Editor’s note: This is the second of two stories about an affordable-housing conference held earlier this week. HANAMA‘ULU — Officials in the administration of Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste proudly point to early successes in planning for the development of more
Editor’s note: This is the second of two stories about an affordable-housing conference held earlier this week.
HANAMA‘ULU — Officials in the administration of Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste proudly point to early successes in planning for the development of more affordable housing: priority given to such projects, plans to streamline the permit process, and leaders of governmental entities working together to build more units.
Yet, Kaua‘i County Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura, a former Kaua‘i mayor, says government leaders can and should do more.
She said councilmembers can play a major role by passing a law requiring developers to set aside a portion of their projects for affordable housing. The percentage for such units is currently set by policy by leaders in the County Housing Agency, under the Offices of Community Assistance.
Through an “inclusionary zoning ordinance” passed by members of the council, all developers would be treated equally, and “the advantage to the community is that there would be a constant supply of affordable housing as long as land is developed on Kaua‘i,” Yukimura wrote in a paper distributed at a membership meeting of the Kaua‘i Planning & Action Alliance, Inc. at the Radisson Kauai Beach Resort on Tuesday.
At the meeting, state and county leaders talked about successful plans or projects that have been launched to develop more affordable housing on Kaua‘i.
The also talked about barriers to building more units, including the high cost of construction, the lack of land, and lack of federal and state subsidies to help lower-income folks.
But government leaders can and should act as major catalysts in putting more residents into affordable housing, Yukimura said.
“In my opinion, 80 percent of the solution lies at the level of local or county government,” Yukimura wrote.
The basic thrust behind the “inclusionary zoning ordinance” is that “any developer who seeks the privilege of developing land on Kaua‘i must provide for one of the most urgent and important needs of our community: affordable housing,” Yukimura noted.
Yukimura, who attended the conference, also advocated a requirement be added to the bill that would provide for “permanent affordability” for some of the affordable units.
Yukimura noted that many residents would question whether the community needs “more luxury condos or country estates, but I know of no one who would say today that the community does not need affordable housing.”
The attack on the World Trade Center encouraged wealthy folks to invest in real estate in Hawai‘i and on Kaua‘i, resulting in more visitors to the islands, she said.
On Kaua‘i, that trend has compelled a sizable number of property owners to convert single-family homes to vacation rentals or bed-and-breakfast operations.
These commercial operations have taken homes out of the affordable-housing pool, she said. The island’s real-estate frenzy has brought increased rents, crowding, stress, and growing homelessness and hopelessness among local residents, Yukimura wrote.
The lack of affordable-housing units will damage the social-cultural fabric of the community, will create obstacles to economic growth because there will not be enough housing for new workers for businesses, and poses a barrier to academic excellence, Yukimura contended.
She said a severe affordable-housing problem existed when she was mayor in 1988. Yukimura said during her tenure as mayor, from 1988 to 1094, she and members of her administration and private developers built about 1,000 affordable-housing units.
Affordable housing was in abundance after homes were rebuilt after Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992, she said.
And residents didn’t line up to live in county-sponsored, affordable-housing units, because, after the hurricane, with few tourists on the island, they could “get a three-bedroom house in Wailua or Lawa‘i for $700 to $800 (a month),” Yukimura said.
Efforts by leaders in the County Housing Agency to build more affordable housing faded after the first phase of Kalepa Village in Hanama‘ulu was completed, she said. The project is a rental-apartment project developed by the county.
County leaders agreed government has to do more, and Bernard Carvalho, who heads the Kaua‘i County Offices of Community Assistance, said Baptiste’s administration is moving in that direction with a slew of projects.
They include the formation of the Housing Advisory Committee, a housing task force, intervention by the Homeownership Center to educate residents on the best ways to become homeowners, establishment one day soon of a homeless transitional center by the Kaua‘i Department of Water offices in Lihu‘e, and a lot-development plan.
Carvalho also noted that state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua‘i-Ni‘ihau, and state Sen. Ron Menor, D-Waipahu, serving as co-chairmen of state task force to address affordable-housing problems on Kaua‘i and elsewhere in the state, are working hard to find other solutions.
Carvalho also noted that, through a statewide affordable-housing initiative led by Gov. Linda Lingle, efforts have been made to define housing needs, identify existing affordable-housing projects, determine roadblocks to new affordable-housing projects, and to propose government legislation that would help build more units.
Ken Rainforth, head of the County Housing Agency, said a “strategic housing plan” initiated by Baptiste could help.
But, he noted that more work will have to be done to determine what tools can be used to build more units and identify which folks to help.
He noted low-income folks should be a priority, as they have the hardest time finding affordable housing in today’s hot real estate market.
Locally, Baptiste has said he will give priority to the building of affordable-housing units over hotel or commercial projects.
Carvalho said Baptiste’s administration wants to launch soon an expedited permit process for affordable housing.
It would involve simultaneous review by government agencies and developers, including their input, he said.
Using the new system would speed up the building of units that are desperately needed on Kaua‘i, Carvalho said.
Hooser said he has introduced legislation, and supports other legislation, that could open the way for the building of more of those types of units.
Among bills Hooser introduced, one calls for increasing the conveyance tax on homes that are sold for more than $500,000, and a higher tax for homes sold for more than $1 million.
The bill, if it becomes law, could set up a “dedicated funding source,” the kind that Rainforth has advocated, to build more affordable housing.
Hooser said that if he had his way, he would like to see a good portion of those funds go to those who need affordable housing the most, low-income folks.
Hooser also has submitted bills to streamline the permitting process to build the units. “We have submitted bills requiring all state and county agencies to make processing of permits for affordable housing a priority,” he told The Garden Island.
Another bill he introduced and which he is lobbying Lingle to support is one that gives tax credits to developers who build affordable housing, Hooser said.
He said he also introduced legislation to provide funds for existing homeless shelters found in other counties. The funds will be determined during the legislative budgeting process, he said.
For Kaua‘i specifically, he has asked that $650,000 be allocated to help fund the construction of Kauai’s first homeless shelter, in Lihu‘e.
Hooser said he also has requested $1 million in capital-improvement funds be set aside to assist with the completion of the final two phases of the four-phase Kalepa Village project, on Kuhio Highway in Hanama‘ulu.
During the 2004 legislative session, he introduced a resolution that requested Lingle to form a task force to address affordable-housing problems in the state, Hooser said.
Research was done by that body, which produced recommendations upon which some of his bills are based, Hooser said.
Hooser said Hawai‘i residents whose incomes are at or below the median income level should get the most help. The median income for a family of four on Kaua‘i is $56,300.
Also making presentations at the hotel meeting were Stephanie Aveiro, executive director of the state Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii.
The agency manages more than a dozen public-housing projects across the islands.
Another speaker was Nadine Nakamura, principal of NKN Project Planning and Kaua‘i member of the Hawaii Tourism Authority board of directors.
Also attending the meeting were Laurie Yoshida, Lingle’s liaison on Kaua‘i; former Mayor Maryanne Kusaka, council Chairman Kaipo Asing; council Vice Chairman James Tokioka; and Councilmembers Jay Furfaro, Mel Rapozo and Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho.
The councilmembers said they all liked the exchange of ideas at the meeting.
Also attending were Kaua‘i Department of Water Manager and Chief Engineer Ed Tschupp; Mike Furukawa and Mark Hubbard, executives with Grove Farm; Mike Loo, an executive with the Princeville Corp, and retired state judge Clifford Nakea.
Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
