Part one of a two-part series, which concludes on Monday. HANAMA‘ULU BEACH — Even as Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste’s administration advances ambitious plans to facilitate development of 700 affordable-housing units over the next two years, critics assert it is unlikely
Part one of a two-part series, which concludes on Monday.
HANAMA‘ULU BEACH — Even as Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste’s administration advances ambitious plans to facilitate development of 700 affordable-housing units over the next two years, critics assert it is unlikely many low-to-moderate-income families will ever set foot into many of those units.
Critics contend local folks have not been adequately instructed on how to get into rental housing or to buy such units, secure loans or to get out of debt, claims rejected by a top county housing official.
Kauaians Mahealani Sylva, James “Jimbo” Alalem and others were the first to lodge such complaints in the face of plans by the Baptiste administration, self-help-housing groups and developers to build affordable housing demanded by residents.
If no such houses are built, future generations of Kaua‘i folks could be faced with a daunting reality: they could be forced off the island, forced to live on the beach, or forced to cram into homes of their relatives. Baptiste’s plan could mitigate such problems, proponents say.
Still, the lack of affordable housing is a perennial problem, has been since the territorial days of Hawai‘i, and not everyone can qualify for help with their housing, said Kaua‘i County Housing Agency Executive on Housing Ken Rainforth.
For instance, some people have run afoul of rental-subsidy programs by engaging in drugs and damaging rental homes they occupy, he said.
At the same time, many other Kauaians have moved into housing through a conscientious and continuous effort by county officials to put people into housing they can afford, Rainforth said.
Contrary to claims by critics, county leaders and private-company officials have conducted classes and linked such folks with government-assistance programs, Rainforth said.
Residents should take decisive steps if they want to get into subsidized-rental or for-sale housing projects, he said. “You have to want it, make sacrifices,” Rainforth said. “There is way too much competition (for housing units).”
But the asking price for the homes will be too high for many low-to-moderate income buyers, the target group for the 700 dwelling units, one critic insisted.
“The homes will be $300,000. The housing the government wants to build won’t be affordable, and they will be Cracker-Jack boxes,” she said.
Rainforth said developers and the county build affordable housing units, but they can’t be blamed if the units are not filled by the target groups – the low-to-moderate-income folks.
Units have gone unoccupied in the past because such folks haven’t prepared properly for the day when they can move into such units, Rainforth said.
They may have bad credit, have run afoul of rental subsidy programs or have not gotten rid of bad credit, Rainforth said.
So, such units go back on the market and are bought by the general public, Rainforth said.
Such was the case with duplexes Schuler Homes built in Puhi. They were part of a three-phase affordable housing project Schuler Homes developed in Puhi that was tied to development projects by Grove Farm, Rainforth said.
Rainforth also said all of the 700 units to be built by Grove Farm and other interests “will be all in different price ranges, because they have different (housing and building) requirements,” and will be geared for people in different income ranges.
For instance, the developers of the Kauai Lagoons project will be building 106 units that will be geared for households whose incomes are between 80 to 140 percent of the median income of $57,900 for a family of four on Kaua‘i,” he said.
Kauai Lagoons officials plan to build 24 units in Lihu‘e to start off with, and then another 82 in Waipouli, as part of their development rights for their resort project adjacent to the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort & Beach Club.
Developers and county officials intend to build the 700 units, but it is up to residents to make the move to be able to rent them or buy them, Rain-forth said.
That means, for example, going to home-ownership classes offered by the county, learning how to become a homeowner, applying for loan programs, and getting rid of debt, Rainforth said.
Even if residents go through that process, there is no guarantee the projects will be quality ones, Sylva and other critics contend. “They are just trying to appease the public with these Cracker-Jack boxes,” a critic said.
Rainforth said, “We have heard that charge of ‘Cracker-Jack’ over the years,” and that the claims generally have little merit.
Sound workmanship, for the most part, has gone into projects he has been involved with, he said. “Housing officials have learned over the years that you can’t build junk,” Rainforth said.
Even if the units are built, there is no guarantee local people will get into them, critics said.
They contended local residents will be squeezed out by more military families moving to Kaua‘i. Sylva said she came to that conclusion after a pollster representing the military recently called her.
“That representative was trying to find out about affordable housing that could be filled by military families,” Sylva said.
“The pollster was trying to find out the cost of affordable housing on Kaua‘i. That survey left me angry,” she said.
- Lester Chang, staff writer, 245-3681 (ext. 225) and lchang@ kauaipubco.com.
