Council Chair Mel Rapozo and I have co-introduced Bill 2725 that would establish a policy of long-term affordability for housing that is provided with taxpayer monies and/or required as a condition of zoning. Bill 2725 would prevent such housing from being sold into the market after a number of years.
Instead, if a qualified family chooses to leave the affordable housing unit, that unit will be available to another qualified family. Buyers of for-sale or leasehold units would be able to recoup their equity but would not be entitled to speculative gains.
Here’s some background on the bill:
The 2,700 affordable homes that the county has developed or required as a condition of zoning over the last 40 years have blessed the families living in these homes and the community as a whole. We all benefit when our families are well housed.
Having built 2,700 units over 40 years, we now have to produce 7,200 homes in 20 years — a herculean task! The recently updated General Plan projects a need for 9,000 housing units over the next 20 years. Based on a recent County Housing Needs Study, 80 percent of those 9,000 units — 7,200 units — need to be affordable for qualified families.
Whenever any affordable unit is re-sold into the market, our efforts to achieve an expanding inventory of affordable housing units are set back because a qualified family is no longer able to afford that home. Returning units to the public trust makes it possible to keep the homes affordable.
Up to now, county policy has allowed affordable housing units, on an ad hoc basis, to be sold into the market. This means that taxpayer monies used to build an affordable house (average cost of $450,000) provides only one generation of affordable housing. The county, then, is always playing “catch up.”
Examples include Kilauea Estates which was built as a result of a zoning condition and with federal post-Iniki monies. The homes went to exactly the people we wanted to help: Kilauea residents born and raised on Kauai, single moms with kids, mechanics, teachers, administrative assistants and others.
These families bought their homes for $159,000 to $180,000 in 1998-99. A 10-year buyback clause required them to sell the units back to the county if they resold the units within 10 years, but after that, the units could be sold at market prices. The homes are now selling for around $600,000.
The unworkability of existing policy is most apparent with the example of Courtyard at Waipouli.
The 82-unit affordable housing rental project across from Kintaro Restaurant was required as a condition of zoning for the Kauai Lagoons resort development (750 luxury oceanfront condos above the Kauai Marriott), but it had only a 10-year buy-back clause.
In 2009, in an act of short-sightedness, the County Council and mayor permanently waived the affordability requirement for 41 of the 82 units. Next year, on Aug. 19, 2019, the buy-back clause expires and with it the affordability of the remaining affordable units.
Forty-one qualified families renting there will have to move. So will the other 41 who are renting at market rates if the units are converted to vacation rentals. In this current housing market, where will all these families go? Instead of expanding, Kauai’s affordable housing inventory will be shrinking.
By requiring that all future affordable housing provided as a condition of zoning and/or using federal, state or county monies be affordable for the longest period allowed under the law, Bill 2725 will prevent 10-, 20-, 30-year buybacks.
Instead, it will encourage existing forms of affordable housing such as multi-family rentals on county-owned land and 99-year leaseholds of single-family homes.
It will also encourage new forms of affordable housing, such as limited equity cooperative housing and community land trusts. In all of the above forms, except for multifamily rentals, the original owner will be able to get back his/her equity if the owner chooses to move.
In conclusion, Bill 2725 establishes a policy that will prevent backsliding and will instead enable the county to create an ever-expanding inventory of affordable housing.
Only then will we begin to address the crisis that is causing both short-term and long-term suffering of local families and a diminished quality of life on Kauai for all.
A public hearing on the bill will be held Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at the Historic County Building.
If you feel Kauai is in a housing crisis and a long-term affordability policy will help address this crisis, send email testimony to CouncilTestimony@kauai.gov and/or come and testify in person at the public hearing.
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JoAnn Yukimura is a member of the Kauai County Council.
I remember when you Joanne, added 5 years to the buy back on a so called affordable housing project half way thru so the people who where already invested in it went from a 2 year to a 7 year owner occupant situation. It was ridiculous to add this stipulation half way thru a purchase and screwed a lot of people. Their is no such thing as affordable housing in Hawaii so stop putting restraints on people who are trying to get ahead by investing in a home.
I thought there was a housing crisis on Kauai because that’s all certain people in politics talk about? Unfortunately, if that’s the truth, why are there so many houses still on the market after months of being available for purchase that have no buyers? If the price is right, the house is sound, and the availability is there perhaps the County should buy them and give them away to their voters in need?
I don’t like the idea of taxpayers subsidizing housing for “qualified” families or residents. Why should other taxpayers pay for other residents’ housing? Also, as always, the devil is in the details. Who is a “qualified” person or family? How do you define that term? Anyone living on Kauai who has a low enough income or does it have to be someone born on the Island? Please explain exactly how you determine who is qualified.
Regarding the Courtyard at Waipouli and possible vacation rentals, I would ask who spearheaded the vacation rental regulations fiasco many years ago and exacerbated an already bad affordable rental market. Oh wait………
Great! It is incredible, how the corporate politicians deny the reality. Exactly, how is it that they all continue to hide the truth about the status of these lands and that “in-perpetuity” does not have cok or state written into the continued Ruse! No matter what tgi, hooser, yukimura or the rest of them, past to present say, we are coming to claim and dismiss those that think they “own”. One must check the true metes and bounds, then return to tgi, get it correct, and above all tell the truth and bring integrity with you. We are no longer “dumb as we look”. Classic is the “bite me” comment, pencil throwing frustrations due to fear. Restore Alcatraz, forever and finally, dismiss illegal regime militaropolitical liar occupiers.
