer a viable industry on Kauai, but several of the plantation camps it generated still survive as contemporary housing. As the County of Kauai’s Planning Department noted in its 2018 general plan—which received the American Planning Association’s most prestigious award—the camps occupy a unique place in the island’s history and culture. Their location, surrounded by sugar cane fields, “created a greenbelt that differentiated towns from agricultural and natural areas,” the report noted. “This relationship between built areas and surrounding natural or agricultural lands heavily influences [the island’s] character [and] rural identity.” The pedestrian-oriented scale of the camps fostered walkable communities, even with the rise of the automobile. That communal feel remains today. However, the camps’ relative isolation and paucity of services—Kaumakani has a single, small retail area—make residents largely car dependent. The general plan includes a commitment to “revitalize, restore, and celebrate these characterful towns that promote healthy economies and community life.” Kaumakani appears in the plan as one of five priority equity areas, considering its makeup of largely low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Planners had to navigate the tension between preservation and adaptation. Past and Present Most of Kaumakani’s modest homes—relatively low-cost rentals— were built in the 1940s, before the sugar plantation changed ownership. In 2022, Kaumakani’s current owners expressed an interest in demolishing and replacing some of the unoccupied homes that had fallen into disrepair. The owners also wanted to build new structures on the camp’s mostly vacant fourth quadrant. Planners had to look closely to determine what the landowners would be allowed to do—and to detail how they would be allowed to do it. “The thing that’s so unique about this area, and which required a different approach, is that it’s just one big property with no lot lines, built before there were any complex zoning ordinances,” said Alan Clinton, an administrative planner for the county. The planning department would have to start from scratch, formulating a code that would articulate what makes Kaumakani Kaumakani. County planners walked the streets, observing the form and layout of the neighborhood. They carried mobile devices loaded with QuickCapture to gather relevant details and Smart Planning Planners looked at the character of infill development with medium-density residential building types for limited retail and service uses.
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