A cultural and education group that has been farming taro in Waiahole Valley for more than 10 years could face eviction after a state board's refusal yesterday to grant it a permit.

"I don't see any choice but to enforce a cease-and-desist order and pursue eviction," said Dan Davidson, executive director of the Hawai'i Housing Finance and Development Corp., after its board of directors voted 3-2 against allowing the group, Kalopa'a, to continue operations in the valley.

The housing corporation's staff, which oversees agricultural leases in the Windward valley, had recommended the board select Kalopa'a as the designated operator to maintain and cultivate taro on a portion of the area designated for open space.

However, the board overrode the recommendation after hearing heated testimony from members of the Waiahole-Waikane Community Association, which represents 77 of 91 lessees in the valley. The group contends Kalopa'a has been operating illegally in the valley for more than a decade.

"Giving them permission to stay now would be rewarding people who broke the law," said association member Robert Cappella.

The housing corporation last year sought proposals for development for the 2.5-acre lo'i, hoping that the process would bring an end to the long-simmering dispute in the valley that was at the heart of one of Hawai'i's biggest anti-development fights in the 1970s.

Instead, yesterday's vote leaves a status-quo situation that can't be tolerated, officials said.

Kalopa'a began farming the abandoned lo'i in 1996 before it was designated for open space and has tried to work with the state to gain a permit to operate there ever since, said Clarence Hoe, a Waiahole Valley lessee who works with Kalopa'a educational programs, which teaches Hawaiian values through taro farming.

"We were never illegal and we will continue to take care of the land," Hoe said. "We're going to stay there."

The Waiahole-Waikane Community Association also submitted a proposal to take over operations of the disputed lo'i, but the housing corporation's staff had rated the Kalopa'a proposal slightly higher in a numerical evaluation process.

"We tried to work within the system, but it seems like they just wanted to legitimize the people who were already on the land," said association president Richard Garcia, who promised to unleash an unprecedented legal, political and community fight to evict Kalopa'a if it was granted permission to continue operating in the area.

Both sides doubted there was room for compromise. A previous mediation effort funded by the housing corporation failed.

Given that, the board would have to decide what step it wants to take next to resolve the dispute.

"A previous cease-and-desist order for Kalopa'a remains in effect, and if there's no other directive from the board, we'll have to enforce it," Davidson said.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.