A corner of old Hawai'i sandwiched between highways in West O'ahu will be converted into a park-and-ride lot based on the city's current plan for its new commuter rail line.

Located near the intersection of Kamehameha and Farrington highways, the tiny Banana Patch neighborhood is a rural oasis that so far has withstood encroaching urban development.

Families still live without county water, street lights or sidewalks in the 20-acre triangle between Leeward Community College, the Pearl Highlands Center and two 43-story high-rises. The Banana Patch encompasses about a dozen homes, a church and a trucking company.

At least six of the families may need to move to make way for a park-and-ride facility planned by the city as part of its $3.7 billion commuter rail system.

The proposed Pearl Highlands park-and-ride has been identified as a key way to funnel North Shore and Central O'ahu commuters onto the rail system. Commuters along the H-2 Freeway could drive to the lot, park and take the train to work, avoiding the congested H-1 Freeway.

Sixty-one-year-old property owner Sam Alipio has lived on a 1-acre lot in the Banana Patch his entire life. He calls it "the place that time forgot" and is not too pleased about being moved out.

"I'm kind of upset. I don't want them to use my property," Alipio said. "We're comfortable here. A lot of people say, 'Hey how can you live there?' Well, that's the way I was brought up."

Mayor Mufi Hannemann wants to begin construction on the rail project late next year. Under current plans, the first phase linking East Kapolei to Leeward Community College would open in 2012 and the full-20-mile route to Ala Moana would open in 2018.

'NO ONE CALLED US'

The city has identified 189 properties that may need to be acquired in whole or part to make way for the train, according to preliminary plans. Those plans won't be finalized until 2010.

The Pearl Highlands park-and-ride facility has been depicted on a variety of planning documents released by the city dating back to as early as 2006 and as recently as last week at a workshop for contractors. However, several families living in the Banana Patch along with other non-resident property owners said they haven't been notified of the city's plans.

They suspected something was up several months ago when surveyors showed up and started taking measurements, said Banana Patch resident Tiare Alipio, Sam Alipio's daughter-in-law who lives in one of the six homes on the family property.

"We see all the surveyors coming around and we're like, 'What's going on?' " she said. "We haven't heard anything yet.

"No one called us yet to let us know anything," Tiare Alipio said.

Landowners who may be affected by the transit project have not yet been notified directly by the city but will be notified before the release of a draft environmental impact statement later this summer, according to the city.

"The public has been given general notification during the past two years about the preliminary alignment, preliminary park and ride and preliminary station locations," said Toru Hamayasu, chief of the city's transportation planning division in an e-mail to the Advertiser. "No specific notification of property owners will be made until the evaluation identifying potential properties impacted is complete later this year.

"Initial contacts with property owners will be made once there is more precise information available about potential property impacts," Hamayasu said.

'UP TO YOU TO FIND OUT'

While the city has held numerous information briefings on the rail project, it should do more to notify property owners that they may be affected, said City Council member Gary Okino, who represents Pearl City, including the Banana Patch neighborhood.

"I think the city feels that's enough notice. If you live in the vicinity, it's up to you to find out if your property is affected," Okino said. "To me they should be proactive, and they should notify the property owners."

Under current plans, 89 commercial locations, 87 government or utility-owned properties and 13 residential properties could be acquired whole or in part as the rail is built. That's a relatively small number, when compared with the thousands of properties located near the project, Okino said.

"That's the beauty of doing this overhead fixed guideway system — you don't take traffic lanes and you don't have to take too much private property," he said.

Not all Banana Patch property owners are leery of the city's plans. Ken Suenaga, who owns a landlocked, 7,800-square-foot property makai of the Alipios, said he'd be happy to sell.

"I couldn't build anything on it, so if they're going to pay me some money, I'll be glad to let it go," he said. "I could use the money."

Suenaga along with another nearby property owner both said they were unaware of plans to possibly build a parking lot at the Banana Patch.

"They never approached us and nobody said anything," said Karen Lee, co-owner of Richard Lee Trucking, which owns about 10 acres in the Banana Patch.

DETAILS STILL IN WORKS

City officials have discussed plans for a 1,500-parking stall Pearl Highlands park-and-ride facility at several Pearl City neighborhood board meetings. Board member Albert Fukushima said he was aware that some Banana Patch residents mauka of the Waiawa Stream could be displaced by the project. However, the city has yet to discuss many details about the facility, including its cost and the impact on area traffic patterns.

"It's still conceptual; we know basically where it's going to be," Fukushima said.

The city has said the transit system property acquisition process won't start until the fall of 2009 at the earliest. Because mass transit serves a public purpose, there's little likelihood that property owners can prevent the city from acquiring property needed to build the commuter rail.

The city currently is budgeting $70 million for transit-related right-of-way acquisition. That equates to an average of $370,370 per property, based on the total 189 properties that may need to be acquired.

The Alipio's property currently is valued at $324,200, according to city property tax records. Family members said they're worried the property's current value isn't enough to purchase a comparable 1-acre lot with six homes.

"That's not much," said Tiare Alipio. "You can't even buy a home — not in Hawai'i."