While a recent survey showed 61 percent of Hawai'i residents wouldn't mind paying higher taxes to protect the environment, the number drops when the respondents are renters instead of home owners.

The survey, conducted on behalf of the Hawai'i 2050 Task Force on Sustainability, also showed that respondents would pay more for housing if it meant protecting the environment and keeping wide open spaces for agriculture and conservation lands.

For some renters, however, the cost of living in Hawai'i is already too high, and they dread the prospect of having to pay more, especially when it could preclude the chance of eventually affording a home.

"I don't think I would be able to afford paying any more," said Summer Cummings, a 30-year-old student who rents a home in Wai'anae. Cummings said she would like to protect the environment and keep the country country, but not if it means more money. "I don't think it's a matter of wanting to. It's what we can do."

Still for some renters, such as Radiant Perkins, a 23-year-old customer service agent for go! Airlines, overdevelopment is a big concern.

"I would like to see more farming," Perkins said. "We have so many houses here already. Just on the H-2, they cut down all the trees and are killing the environment even more."

The survey queried 2,000 Hawai'i residents, but 71 percent were homeowners, compared with 26 percent who rented, skewing the results slightly in favor of older homeowners, a problem that phone surveyors have faced since caller ID and cell phones have become more prevalent.

The survey and a companion community engagement report are key pieces in the almost $2 million Hawai'i 2050 Sustainability Task Force's effort to come up with a plan that will guide the state into a more sustainable future. The task force's work will culminate in a draft statewide plan that will be unveiled during a September sustainability summit.

It's not the first time this sort of long-range planning document has been attempted. In fact, the task force is consciously building off a Hawai'i 2000 conference and a Hawai'i state plan developed in the 1970s under Gov. George Ariyoshi's administration. The plan has been largely disregarded.

The current task force hopes that by trying to garner community support from the outset, it will be easier to pass legislation to move the plan forward, as well as compel the administration to enact the policies.

But while the task force has made several attempts to engage the community, some still suspect that the survey results might not hold up when taxpayers are asked to preserve vacant land.

The issue of higher taxes, or higher costs in general, is a sensitive one in a state where some residents are already pushing back against rising property taxes, the price of gas, and a higher sales tax for a transit system that will only benefit part of O'ahu.

At the same time, however, as the Islands become more crowded, some residents would prefer to seek solutions that protect the beauty of of the Islands. The challenge for the task force will be in determining just how far it can persuade residents to make concessions to improve both the natural environment and the business environment, while trying to find acceptable middle ground between those for and those against regulation.

Heading too far in any direction could end with the majority of voters against any plan the task force comes up with.

A breakdown of the survey shows where one divide in public opinion could lie.

James Dannemiller, of SMS Research and Marketing Inc., which conducted the survey, isolated the survey results for renters and those living in non-rented homes. He said that renters seemed more inclined to favor changes that would lead to more affordable housing, even if it meant encroaching on land zoned for farming.

They were twice as likely as homeowners to say that unused land should be used for housing.

Overall, only 31 percent of respondents said they would agree with building homes on agricultural land if it was the only way to keep housing affordable, while only 27 percent said they didn't want to pay more for housing to limit growth and protect the environment.

Those who rented also favored lower taxes, while homeowners were more likely to agree with paying more to prevent overdevelopment.

About 61 percent of all the respondents said they would pay more taxes to protect the environment, compared with 23 percent, who disagreed with a tax increase.

But Dannemiller pointed out that 80 percent of those who participated in the survey wanted a balance of environmental, economic and social ideals, and any extreme pro-environment or pro-business plan would likely meet with resistance from most Hawai'i residents.

Informal questioning of a dozen people around O'ahu last week didn't turn up many who wanted to pay more for environmental protection, and several who said that affordable housing and traffic solutions were more important than the agricultural industry.

Richard Stula, 38, a restaurant owner who owns a home in Hawai'i Kai, thinks the government already has the money it needs to make the state more sustainable. "I think if we were paying more in taxes, it still wouldn't get used wisely," he said.

But Kristina Acidera, a 25-year-old homeowner from 'Ewa, said that she'd be willing to pay more for traffic solutions, even if it means toll roads and higher gas prices. "I quit my job because of traffic," she said. "It's really bad."

However, she would like to see more affordable housing, even if it means more development. "It depends how much more," she said.

Some just got wide-eyed at the prospect of paying more for anything — especially housing.

"It's already too much, too much," said Edesa Antonio, 33, who rents a home in Wahiawa.

Asked if there was anything she thought she'd pay more for, Antonio, a Mililani Wal-Mart employee, shook her head and said, "No."

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.