LIHUE — The Kauai County Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a resolution creating a 22-member committee to update the county’s affordable housing ordinance, despite the county Housing Agency saying the current law is good and has yet to be put
LIHUE — The Kauai County Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a resolution creating a 22-member committee to update the county’s affordable housing ordinance, despite the county Housing Agency saying the current law is good and has yet to be put to a trial.
The council, in 2007, passed Ordinance 860, which included workforce housing requirements for residential and resort developments.
“There are flaws in that bill,” said Councilman Tim Bynum, who was part of the council body that passed the law.
Council Chair Jay Furfaro and council members JoAnn Yukimura and Mel Rapozo were also in that council formation that approved Ordinance 860, though Furfaro was excused from the final vote.
Yukimura, who introduced Resolution 2013-57, said the purpose of the committee would be to advise the council’s Housing and Transportation Committee on updating the ordinance, something she wanted to address more than a year ago.
Under the current law, resort developers are required to hire an independent economist to come up with an analysis of the number of affordable housing that would be fit for each project, taking into consideration several potential socio-economic impacts of a given development on the community.
The analysis would be subject to approval by the council for petitions for Visitor Destination Area or zoning district amendments, or approval by the Housing Agency for subdivision, zoning or building permit applications.
To county Housing Director Kamuela Cobb-Adams, the current ordinance is good, with enough flexibility and structure to be worked on, and it hasn’t been tested yet. It was passed when the economy started to decline and there hasn’t been any new development since then, he said.
“There may be some issues with it, but I would prefer to wait and let it see its course and see what those issues are prior to making many changes,” Cobb-Adams said.
Landowners are starting to inquire about new development, which is a sign there may be something on the horizon, he said.
“We can better see what the issues are by having actual experiences,” Cobb-Adams said.
The committee has a vast list of “well-qualified people,” according to Councilman Gary Hooser, but no one from the Housing Agency is there — Cobb-Adams declined an offer to participate as an ex-officio member.
Though Cobb-Adams gave Yukimura a written response in which the Housing Agency does not believe it’s appropriate for the current ordinance to be amended, and would not directly participate as ex-officio members in the committee, he said the agency would provide comments and feedback to the council.
“I welcome as much participation as you are willing to give,” Yukimura said to Cobb-Adams. “But I also think that we need to work on creating a better ordinance, because one of my goals is permanent affordability, and that is not yet assured under the existing ordinance.”
Bynum said that without affordable housing requirements — which are not unique to Hawaii — Kauai wouldn’t have the housing stock that it has. Almost all of Eleele, Puhi and Hanapepe Heights was built as affordable housing, he said.
As new development comes in, Bynum said, the current ordinance won’t address what contribution the resorts would make to affordable housing in any way.
Cobb-Adams said he could agree with Bynum that the current ordinance’s requirement from new resorts is “rather subjective,” but it does address resort development.
Rapozo was hesitant to support the resolution, fearing potential legal problems. But County Attorney Al Castillo said his office had reviewed and it is consistent and in full compliance with council rules.
Council Vice Chair Nadine Nakamura’s amendment erased from the resolution a sentence stating the current ordinance “needs to be updated to be more effective,” because the Housing Agency had said the law hasn’t been tested, she said.
Nakamura’s amendment also added language to the resolution stating that current policy does not adequately address the need for permanent affordable housing and lacks clear affordable housing provisions for resort development.
Councilman Ross Kagawa said he understands Cobb-Adams’ concerns about not having enough time to see if the current ordinance is effective, but there are “legitimate concerns” about future development.
Besides Yukimura and Bynum, the committee will include Ellen Ching, Ken Rainforth, Debra Deluis, MaBel Fujiuchi, Roberta Charles, Paul Kyno, Clifton Kukino, June Munoz, Bob Keown, Pamella DeFrancis, Paul MacDonald, Sean Mahoney, Stephen Spears, Tom Shigemoto, Karen Ono, Joseph Figaroa, Desiree Vea, Matilda Yoshioka and Ray Soon.
“I made a commitment to do it because I think it’s really important, but it’s going to be a lot of work because JoAnn is a taskmaster,” Bynum said.
The committee will have until May to come before the council with its findings and recommendations.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0452 or lazambuja@thegardenisland.com
