The city's proposed deal aimed at keeping 115 rentals for agricultural workers at the old Kunia Camp seems to be a workable solution that could help re-establish a farm operation in at least one location.

This accord, which still must be approved by the Planning Commission and City Council, took place in a climate where land for affordable housing is at a premium.

In that challenging environment, the end result is truly worth celebrating: The community on James Campbell Co. land is, in large measure, being preserved, along with agricultural buildings that could be an asset for a future farming operation.

How good this deal is will become clearer when it's discussed openly with the commission and council. Questions are coming in already.

Councilman Todd Apo represents the area in 'Ewa where more Campbell land is being developed. He wants to know whether the city came out ahead in the deal by subtracting the 115 Kunia units from affordable homes Campbell will have to deliver in its 'Ewa development. Instead, he asked, could the affordable housing fund be used to acquire the Kunia units?

And Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz wonders whether the nonprofit Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, which would hold title to the Kunia Camp homes, would be able to sustain the long-term maintenance costs.

For their part, HARC officials say they're comfortable with the prospect of upkeep and feel confident that there's enough interest in the commercial properties to produce lease rent that will sustain the complex.

To evaluate the Kunia deal most clearly, the commission and council will need the data from the city affordable housing plan, which the administration has pledged to deliver this summer.

But even without that information, there's a lot to like about the proposal. It preserves the character of Kunia and offers hope that agriculture could be revived there, and sooner rather than later.

With all the obstacles facing Hawai'i agriculture, that's a definite success, one that also might be replicated elsewhere.