In what one community leader said will be a first for the South Shore region, Kukui‘ula Development Company will build affordable housing units in Koloa for its employees and employees of the county of Kaua‘i as required by a zoning
In what one community leader said will be a first for the South Shore region, Kukui‘ula Development Company will build affordable housing units in Koloa for its employees and employees of the county of Kaua‘i as required by a zoning change.
“This is the first time that I know of where a developer is required to build employee housing here,” said Louie Abrams, president of the Koloa Community Association. “This project will bring tremendous benefits to the community.”
The project will support affordable housing units in Koloa to be managed by the state and county.
The Kaua‘i County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Tuesday for the request for permits by Kukui‘ula to build 76 single-family and multifamily units on a 9.4-acre lot east of Po‘ipu Road. The hearing starts at 1:30 p.m.
The units will be available for employees at Kukui‘ula’s 1,002-acre resort, commercial and residential project in Po‘ipu, as well as county employees.
Abrams said yesterday he anticipates many community association members will attend the meeting “to testify in favor of it.”
The county required the developer to build such housing as part of the rezoning agreement in 2004 for the Kukui‘ula project. With employees living close to work, many won’t have to commute, thereby helping to alleviate traffic congestion not only in Koloa and Po‘ipu but in outlying regions, county officials have said of the plans.
The houses will be placed within two parcels that will be separated by a road. The northern portion will involve the construction of 36 multi-family units on nearly 3 acres.
This project will include the contraction of six one-bedroom units and 30 two-bedroom units in two-story buildings.
The one-bedroom units will be 803 square feet, while the two bedroom units will be 806 square feet, according to county planning documents.
Some 77 parking stalls will be built, including five for visitor parking. Each housing unit will have two parking stalls, including one covered stall on the ground level outside buildings.
The southern part of the project will have 39 two-story, single-family units on six acres. Some 23 of the homes will have three bedrooms and range between 1,252 square feet and 1,416 square feet, while 16 of the homes will have four bedrooms and range between 1,407 square feet and 1,594 square feet.
In planning documents, the developers state the single-family units will be placed so that they are next to open spaces.
To service the housing, a maintenance building will be constructed.
For the southern phase, 121 parking stalls are planned, with 79 of them to be covered and 43 of them to be for visitor parking.
County planners foresee the project as a way to increase housing opportunities for moderate-and low-income households.
The project hopes to offer residential units to first-time homebuyers whose incomes are within 80 to 180 percent of the county’s median income of about $60,000, county documents state.
“The intent is to move families out of expansive rental subsidy programs into homeownership, developing housing at very low cost through self-help program and reduced-rate mortgage financing,” county documents state.
The county will require the developer to stop if burials and historical and archeological sites are discovered during the work.
The odds of finding burials and sites appear to be slim, because the land has gone through decades of sugar cultivation, county planning documents state.
