Are the plans to tear down 217 affordable apartments on Kailua Road a moral injustice or natural, necessary community growth? These apartments are considered affordable housing because the highest rent on a two-bedroom unit is $800. D. R. Horton Schuler Homes plans to construct 153 condominiums ranging from $400,000 to $800,000 on this site.

As a resident of the apartments in question, and a social work student at Hawai'i Pacific University, I have some personal perspective on this issue. There have been times I couldn't run a washing machine because of exceeded cesspool capacity. Once, power lines that were severed during a storm exposed tenants to high-voltage wires on damp ground. Fortunately, this happened early in the morning and no one was hurt. Every day I walk over a piece of plywood that patches a hole in the wooden walkway to prevent falling or tripping to the floor one story below.

The main issue with the new condos is the displacement of the residents of the existing apartments. However, I found through researching the history of the situation, the structural state of the buildings, and the plans for the new condos that this is more likely a social necessity rather than any type of moral injustice.

I learned that Kane'ohe Ranch leased that land to an entity 55 years ago that in turn leased the land to several other tenants. Eventually, the apartments were built and rented out. The buildings are predominantly wood and were not built to stand the test of time. Very little money has been invested in upkeep, since the leases expire at the end of 2007.

Then there are the issues with Environmental Protection Agency codes and regulations.

The buildings stand on 74 large-capacity cesspools, which were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2000. These cesspools have the potential to poison fresh water supplies and create a hazard for people living in the area. EPA orders called for these cesspools to close by the end of 2005.

D.R. Horton Schuler Homes and Kane'ohe Ranch were able to extend the EPA deadline until 2007. This let them honor the current leases and give renters more time to transition off the property. This extension also saved both companies from having to pay fines up to $32,500 per day. The land owners could have evicted everyone with 45 days notice and saved themselves the effort of extending the deadline.

The companies could have used the extension to benefit their bottom lines and proceeded with their condo plans earlier; but the benefit of the deadline extension was passed to the tenants.

The most difficult thing to justify with the new condo plan is that the existing affordable-housing apartments will be replaced with higher-priced condominiums. But in my research I found that the proposed plan is actually more responsible than was assumed.

Currently, prices for condos in Kailua that are similar to the ones being built are about $350,000. The new condominiums will start out at $400,000, about the same as a Kailua condo that's 25 years old. So the plan is in line with the lower-end of the Kailua housing market. In fact, renovating the existing buildings would actually cost more than building the new condos.

The affordable apartments on Kailua Road did not start out as affordable. They became affordable because they were not maintained and their value depreciated, which kept rents from ever really rising.

These new condo plans will include a new sewer line along Kailua Road — worth about $1.5 million — as well as burying the electrical lines, which can be a hazard in severe weather.

From my social work standpoint, the potential for growth and safety in the Kailua community is actually being met by the changes that are taking place. Tenants would have had to advocate keeping the buildings much earlier, when the buildings fell into disrepair. The community could have organized and advocated for improved upkeep of the apartments, but this was never done. Because of the legal and dignified way the new owner, D.R. Horton Schuler Homes, has handled the situation, it is not likely that any organized opposition would have produced beneficial results for the community residing there or the companies involved. In this case, change needs to take place.

As I researched this, I was forced to grow and change my personal biases. This change in myself is a reflection of the change that is necessary for the community after examining the history, condition and future of this area. Kailua will be a stronger and safer community with the proposed changes.

Frank J. Rainey is a resident of Kailua and a graduate student at Hawai'i Pacific University. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.