Honolulu will change dramatically in the coming decades in any event, but particularly with the advent of the rail system. New neighborhoods are expected, or at least hoped for, along the transit corridor, partially fulfilling the island’s critical need for housing.
But with housing come families and children, and their schooling must be part of the blueprints.
So the state Department of Education is following the logical instinct to start thinking ahead about
how those new schools are to
be financed.
Under DOE’s proposal, a school impact fee district would be established along a 4-mile stretch of the rail line, from Kalihi through downtown and Kakaako to Ala Moana. A fee of about $9,000 would be assessed per residential unit built within the zone; the developer or the buyers would be on the hook to pay it.
This thinking aligns with impact fees assessed to developers of more conventional subdivisions in lieu of actual construction of school campuses needed in those new communities. A 2007 law authorized the department to collect the fees from developers of high-growth areas of the state.
Those fee districts are already in place: in West Hawaii, Central Maui, West Maui and Leeward Oahu. There is no doubt that the rail alignment is envisioned as another high-growth area. The difference is that these neighborhoods will have a more vertical than horizontal layout, and it’s still unknown who the builders will be.
Public hearings on this proposal were held last week, and comments can be submitted to the DOE (information on the project is available online at bit.ly/ImpactDistricts, or by calling 784-5080). It will be considered at the Board of Education’s Nov. 15 meeting.
The devil is in the details, of course, and those details will not be hammered out for some time. That is why the public needs to weigh in with concerns — and there are bound to be a few.
One is that the fee could add to the disincentives for housing construction within the transit-oriented development (TOD) districts the city established along the 20-mile rail route. The TOD ordinances authorize incentives for developers in exchange for providing affordable units along with any market-priced projects they build.
That means of leveraging private investment for public purposes has been seen as one of the primary assets of the rail project. Compounding the burden on builders could prove to be a deterrent against residential development, which Honolulu desperately needs.
This city needs “workforce” units but also rentals at rates affordable to lower-income individuals and families. The homelessness crisis now so visible across the island, as well as the high cost of housing overall, stand as testament to this unmet demand.
But there ought to be a way to strike a balance that addresses both the housing and anticipated classroom shortages. The Board of Education will need to consider the amount of the fee, for a start. The department will have to make a case for one that is much higher than what was set in other school impact districts. In Leeward Oahu, for example, the fee amounts are set at $4,334 per unit for multi-family units and $5,504 for single-family units.
But, there are also factors softening the disincentive effect. The rail impact zone would only extend along the urban core, where property values are higher and can sustain the additional fee.
Fortunately, there are already trailblazers working on this issue. The long-stalled 690 Pohukaina project in Kakaako was recast and now includes plans for a “vertical” elementary school as part of the project. Alaka‘i Development LLC, now developing the revised project, has touted the inclusion of a school as a selling point that should appeal to its future residents.
Developers of other projects envisioned along the rail line should acknowledge that as well: A school completes the live-work-play facets of the new neighborhood they are building and enhances its attractiveness and value.
Both the state and city have skin in this game. Rail is a city project, while the state runs the schools. But the city enjoys relatively low property tax rates largely because the schools are paid for through state taxes. Schools are essential to any civic society, and leaders must be forward-thinking enough to make a financial plan.
“If we miss this opportunity and find down the road that we need it, we will regret it,” said Ken Masden, head of planning for DOE school development.
He is right. This is a chance to realize a shared vision for the future. If it’s executed carefully, there need be no regrets.
