Mayor says county will process affordable-housing permits faster

LIHU‘E — Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste said yesterday his administration will begin giving higher priority to processing permits for affordable-housing units than permits for non-affordable housing units.

The effort is intended to help with the development of affordable housing local residents can buy, Baptiste said in a meeting with reporters in his office at the Lihu‘e Civic Center.

Housing for many residents has become nearly unobtainable because of a hot real estate market that has seen home prices on the island skyrocket beyond the means of most residents. The market has been anchored by repeat and high-priced property sales that have occurred over the last four years, county officials have said.

Baptiste also announced his administration supports Gov. Linda Lingle’s call for a “one-stop shop to facilitate the planning, financing, permitting, construction and managing of affordable rental projects.”

If the permit process can be streamlined, construction of new homes and renovation of existing homes could be expedited, possibly resulting in significant savings for property owners, Baptiste indicated.

Baptiste, in asserting the need to develop more affordable housing, said, “We want to make sure affordable-housing applications get priority over non-affordable housing projects.”

Understandably, the shift may mean the processing of applications for “non-affordable” housing projects will be slower, Baptiste said.

The one-stop, permit-processing center proposed by Lingle is to be incorporated into a bill that is to be sent to the state Legislature next year, Baptiste said.

In step with Lingle’s proposal, Baptiste said he wants employees with the Kaua‘i County Planning Department and the Kaua‘i County Department of Public Works to halt any duplication in the review of permits.

Baptiste said the strengthening of the review process could involve “cross-training” of employees from both agencies.

The mayor said he has convened a task force to take “immediate action” in moving in step with state efforts to begin creating more affordable housing.

Baptiste said representatives from the Kaua‘i County Department of Water, Planning Department and various divisions of the DPW, including the Buildings, Wastewater, Roads and Engineering divisions, and representatives from the Kaua‘i County Housing Agency, have met to determine how to improve the county permit process.

Baptiste said one solution may be the creation of a handbook for developers that would outline all the steps that must be completed to have permits approved.

Another option is digitizing of permit forms and making them available online, followed up with detailed instructions on the completion of the forms, Baptiste said.

So that more affordable housing may be built on Kaua‘i in the future, state officials also have earmarked five possible sites on Kaua‘i, Baptiste said.

Gov. Linda Lingle’s administration also would consider other sites recommended by Kaua‘i County officials, Baptiste said.

The subject of lengthy permit delays came up during a meeting last week on O‘ahu. Baptiste said the meeting involved Lingle, himself, other mayors, Kaua‘i County Council Chairman Kaipo Asing, Kaua‘i County Planning Director Ian Costa, Kaua‘i Offices of Community Assistance Director Bernard Carvalho, representatives from other counties, and developers.

Developers said their main concern was the “amount of time it currently takes to get through the entire permitting process,” Baptiste said. Carvalho said processing of permits may take between six months and a year, a delay that may be attributed to duplications in the review process.

But government agencies aren’t entirely to be blamed for the delays, Baptiste said. During the meeting with Lingle, mayors and representatives from the various counties reported that plans come to review tables “75 percent completed,” and are not always “completely accurate,” Baptiste said. The incomplete plans that are submitted may be the result of “customers (who) are rushing the architect,” Baptiste said.

The plans are run through the state Land Use Commission, the state Department of Health, the Kaua‘i County Planning Commission, the DPW Building Division, and the Kaua‘i County Council, Baptiste said.

In an effort to begin developing more affordable housing statewide, state and government agencies will seek out free or inexpensive land that could be donated or leased to developers for a nominal fee, Baptiste said. Developers said at the O‘ahu meeting that more affordable housing units could be built if land were provided to them at little or not cost. With land obtained in that way, developers said they can apply the appropriate funding toward infrastructure, and affordable housing would be obtainable, Baptiste reported.

Baptiste said building affordable-housing units involves construction costs, infrastructure and land. One of these elements has to be subsidized for affordable housing units to be built, he said. Baptiste said the county has helped Grove Farm Company, the largest land developer in East Kaua‘i, cut development costs in the past by allowing the company to expand sewer facilities for its projects, rather than requiring the company to build new sewer facilities.

Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.