Fees for affordable rentals may be eliminated

LIHUE — The Kauai County Council will be deliberating on a package of bills on Wednesday which if passed, would reduce the cost of permitting for an affordable additional rental unit to zero.

The council passed an ordinance last year allowing all residential homes to build an additional 800-square-foot rental unit, very few Kauai residents have pursued the option because of the high permit fees, according to a press release from the county.

The current fees for an ARU can range from $1,000 to well over $10,000.

If passed, the six bills proposed by Councilmembers Mason Chock and Luke Evslin will grant the County Housing Agency the authority to certify an ARU as affordable, defined by a three-year commitment to a number of existing compliance options.

They would then waive the $3,900 wastewater treatment capacity fee, building permit fees, permit filing and processing fees, and the environmental impact assessment fee.

They would also establish a sub-account within the existing Affordable Housing Fund to subsidize the facilities reserve connection to the county Department of Water, which can be as high as $5,145 for an ARU.

Lastly, they would allow ARUs to be built on Rice Street, which is the only part of the island other than Hanalei and Ha‘ena where they are currently prohibited.

“ARUs are the low-hanging fruit of our affordable-housing crisis,” Evslin said. “They have the potential to add lots of units to the rental market to bring down the cost of rent. They help families afford the high cost of a mortgage by giving them more flexibility over renting a room, and they help ensure that multi-generational households can stay together.”

Infill development through ADUs (additional dwelling units) and ARUs are a core component of the island’s new General Plan, which was approved last year. The island’s guiding policy document describes a lack of supply caused partially by regulatory barriers is a main driver of Kauai’s housing crisis.

“Families are really suffering,” Chock said when describing his motivation to craft the bills. “We need to do everything we can to ensure that local families can continue to call Kauai their home.”

The draft bills up for consideration are numbers 2740, 2741, 2742, 2743, 2744 and 2745. They are available for review on the County Council’s website at Kauai.gov. The council meeting starts at 8:30 a.m. in the Historic County Building.