How will rail change Kalihi?

For Mar Palpallatoc, the start of the rail construction in 2012 through Kalihi was a nightmare.

“Originally, the city gave me 90 days to relocate my beauty salon and they promised to help me find a new place for my business and to help me move and store any items I couldn’t find room for, but none of that happened.”

Palpallatoc ran the Salon Del Mar since 2005 at 1901 Dillingham Blvd. at the old Dillingham Cafe site, which now sits vacant, awaiting construction of a station for the new rail line. Other tenants at the site were the Cafe itself and a travel agency owned by Palpallatoc’s brother-in-law.

“One day last September, about four city and county employees came in while I still was working on customers and started to take measurements of my store and to itemize my property,” recalled the 58-year-old Waipahu resident. “They said since they had recently acquired the lot from my brother-in-law (Florante Sebastian, the original property owner), they wanted us all out in three months, and if we could leave even earlier in two months, they would give us one month’s free rent.”

Palpallatoc didn’t understand why the city was in such a rush to kick the tenants out of the old Dillingham Cafe site, since he had heard the 7-11 convenience store parcel at 1900 Dillingham Blvd. across the street had also been sold to make way for a rail station, but the business continues to operate on that property to this day.

“They didn’t call me or help me find a new location, and I had to try and look for a new place on my own while I was still working. Since I moved out in November 2012, I’ve tried three different salon locations in the Dillingham or Kalihi areas and none of them have worked out.

“I’ve been without a business since July of this year, but I just recently opened a new salon in Waipahu, Stylistic Beauty Salon, near Leeward Drive-In.

“So I have nothing good at all to say about rail.”

Palpallatoc is also disputing the lump-sum payment of only $2,000 that he received from the city for his equipment and belongings. He had made renovations since he had been there, and believes he is owed the $11,000 that instead went to his brother-in-law for that portion of the property. The case is being litigated.

The rail transit project has been proposed and debated by politicians and residents since 1966, and it was a key factor in the 2008 municipal elections.

It’s set to impact Kalihi in 2014 with utilities relocation, followed by the actual rail construction, according to city public information specialist Scott Ishikawa.

As to what owners and tenants can expect in terms of the acquisition of their property along the rail route through Kalihi (from the airport along Kamehameha Highway through Dillingham Boulevard then to Nimitz Highway), Ishikawa says first the city’s Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) office will send a letter of intent to the affected property owners, then tenants will be notified once permission is obtained from the owners.

Due to recent lawsuits over the rail issue, the letters of intent had been delayed until the suits could be determined but now the letters will be sent out over the next few months, according to Ishikawa. (Though Ishikawa says affected property owners should’ve also been notified earlier during the Final Environmental Impact Statement stage back in 2010, *The Independent* found many along Dillingham Boulevard had not been.)

Once a purchase agreement is made with the owners, an informational 90-day notice will be sent to the tenants. A formal 30-day notice will be issued to the tenant after the property is in HART’s possession.

As for compensation to property owners, Ishikawa says an appraisal of the parcel is performed first by an independent, local appraiser, then the completed appraisal is reviewed by another appraiser. Once the appraisal is reviewed, the city will then make an offer of just compensation, which cannot be lower than the appraised value. A negotiation process is supposed to take place between the two sides.

According to HART’s latest environmental impact statement (EIS), about 70 commercial, industrial or residential properties in Kalihi need to be either fully or partially acquired by the city to in order to build the rail line, and $201.7 million has been budgeted by the city for property acquisition along the 20-mile route, from Kapolei to Ala Moana Center.

As a prominent businessman in the area, Florante Sebastian is concerned that he’ll get the fair market value for the residential properties he purchased in 2012 at 1945 and 1953 Dillingham Blvd.

“What if I’ve made renovations to my properties—will the city compensate me or help me relocate the renovations elsewhere on the property if they have to knock them down due to the rail?” worried the 57-year-old Laoag City (Philippines) native. “Will they reassess my property at its current value? Will my property taxes go up because it’s close to the rail?

“Will they help me relocate my residents if they have to move? Will the rail cause too much noise or congestion for my tenants so that they’ll consider moving, and I’ll lose business?

“You always have to expect the unexpected,” advised Sebastian, “so right now I’m thinking in the negative.”

Sebastian was initially informed last year during the surveying process that the city only needed a 10-foot setback from his properties that won’t impact the actual houses on his lots, but he hasn’t heard anything more about the project since then and clearly has more questions than answers.

“We were told it would be three to five years before we were really affected, but then why did they kick me and my commercial tenants out so soon from my old Dillingham Cafe site?” (While the 7-11 store was allowed to remain across the street, though the land was also purchased by the city.)

“And how close will the rail be built next to my property? How disruptive will it be to the residents?

“It’s really hard to plan any improvements to your business if you don’t know what’s happening in the future.”

Beverly Rodrigues of Nuuanu, who co-owns the residential property with two homes next door at 1927 Dillingham Blvd., has been told even less about the city’s plans for her land. “All I know is that last year some people from the city came to look at our property and they said that it might qualify as an historical site. That’s all I know so far, and I’ve heard nothing since then.

“I’m actually in favor of the rail because I know how terrible the traffic is for those coming into Honolulu from outside the city, but still I wonder how it will impact our property.”

Brad Santiago, 2013-2014 Kalihi Business Association president, said that the association is taking a neutral stance on the rail issue, since its members have varying viewpoints as to its effect on Kalihi.

The only thing certain about the rail line through Kalihi is that it’s coming, but not many are sure exactly when or how it will impinge upon our lives.