With all due respect…. we are well beyond a housing crisis and are in the midst of a complete collapse of the Hawai’ian concept of SUSTAINABILITY.
THE ISSUE OF MOST IMPORTANCE IS REALLY WHO’S SELLING THE HAWAI’IAN KINGDOM SUBJECT’S LAND!
HAWAIIANKINGDOM.ORG
Geez…just what we need the entity that has wrecked the housing market, that is Yukimura, her collegues and the rest of the county government and bureaucrats, are in the process of making it worse. These people are magnificently ignorant of economics….period. And they’re going to do nothing except exacerbate the housing problem by sticking their clumsy “solutions” into the mess. This is bill is a bigger cluster**** in the making.
Message to Joann et. al.: just get the heck OUT OF THE WAY and let the market solve what you’ve royally screwed up for decades.
RG DeSoto
It’s good to see that at least some people are trying to do something about our affordoble housing crisis on the island….
Yah oinko boinko, i would be interested in what you have done, what you know, and how you are “trying to do something”. One of dem rocking chair commentators are you and the other dummers, that shrug their shoulders and giggle, when told to CEASE and DESIST. What part of DEoccupation do you all NOT understand! You were expected to Obey orders of u.s. military, then you send our Hawaiian kingdom National Guards to isreal. The ones associated with corporate u.s. example, includes all islands lawyers, prosecuting, judges bailiffs who attack without warning in judiciary recess holding box, never arrested, never told by judge we couldnot return, but the two bailiffs had their own agenda supported by chambers, and the new not from here KPD cok clowns, who have NO clue what or why are the island peoples so mad. THEY top gus are the ones that need to be tried for past shannanigan, after all Baptiste did a one year mayor year from jail, and practically the career politicians over 30-years have nonfiction true stories written. Names are name to my surprise, but get this the athors all had to move away.. So this mayor is mobile, mAhalo cok for 2018 CRV. Soon, We can start with Treason, and begin court hearings in Kekaha, Makai and about five miles to where PMRF main gate has been taken over Kanaka EXpecting answers before they start building a permanent structure right there as these Kanaka are awaiting the u.s.navy response to the critical questions, you and they can no longer hide the answers from us. Manaoha.org Protection for Civilians of 125-corporate war.
For the love of God, will this insanity ever end??? Affordable Housing = Subsidized Housing……your money is going to support people that WANT/DESIRE to live in paradise…..in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Everyone should have a problem with this.
These endless bills and Government employee hours to manage the above proposed Bill, is just plain insanity. Self licking ice cream cone. You create these crazy ideas, that take millions of taxpayer money to employ, and then expect people not to work loopholes so they can take advantage of the system. “I GOT AN AFFORDABLE HOME, THEN FLIPPED IT YEARS LATTER FOR A HUGE PROFIT”.
NO ONE is guaranteed a home. NOWHERE in the Constitution does it say the Government shall provide homes to its people. Why are we even talking about OWNERSHIP? That word should be thrown out the window. If you cannot afford to live in paradise, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, then you move to where it is MORE AFFORDABLE for Housing!! Stop fighting Supply-and-Demand!
These elected official are creating drama where there is no drama. AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS SIMPLY PANDERING TO THE VOTING MASSES. You move to an area with more opportunities and a lower cost of living. Stop the madness!
Joanna…time to start baking lots of cookies!
Thank you JoAnn and Mel for being proactive. These initiatives are badly needed. What will happen if essential professionals such as teachers, firefighters, paramedics, police officers, and many others – decide en masse that they cannot afford to live on Kauai? What ills can we attribute to our high cost of housing? How about family stress in overcrowded homes, families living on the beach, etc. Children are placed in risky child care situations when parents have to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet. Shame on those who can afford our expensive housing, and don’t care about others.
This is exactly what has been needed for years. However be sure that people who get
the affordable units are Kauai people and not just someone who came from the
mainland and decided to stay. We cannot house all the needed people from the mainland.
Yea,…..like……I’m sure……there is a box for “born and raised on Kauai”. Cannot wait to hear how you would define “Kauai People”.
This is why this subsidized housing proposal lacks foresight and rational thinking. How do you decide who exactly qualifies for this type of housing? What is you’ve lived here for 40 years but another person was born here but only lived here 30 years? What about income as a qualifier? Where do you propose this project or projects be developed to avoid more traffic gridlock? So many questions and so few answers. These details need to be spelled out before writing a letter proposing a subsidized housing plan.
The proposed Bill is short-sighted at best. By restricting the normal property value appreciation, it would effectively create slums, as residents would have no incentive to improve or even maintain their properties. To keep certain housing at so-called “affordable” levels while other housing prices respond to market conditions is an absurd notion.
Aloha Kakou,
Ya mean they’re giving people houses? Hows that compare with people who’ve saved up for a large part of their life for a down payment on a home or condo, and on Kauai wages, and the guy next door moved in for FREE…or a bologna sandwich…I thought our veterans say America Ain’t Free…only Liberty is, if you work or fight for it…
Ya mean get free Food Stamps, Free Medical Dental Vision, Free HUD, and then you qualify for a free home to own?
Weird…! ! !
Well, JoAnn, if you would have stood up to the TVRs years ago we wouldn’t be in such a bad situation. But no, you were one of those who allowed them everywhere, including ag land. When you were mayor, you did nothing to resolve the housing issue and after all your years on the council, it’s still the same old same old. Give it a rest. Your day is done.
As for Margery Freeman, who are you to be talking about mainlanders staying? Isn’t that exactly what you did? LOL! Hypocrite!