Preschool decision rooted in HCDA’s caution with public land

Contrary to some misperceptions, the Hawaii Community Development Authority’s decision to cease negotiations with Seagull Schools for a 65-year lease of public land in Kakaako Makai was based on an extensive question-and-answer period during not only the most recent meeting, but also the board’s June 3 meeting.

The Star-Advertiser’s Aug. 7 editorial (“School seems to fit Kakaako site,” Our View) contained a misstatement quoted from Seagull’s website: The proposed preschool site is not “adjacent” to Kakaako Waterfront Park, it is within the park boundary on land set aside for future improvement. The park is to be redeveloped in phases as funding allows and as demand increases with the district’s surrounding redevelopment. Also, the building that Seagull proposes to repurpose does not “sit empty”; it stores park maintenance equipment and supplies, so HCDA would need to find an alternative storage site.

Late last year, HCDA engaged a consultant to prepare a master plan for the park, which is well underway. At the consultant’s status report to the board on June 3, it became clear that encumbering the site that Seagull wants might conflict with some of the park-improvement proposals. Several Seagull representatives happened to be at that meeting for another agenda item, so I pointed out this conflict to them.

Current HCDA board members were not part of the decision to enter into an exclusive negotiation agreement (ENA) with Seagull Schools in March 2014, but the minutes of that meeting indicate that board members were informed that an expedited ENA process was necessary because there would be an “imminent loss” of child-care capacity in the area when Seagull’s present facility above the Civic Center garage was displaced for garage repairs. Since then, however, we have learned that the city has no imminent plans for the repairs, and that the work might be possible without shutting down Seagull’s facility.

HCDA understands that Seagull would still like to have an additional facility to provide child care for Kakaako’s growing population. While we support this, we can accomplish this in other ways. For example, we can amend HCDA’s development rules to provide an incentive for the creation of child-care facilities. This can be done concurrently with other potential rule amendments now under consideration. There are also other potential locations for a child-care facility in the immediate vicinity of Kakaako Waterfront Park. For example, it’s reported that the University of Hawaii has retained a consultant to develop a business plan for the UH Cancer Center, right next to the park and across the Children’s Discovery Center (CDC). One of the challenges of the Cancer Center is to fill its vacant spaces with revenue-producing uses; why not locate a child-care center there? That would provide access to a secure outdoor play area without competing for public park space, could create “synergy” with CDC, and, above all, could provide UH employees the convenience of on-site child-care services, as well as for others in the area.

HCDA needs to train its eye to the future needs of the community. Yes, schools and child-care services are important and the need will grow with Kaka- ako’s population — but so are parks, even though their immediate need is not readily apparent. The city and many community organizations have — in my view, rightly — criticized HCDA for not planning for a sufficient amount of public park space to meet future demand. HCDA needs to be a careful steward of public lands, especially those that have been set aside for parks. Once we commit land to a non-public use under a long-term lease, we have lost a potential opportunity for public use. We are not just another landowner; we hold the land in trust for the public, including future generations.