Editorial: Preserve what’s best of ‘Mill Camp’

In today’s disposable world, there’s something special about trying to preserve the spirit of a historic community. It’s often more expedient to tear down, then rebuild bigger and higher; opposition can emerge from those resistant to any change, even if it improves on poor conditions; and there’re always moneyed interests eager make a fast buck off of Hawaii’s precious land.

That’s why it’s welcome to see the vision for the former Waialua Sugar Co. community, as outlined in a Monday article by Star-Advertiser reporter Andrew Gomes.

Spurred by consultant David Robichaux, a $280 million project is being proposed by the nonprofit Hawaii Assisted Housing Inc. and an affiliate of Mark Development Inc. To succeed, they will need persistence, support, zoning changes from farm use, and a good amount of state and federal financing to help keep the units truly affordable, as intended. It’s worth the attempt.

The project is intriguing: four phases to develop 400 new homes on 87 acres of former Waialua Sugar land where, at the peak of operations some 70 years ago, “Mill Camp” once had 350 homes to house plantation workers.

Part of the plan would keep rents for about 20 remaining Waialua Sugar retirees or surviving spouses at their current rate of $25 to $45 a month. That’s an astounding deal, one that honors a lifelong arrangement between former plantation owner Dole Food Co. and its Mill Camp retiree households.

Waialua Sugar Co., Oahu’s last sugar plantation, closed 28 years ago — but these company retirees or surviving spouses still live among 67 homes built between 1904 and 1946, dilapidated but still standing amid the red dirt and rough roads. The project’s Phase 1 would give priority to these old-timers initially, as well as to longtime Waialua and Haleiwa families: 118 new multifamily dwellings would be built in part of Mill Camp, a mix of low-rise plantation-style buildings plus compact apartments in single-story quadruplexes.

Building truly affordable housing needs to be supported wherever it’s seriously proposed, and that’s what’s envisioned here. At Mill Camp, this is what such levels look like: household income here is about 40% of the area median income (AMI), about $36,680 for a single person, $52,400 for a family of four.

New homes in the project’s Phase 2, in the core of the camp, would largely be for Mill Camp households but also for others earning up to 60% of AMI: $55,020 for a single person, $78,600 for a family of four. These would be 163 new single-family houses reminiscent of Mill Camp’s original appearance.

Phase 3 also holds promise, if a deal can be struck with the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to provide for its beneficiaries: 99 new homes on 20 acres in a Mill Camp area where housing no longer exists.

A fourth and final phase calls for restoring or selling 13 existing homes and five vacant house lots off Goodale Avenue.

The two developers will need city zoning exemptions to build on the site now mostly zoned for agriculture. This city administration has already signaled support by chipping in $3.5 million since last year, but much more state and federal affordable-housing financing must be pursued.

With each passing year, amid redevelopments and gentrification, it becomes ever harder to maintain a sense of place for Hawaii’s communities of the past. This Mill Camp project is a nod to the gritty, humble lifestyle that rose from the plantations — even as it foresees a future community for the area’s local families. Care seems to have been taken to blend two important goals: being mindful of an area’s historic identity, and meeting the housing needs, and incomes, of that historic neighborhood. There looks to be enough here to root for its success.