The state of the city is … it’s sinking into the ocean. That’s an oversimplification, though not exactly a misstatement, considering the effects of climate change already in evidence.
The rising levels of the blue Pacific are lapping on the Oahu coastline, wearing some of it away, flooding highways in storms that, like those around the globe, are becoming more frequent and intense.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell saw the growing consensus around climate and, with the completion of the city’s “resilience strategy” at hand, decided to present the annual policy forecast for Honolulu as viewed through that lens.
Caldwell gave his State of the City address Thursday at the Ho‘okupu Center at Kewalo Basin — a waterfront venue itself sitting on the brink of rising sea levels. The talk traditionally covers the high points of city administration policy plans, from taxation to infrastructure rather than being built around a unified theme.
However this address was based on a blueprint titled “Ola: O‘ahu Resilience Strategy,” a 160-page planning document that somehow envelops virtually everything from the conventional municipal to-do list among its goals and action items.
Making Oahu resilient, according to the mayor and his core team, means warding off its serious and sundry problems that have the effect of driving people away from the state. This means Honolulu becomes “hollowed out,” said Josh Stanbro, its community bonds broken because many of its most devoted citizens have left.
Stanbro heads the Honolulu Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, a new agency that to date has focused primarily on outreach to the community and preparation of the strategy.
His point is that the resident population has been dropping (census data show it’s down by about 1.3 percent over the past two years), and this means weakened relationships are less able to power the community’s recovery from a crisis.
Therefore, everything — from economic development and wage scales to planting trees and meeting clean-energy goals — can be connected as elements in making life in Honolulu more sustainable.
The strategy is so comprehensive, however, that it runs the risk of overwhelming policymakers, not even to mention the general public. What lies ahead is the arduous challenge of convincing enough of them that the strategy’s more aggressive programs are necessary, despite the sacrifices they would demand.
Some of the more radical ideas represent a heavy lift, surely. For example, the proposed “vacancy fee,” a kind of surcharge on residential units that are kept vacant for long periods, could be problematic.
The idea is that such unoccupied “second homes” are enabled by city investment in infrastructure but do not relieve the local housing shortage, which has reached a critical stage. Revenue from this fee, at a minimum, could help underwrite the city’s site development for more needed housing, Stanbro said.
But property owners are sure to cry foul, some of them longtime residents simply unable to get their properties rented on a timely basis. Others will say the policy will impinge on basic property rights.
They do have a point. It would be wise for the City Council to focus first on reducing the residential housing shortage by passing legislation, put on ice for far too long, to rein in Oahu’s illicit vacation-rental trade. Regulating this activity more strictly likely will return properties to the long-term residential market more readily than a vacancy fee would.
The proposed fee would raise revenue, which is why city officials are at least giving it a look. That has been its primary benefit, according to an annual report from the only North American city where the concept has been tested: Vancouver, B.C.
The major themes from Caldwell’s address that do deserve high priority include:
>> “Move with our beaches.” This refers to the need for a modernized shoreline-setback scheme that can be flexible in the more stable, rocky coastal areas and more informed by erosion rates where the shoreline has been wearing away. Seawalls are not the answer, the mayor rightly said. And it’s simply not safe to build close to the ocean in all areas.
>> “Pass stronger, environmentally friendly building codes.” These should encourage more energy efficiency and realistic guidance aimed at protecting property more effectively.
>> “Build infrastructure that accommodates sea level rise and more severe storms.” The city can’t afford to waste money on poorly conceived coastal projects.
On the whole, this strategy is an aggressive one, because it needs to be. Climate change already is leaving its mark; as the 2019 hurricane season begins, Oahu residents are about to see some new marks being left by coming storms.
However, the plan is only as powerful as the leadership standing behind it. It is good to see Honolulu make such a bold statement, but it’s the Council, the administration and the voters who have to shoulder the responsibility it represents.
