Mayor Mufi Hannemann today will present his plan to address concerns of Kahuku residents fearing the loss of their affordable rental homes from the anticipated sale of 1,800 acres by the estate of James Campbell.

Hannemann has scheduled a 1 p.m. meeting at the Kahuku High & Intermediate School cafeteria to propose a public-private partnership involving a Mainland developer that will allow 70 families to live in their homes, keep the nine-hole Kahuku golf course public and retain the community's desire to keep "country country" by keeping out major development.

Hannemann yesterday said the city doesn't have the money to buy, via condemnation, the 200 acres where the 70 homes are situated. He declined to identify the prospective developer yesterday other than to say the Mainland-based company "has done work in the Islands with one county in particular, owns land in Kahuku and specializes in agricultural management."

"There's going to have to be some give and take here," Hannemann said of today's meeting. "I'm hopeful they (residents) will come with open minds so that they'll see that I've made a good-faith effort to put something on the table before them."

About 2 1/2 weeks ago the mayor met with community leaders from Kahuku Villages and asked them to give him time to identify someone who could work with the city and Campbell Estate to address the issues. Hannemann met with the community leaders last week to preview the plan he wants to present today to the community.

"We're very much at the discussion stage, nothing is a done deal yet," Hannemann said. "(Today) is an opportunity to go out there and pitch it to the community at large."

The developer will be looking into building fee-simple homes at a "very, very affordable price," Hannemann said.

The mayor doesn't consider alternatives, such as designating Campbell lands as a historic site or condemnation purchase, as viable at this point.

"I don't think the city can condemn it and build it (affordable housing) ourselves," he said. "Another proposal to seek historic preservation status is a long, drawn-out process that's going to tie the hands of potential owners of the property because historic preservation status has a lot of strict covenants that you can't break.

"So I think what we have before them is something that probably needs a bit of massaging and that's why we're going into the community."

The land in question is Kahuku Village Phase V, owned by Campbell Estate. The city developed fee-simple affordable homes in Kahuku Villages I, II and III but has done nothing with Phase IV for more than two decades because it's in a flood zone.

Hannemann said some residents believe that since the city owns the land under four of the five phases, "we can't wash our hands of this and I don't want to do that."

"But I also want to convey a sense that we can't afford to do it ourselves. Even if we could build out Phase IV, it's a long, drawn-out process because it's in a flood zone. We are doing a flood-control study and still have to agree on mitigation measures."

Reach Rod Ohira at rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.