One of the primary advantages of transit-oriented development (TOD) is that it enables the government to leverage an adjacent transit system to encourage development, offering incentives to builders for housing that will help address a most pressing need.

Something is amiss if, instead, these incentives don’t really move the needle on affordability.

On Wednesday the City Council Committee on Zoning will take up Resolution 23-62, potentially approving a conceptual plan for 1538 Kapiolani Tower. This is a TOD project within a special zone adjacent to the planned final terminus of the Skyline rail system at Ala Moana Center. The city offers some additional allowances in exchange for provision of affordable housing.

But still ringing in committee members’ ears is a protest from July 12. The complaints included statements from Unite Here Local 5, the hotel and restaurant workers’ union, which asserted that the developer, R.M. Towill Corp. and JL Capital, are falling short in the bargain. The Zoning Committee has a chance to correct that by pressing for some affordability within the tower property itself.

The planned 400-foot, mixed-use tower, comprising 331 market-rate units, would rise at a location now occupied by the old KGMB TV station and two banks. The developer also proposes to build 101 affordable rental units at two off-site locations in the Makaloa and Kalakaua areas.

The reaction from about 30 people turning out at Honolulu Hale was frustration, and with good reason. One of the selling points of TOD was supposed to be adding projects that include affordable housing units along the rail line itself. The idea: to shrink the gap in housing inventory, with proximity and convenience to rail.

Their correct conclusion: The promised rentals off-site do not represent enough community benefit for the requested variances from building regulations. For starters, the units are too small to fit household needs, they argued.

“The applicant is seeking significant entitlement bonuses for a luxury condo project including a floor area ratio four times the density of what the zoning would normally allow and a height that’s 150 feet over the underlying zoning,” added Ben Sadoski, a representative of Unite Here Local 5.

Without a doubt, the residents’ ire was magnified by a previous clash over the loss of truly affordable units at the site of the Kuilei Place project, some distance from the TOD zone. The concern there was similar. The density would increase dramatically with the 43-story tower, a 12-story building and a 13-story parking structure.

It also would result in the displacement of people living in 124 older apartments being demolished. They were offered two months of rent and relocation assistance four months before their eviction.

But unless all this urban-infill redevelopment actually accommodates many of those residents at the lower income range, there will be more people pushed into homelessness. All the urban density is supposed to help with the most critical needs, but instead, the gap appears to be widening.

In fact, City Council Chairman Tommy Waters sent an official letter last Wednesday to Kuilei Place’s developer, urging that it provide more assistance to the 100-plus residents now facing eviction from their Moiliili rentals.

Referencing the July 12 protest, Waters wrote: “The discussion was a reminder that regardless of how good our intentions may be, it is the results that truly matter. … We appreciate your efforts thus far but must insist that you strategize to see what other assistance you can provide.”

Regarding Kapiolani Tower, area resident Michael Pili Pang in July 9 testimony noted that he did not object to the project itself, but observed that the off-site locations of rentals spread out the traffic and parking concerns to a wider area.

“As more development projects come up for review,” he said, “please keep in mind how these separated developments impact separate communities, small business, family units, schools and the surrounding areas.”

He’s right. It’s not too late for the Council to see that the housing shortfall is snowballing. Elected leaders must drive a harder bargain on 1538 Kapiolani Tower specifically, and on realizing the potential of transit-oriented development in general.