Complaints about a party on Hiram Silva’s property in 2021 led a city inspector to pay a visit to his home on Oahu’s Westside. Silva let the inspector know he had a gun in his car.  

“It was not a friendly meeting,” said Dawn Apuna, director of the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting. 

Nonetheless, the inspector issued a notice of violation for a large, tent-like structure that didn’t have a permit – and left.

But neither the visit nor the violation seemed to curtail operations at the so-called Silva Dome. Parties continued for the next three years until Aug. 31, when Silva shot five people at a neighbor’s home on Waianae Valley Road, killing three of them, before being fatally shot himself by the neighbor. 

The planning department has little power to compel landowners to comply, or even to allow inspectors onto their properties to investigate complaints, city officials say. And to cite an owner for an illegal party, an inspector has to witness it. 

The department also prioritizes cracking down on violators that draw more consistent community complaints, such as illegal short-term rentals. Although community members say they were concerned about some of the events at the Silva Dome, the department says it only received the one complaint – the one about the party in 2021. 

A handful of other illegal party venues exist on agricultural land between Waianae and Nanakuli, according to local leaders, and one other has been cited by the planning department for hosting large events. But many community members see the value such venues bring to a community without many options for places to gather and celebrate.  

“That’s why we have to come to some type of agreement,” said Philip Ganaban, chair of the Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board. “First birthdays, graduations, celebrations of life. We don’t have spaces anymore to be able to do these. We have to acknowledge the cultural practice of being able to gather and celebrate specific things, as we’ve always done in the islands.”

The City’s Role

After the shooting on Aug. 31, some community members – who have long felt their concerns on the Westside neglected by city and state officials – blamed city planning for not taking more action against the Silva Dome.

Silva drove a frontloader into his neighbor’s home at around 11:15 p.m. on Aug. 31 before opening fire on bystanders and shooting into 55-gallon drums of fuel he was carrying on the machine. One of the home’s residents, Rishard Keamo-Carnate, then fatally shot him. Prosecutors on Wednesday decided not to pursue charges against Keamo-Carnate, citing self defense and defense of others.

Ganaban said about 200 people had attended a party at the dome that night. Although they were supposed to leave the property by 10 p.m., some were racing and burning rubber on the narrow, dead-end street. Members of the Keamo-Carnate family confronted partygoers, which Ganaban said angered Silva.

“All of this could have been prevented if that tent would have been taken down,” Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board member Johnnie-Mae Perry said during a community meeting on Sept. 3. 

But city officials say the planning department is not an enforcement agency, and there isn’t much they can do beyond issuing violations and fines.

The agency issued an illegal grading violation against the property in August 2013, which today still carries outstanding fines of more than $587,250. In January 2015, it placed a lien on the property. On March 29, 2021, the inspector issued the violation for the tent structure.

Apuna said the inspector didn’t call police after Silva showed him the gun in his car because Silva didn’t actually pick it up and threaten him with it. Inspectors are used to dealing with property owners who aren’t happy to see them, she said, but they’re not supposed to confront potentially dangerous people.

Inspectors “don’t have weapons, they’re not trained to deal with that kind of situation other than to just leave for their own safety,” she said.

Inspector notes from Sept. 24, 2021, provided to Civil Beat show that the inspector had driven by the property eight times since the original complaint in March, but the property was always padlocked and the owner wouldn’t respond.

“I am going to leave 1 more door tag,” the inspector wrote. “I am still receiving calls about the large tent still erected.”

Apuna said she did not know the date of the inspector’s last visit.

Silva’s wife, Sandra Silva – who is also listed as an owner of the property – declined to comment when reached by phone. Silva’s daughter did not respond to a Facebook message. 

Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman Michelle Yu wrote in an email that before the shooting in August, police had only responded to the property twice — once in 2021 during the rowdy party and again in 2023 for a dispute between neighbors.

The next course of action available to officials would have been foreclosure, Apuna said, but the city only goes that route in extreme cases.

Mayor Rick Blangiardi said the foreclosure process requires extensive city resources and often doesn’t result in the desired outcome. Banks are often first in line to get paid after a foreclosure. He added that the city prefers to try to get property owners to comply instead of kicking them out of their homes. 

The city has supported legislation for the past three years that would allow it to do nonjudicial foreclosures, which happen through an administrative process outside of court. The latest measure, House Bill 106, was carried over to the 2024 session and never received a hearing. 

The planning department has also hired a collection agency, Aargon Agency, to help it collect outstanding fines from violators, but the focus is illegal short-term rentals, which can rack up fines of $10,000 per day. 

Blangiardi said the city is making it a priority to crack down on short-term rentals owned by companies outside of Hawaii. The illegal rentals drive up rent prices and take homes off the market that could be long-term apartments for local families, he said.

For some Westside residents, though, the fact that the Silva Dome was allowed to remain standing is another example of the city neglecting their community.

“As far as the city saying, ‘We’re doing everything that we can,’ I find it very, very hard to believe,” said Samantha DeCorte, chair of the Nanakuli-Maili Neighborhood Board. “Because if that were the case, then everybody else would be dealing with the same issues that Waianae is dealing with with the lack of resources we need here.

“Only Waianae looks like Waianae,” she said. “You don’t go to Kailua and it looks like Waianae.”

Party Venues On The Westside

Silva’s property isn’t the only venue in the area that drew the attention of neighbors and the city.

