 |
COMMENTARY Affordable housing is needed for all of us By Nani Medeiros |
|
|||
 |
|||
An unacceptable number of Hawai'i's men and women who teach our children, nurse our wounds, farm our land, counsel our families and police our communities cannot afford to buy and rent homes here in Hawai'i.
A convergence of factors and challenges has been materializing for decades that prevents our residents from finding affordable housing.
As The Advertiser pointed out in the Sept. 4 editorial "Housing shortage: Stop studying it and get to work," the housing crisis is not new, and neither are the solutions. Over the past 20 years, the recommendations of four task forces and various committees, joint committees and subcommittees have too often fallen on deaf ears at the state Legislature.
The arduous housing challenge in Hawai'i is the severe imbalance between a limited supply and increasing demand of both rental and for-sale housing units. Contributing factors to this imbalance are:
In addition, our residents must compete with buyers from around the world who also want to own a home in Hawai'i.
Gov. Linda Lingle, who has made finding solutions to our affordable-housing crisis a top priority, proposed last legislative session a comprehensive and detailed set of initiatives that were based on recommendations by a 100-member Affordable Housing Task Force and previous studies. The Legislature fell short on passing these important measures.
While the omnibus bill the Legislature passed was well intentioned and an important step, it does not recognize the seriousness of Hawai'i's housing crisis. The bill also does not address the broad range of housing that is lacking in the state.
The bill focused largely on affordable housing for one segment of the population — those on the lowest end of the economic spectrum. While helping families in this income bracket is important, Hawai'i's housing crisis is much broader and affects families and individuals with moderate incomes, who also have been priced out of the market.
Another bill passed by the Legislature increased the conveyance tax for real estate transactions over $600,000 to generate funds for the Rental Housing Trust Fund and to protect natural and cultural resources. However, the Legislature directed more than one-third of the tax increase to be deposited directly into the General Fund. With the state experiencing a healthy budget surplus, the governor agrees with The Advertiser that this money should not go to the General Fund, and that the Legislature should fix this flaw to ensure the funds are used solely for affordable rental housing or land preservation.
Finding solutions to Hawai'i's housing crisis will take three bold moves:
Streamlining the entitlement and permitting process is a key element to solving the housing crisis. Projects of 50 acres or less should be exempt from the Land Use Commission approval process and subject only to county approval. The Land Use Commission should be tasked with providing the "big picture" on land use in the state.
Various special funds dedicated to the production and renovation of rental and for-sale housing must be protected from legislative raids. Since 1995, almost $200 million has been diverted from eight state housing funds.
Greater tax incentives must be provided at various income levels to encourage developers to build affordable housing, in addition to the rental housing addressed in the Omnibus Housing Act of 2005.
Rather than focusing only on low-income groups, more must be done to address the needs of the larger community. Developers must be allowed to build homes in a wide range of price levels such that the market-priced houses subsidize the lower-priced units. Setting the threshold for affordable units at 140 percent of the state median income ($92,000 per year) allows a household with two teachers to qualify for an affordable home. This will not only help more families, but also allow developers more financial flexibility to finance projects.
Four major Hawai'i developers wrote an opinion piece to The Advertiser several months ago, articulating from their vast experience and expertise, this exact point.
But creating new laws does not automatically create new housing. That is why the administration is continuing to pursue nonlegislative solutions to address the housing shortage.
The Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawai'i, the state housing agency, is renovating hundreds of existing state housing units that have fallen into disrepair over the years and is simultaneously building new units; 170 units have been completed over the past two years, and 82 more are under construction. HCDCH also recently awarded a request for proposal to a private developer to build 490 units in Kapolei, including 280 new rental units.
Also in Kapolei, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is constructing the largest project in its history. DHHL also has begun construction on its first project on Kaua'i since 1997, and this summer issued 320 leases to Maui families, many who have been on waiting lists for 25 years.
The governor's senior policy adviser and key Cabinet members are also moving forward on inventorying vacant public and private lands, infrastructure needs for these parcels, and the current zoning status or needed zoning changes to make these lands developable for affordable housing. The governor's senior policy adviser has begun meeting with county officials to identify potential state land and to discuss the specific needs of the county and developers who are interested in assisting with meeting the affordable-housing needs.
Progress is being made on the housing front, but much more needs to be done to address the serious housing shortage. We must focus on practical solutions that cut bureaucracy and provide incentives that will increase affordable-housing opportunities for our residents, and we must do it now.
Nani Medeiros is chairwoman of the Streamlining State and County Land Use Entitlement Process Committee of the Affordable Housing Task Force. She wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.
