National Heritage Areas are federally designated regions approved and funded by the National Park Service. Bill S359, currently in the U.S. Senate, proposes the ahupua'a of Honolulu and Kapalama as a NHA. All neighborhoods between Punahou and Kalihi Streets and from the Nu'uanu Pali to the sea would fall within this federal area.

Demonstration of widespread public support among heritage-area residents is a critical step that needs to be taken prior to congressional designation. A conceptual boundary map of the heritage area would also need public support.

In Hawai'i, the process for a proposed NHA designation has been under way for six years but has not effectively engaged area residents. Few residents and property owners seem aware of the pending designation, the consequences for them, or its suggested boundaries.

Area residents and businesses are just now being informed of the legislation and being asked to support it. They should have been part of the process years earlier in determining whether federal designation was even desired for their region. At an April Liliha Neighborhood Board meeting, a resolution supporting NHA designation failed to pass. Clearly, the process is flawed.

But how about the concept? There are many NHAs around the nation. Their programs typically are funded for 10 to 15 years and focus on three main areas: preservation, tourism and education.

While there are some benefits to NHA designation, there are also drawbacks for residents, businesses and property owners within a designated area. The National Park Service must approve an area management plan before funds are released. This gives a federal agency influence over decisions made at the local level. Once the plan is in place, changes to property or buildings may be subject to review under the guidelines of the plan — or a neighborhood potentially could be reclassified entirely.

In Hawai'i, the proposed NHA would be run by a coalition and its board of directors. Unlike elected representatives, they wouldn't be accountable to local residents. You can't vote them out. And there is no requirement that directors live within the NHA boundaries, so decisions that directly affect local communities could be made primarily by outsiders.

One of the first steps in NHAs is to inventory area properties and buildings and to make recommendations that they be "protected, enhanced, managed, or developed." This intent is clear in the coalition's feasibility study, which says "additional field surveys of the many residential and mixed-use areas within the proposed NHA will also be required. This will include individual evaluations of houses and small businesses in Palama, Liliha, Kaka'ako and especially Kalihi..."

NHA designations are permanent and can only be undone by an act of Congress. Since the law creating a NHA is usually passed before the development of a management plan, no amount of reassurance can guarantee what the final product will be.

In Honolulu, a NHA designation will mean millions of dollars to fund coalition projects over a potentially indefinite term. The coalition is made up of mostly arts-affiliated non-profits, government agencies and other businesses. Area residents, small business owners and property owners — who, unlike nonprofits, form the tax base for the proposed region — have much to lose. They also have the right to say whether they want this designation.