It was Tuesday July 11, 2023, and the room was packed. The issue at hand was a luxury residential development proposed for Kaua‘i’s southside. The majority were in opposition, their attendance driven by deep concerns for Kaua‘i’s future. Most of those in support were, directly or indirectly, paid to be there.
It’s of course, all about the money. Those who have money want more of it, those without it mostly just want to have a decent life, and not have their homes and backyards screwed up.
The story is typical, and the same on every island. The landowner/developer, who already has money, wants more of it. He (it’s almost always a he) makes more money by selling luxury homes to other people with money (who are almost never from here, but do visit occasionally).
To maximize profits (la-di-da words for making even more money), during the permitting process the developer/owner seeks to reduce provisions requiring investments in infrastructure, affordable housing, parks, drainage, sewer, parking, public access, etc.
Greenwashing environmental reviews and minimizing historical and cultural impacts are also standard operating procedure.
They hire former government insiders (locals, preferably Hawaiians), so when negotiating with current government insiders, it’s all just friends talking with friends (let’s go down to Roy’s, knock back a few and sort this all out).
Once the owner/developer secures the required permits on the very best terms possible, they either “flip” the property to another faceless owner/developer, and/or they break ground and start construction.
The “how to make money in real estate” playbook then calls for the landowner/developer to go back to the various government agencies, plead hardship and unforeseen costs, and “seek further concessions.”
Out of one side of their mouth, they assure us they mean well, promise this time it will be better, and ask us to trust them yet again. Out of the other side, they not so subtly begin waving around words like, “If you guys cause us to lose money we are going to sue you and it won’t be pretty.”
The various government agencies (who in the back of their mind are afraid they may have neglected to cross some “t’s” and dot some “i’s”) then go to the county attorney (no, not the attorney who’s representing the owner/developer, that’s the former county attorney or former deputy county attorney). The real and current county attorney then advises the agency to be careful and do what they can to help the former county attorney and/or former deputy county attorney navigate the challenges (read — make more money for the owner/developer) and avoid a messy lawsuit.
Yes, unfortunately it’s all very predictable, and it’s why people in the room that day were so angry, sad and disillusioned.
The old-timers had seen it all before. They made no attempt to mask the disgust, the cynicism and anger in their voices.
Others spoke with passion describing the desecration, the deceit and the sordid history of the project — pleading with the planning commission to do the right thing.
It was the voice of a young kanaka woman testifying from deep within her heart about the ugly, historical and ongoing injustice of it all — that moved the room for many of us.
Fortunately, the planning commission voted in support of allowing community groups Save Koloa and Friends of Maha‘ulepu the right to intervene and deferred action on the owner/developers request.
For the community, it was a win. It’s a long way from being over, but on this day the community won. Mahalo to planning commissioners and staff.
Mahalo most of all to those in the room who took the time to show up.
•••
Gary Hooser is the former vice-chair of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, and served eight years in the state Senate, where he was majority leader. He also served for eight years on the Kaua‘i County Council, and was the former director of the state Office of Environmental Quality Control.
So…. Not sure what happened at the meeting,,,,,
Hooser’s lamenting are typically filled with irony and contradictions which he obviously cannot or will not see.
He praises the county planning apparatus in it’s actions against the private property rights of “developers” and their insatiable greed (his interpretation of profits) while ignoring the fiduciary responsibilities of businesses to their investors.
Of course, he posits that this developer and its ilk are the cause of the “injustice” surrounding a lack of affordable housing. But Hooser, and many others, are absolutely blinded by this perceived “injustice” and fail to comprehend the real cause behind the dearth of inexpensive housing. The irony is that the very planning apparatus he praises is THE cause of the problem–a shortage of affordable building sites & housing.
Why? Because the county–council and various agencies–have erected barriers to the entire process of developing affordable housing. These barriers are unreasonably restrictive land-use & zoning rules/regulations and the obstructionist bureaucratic mentality that prevent the conversion of land zoned agriculture to residential use. The predictable result is simply that the artificially constrained supply of small, building lots drives up the price of all residential zoned land. This makes this land so expensive that only wealthy individuals can afford it.
If these barriers were to be lifted there would be far more building lots available which would have the predictable affect of lowering the cost and making housing more affordable. If Hooser had a lick of economic common sense he could easily see that this is the case in many areas around the country where housing is very affordable with median prices well BELOW those in Hawaii. Excess supply drives down prices…just the opposite of what is happening here.
The sad fact is that Hooser, politicians and the government bureaucracies are incapable of seeing their culpability in this on-going problem. It’s just another case of the government causing a problem and when everyone complains, the assumption is that more government will “fix” the issue. It never works that way…more government always leads to exacerbated and new problems. Government at its core is incompetent (Skyline rail anyone?). So, on and on it goes in a nasty cause and affect cycle that only makes things worse.
RSW
Here’s the dilemma: If you allow more development, traffic increases and infrastructure that is already overloaded, get’s worse. If you put in more roadways and infrastructure to support increased development, then Kauai becomes more crowded and more like Honolulu and less rural, thus destroying the very reason we all love to live here. Not everyone who wants to live here will be able to afford to do so. Let’s say a person was born and raised in Beverly Hills. Do they have a right to have affordable housing built and subsidized by taxpayers so that they can continue to live there after they can no longer afford to do so? It can be somewhat unfortunate, but the law of supply and demand controls a free market economy and affordability of housing on Kauai.