One popular space known as the Westside Mauka Pavilion at the intersection of Paakea Road and Lualualei Naval Road has a lien against it from 2014 and has accrued $411,250 in fines. The planning department has issued five notices of violations, including one in 2015 for hosting parties and events on agricultural land.

The last complaint received about the property was in 2018, according to the planning department. 

Westside Mauka Pavilion did not respond to a call and Facebook message seeking comment. 

Richard Landford, a member of the Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board said the facility has been operating for decades. He has looked into renting it out himself. 

“These places serve the community, so I have mixed emotions on how to explain it,” he said. “One time, I would probably need something like that, and I would probably rent it.”

Ganaban said there are a handful of other venues in the area, most of which operate by word of mouth.

Waianae Valley Ranch, less than a mile from Silva’s property on Waianae Valley Road, advertises itself as a wedding venue. A man who answered the phone there said the venue only hosts small events and gatherings. Kapila Gardens is another wedding venue in Waianae, according to its website. No one responded to a call or email seeking comment.

According to the planning department, neither of those properties have conditional use permits or approvals to host events, but the agency has not issued any violations against them.

“DPP is complaint driven, so we will not inspect/investigate unless we have a complaint,” Apuna wrote in an email. “DPP does not have the resources to patrol every single property for compliance with all of our codes, and therefore relies heavily upon the community as the eyes and ears.”

DeCorte said she doesn’t condone the use of unpermitted event venues but understands the problem presented by a lack of available spaces where community members can gather and hold celebrations.

One of the few places to do so is at the beach parks, where those looking to host an event must apply for a permit through the Department of Parks and Recreation. The number of permits is limited, though, and spaces get reserved quickly once applications go live on the website. 

There’s a demand for the venues, and many of the property owners are kupuna, elders who use their family and friends network to rent space on their land and earn extra income, said Tiana Wilbur, a Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board Member.

“Our city and our state also doesn’t give us much in return to be able to survive in this economy,” she said.

The planning department has been able to stop illegal events on agricultural land on other parts of the island.

In 2021, inspectors cited an illegal Christmas festival at North Shore Stables in Waialua, according to Apuna. The event included food trucks, vendors and musical performances, none of which were allowed there. The event was scheduled to last a couple of days, and when inspectors returned to re-inspect, the activity had stopped and the violation was closed.

More recently, on Sept. 10, the planning department received an advertisement for an event scheduled to take place at Kia’i Farm of Waialua on Sept. 14. An inspector went to the property during the event, met with the owner and issued a violation, Apuna said.

“Had we sufficient prior notice,” she said, “this would have been the same process for the (Silva) dome had they had similar events.” 

Parties At The Silva Dome

Silva built the large tent on his 19-acre property in 2018 and started renting it out for events, Ganaban said. Recently, he said, Silva was charging around $2,500 to rent the space plus a $500 deposit.

The tent was the site of a variety of celebrations, including a baby’s first birthday party and a drive-in commencement ceremony for Waianae High School, based on social media posts, as well as a funeral for a local musician, according to his obituary in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Nanea Ching, spokeswoman for the state Department of Education, said the commencement ceremony was not a school-sanctioned event.

Waianae resident Kala-A’na Lindsey said she attended a celebration of life for Hawaiian entertainer Darren Benitez at the dome in 2023. She described it as a “nice event” with music and food and estimated there were about 1,000 people there. The hosts sold memorabilia shirts with pictures of Benitez’s face on them. 

“I didn’t see anything untoward or disrespectful that night,” she said.

But it was a concert on the night of March 21, 2021, while the state was under Covid-19 restrictions, that sparked serious concern among neighbors. Alison Keamo-Carnate, Rishard Keamo-Carnate’s wife, sent a letter to elected officials describing the mayhem and pleading with them to do something about the Silva Dome.

She said a drunken driver collided with her family’s car as they were making their way home down Waianae Valley Road. The driver then attempted to flee and hit another vehicle, causing a fight to break out. 

“How do I make sure that this NEVER happens to my family, to our home, to my community, to our people?” she wrote. “What can I do to prevent illegal activities from occurring?” 

She also went to then-Nanakuli-Maili Neighborhood Board Chair Patty Teruya, who submitted a formal complaint with the planning department on March 25, 2021. Then-state Sen. Maile Shimabukuro also forwarded Alison Keamo-Carnate’s letter to the department.

An inspector visited Silva’s property four days later and called Teruya to follow up.

“She is satisfied with outcome,” says a note written by the inspector. “No written response required.”

Teruya said she doesn’t remember receiving a phone call. She said the inspector should have sent a written response so progress could be tracked.

“We look at departments to be accountable,” she said.

Apuna said the inspector didn’t feel a written response was required, and he continued to visit the property. Apuna also encouraged community members to report problem properties and said they can do so anonymously if they fear retaliation. 

“I don’t think we failed to investigate when people told us that there was a problem,” she said, referring to the Silva property. “So we will continue to do that.”

Rishard Keamo-Carnate’s lawyer, Michael Green, said he thinks the city has some liability in the Aug. 31 shooting because officials knew about the illegal operations at the dome for years. He plans to file a lawsuit against the city and Silva’s estate within the next 30 to 40 days, he said.

“I’m not done with this,” he said. “There’s going to be a reckoning between the city and the estate of Silva.”