COM 0817.000 2022-2024 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Heather Kimball, Council Chair and Members of the County Council County of Hawai`i March 15, 2024 Page 2 square foot (RS-15), Single Family Residential-10,000 square foot (RS-10), Single Family Residential-7,500 square foot(RS-7.5) and Open zoning districts. The non-performance on timed conditions is the result of conditions that could not have been foreseen or are beyond the control of the applicants, successors, or assigns, and that are not the result of their fault or negligence. Between 2006 and 2010, the applicant successfully developed Phases 1 and 2 of the `Kumakua Self Help Housing' project. These phases consisted of developing 44 self-help house lots and homes on approximately 15 acres of land directly mauka of the subject properties. According to the applicant, the HICDC mutual self-help housing program is financed through the USDA Rural Development 502 Direct Loan program. These loans are affordable for, and only available to households at 80 percent of the median income or below. Following the close of the loan the families work in groups of 10 to 11 to perform 65% of the labor involved in constructing the homes. The homes are built together, all families work on all the homes and no one moves in until all of the homes are complete. HICDC assists the families in qualifying for the loan, secures the permits and subcontractors, and has an on-site construction supervisor to guide the construction process. This process has been used to complete more than 300 homes on the Big Island, including 44 in the first 2 phases of this project. In 2010, the applicant successfully rezoned the subject properties to develop Phase 3 of the project consisting of an additional 32, minimum 10,000-square-foot house lots, one 8.12-acre bulk lot, a road lot, and related infrastructure. However, the applicant became concerned about the economic outlook of North Kohala residents given the impacts of the 2008-2009 great recession and had significant difficulty recruiting applicants who were interested in self-help housing in North Kohala and who met the income and credit requirements to qualify for the required mortgage. This made the applicant reticent to borrow the $4 million in funds to construct Phase 3 of the project. However, given the passage of time and the post-pandemic economic recovery, those concerns have receded, and the applicant has the financing lined up to proceed with the subdivision, as is evidenced by the fact that the applicant has already prepared and submitted a subdivision application in 2023, but was informed that the time to secure Final Subdivision Approval had expired. Moreover, since the rezoning was approved in 2010, the applicant, which is a non-profit, affordable housing development organization, has successfully developed several self-help housing projects (88 units) and senior rental housing projects (202 units island wide), with an additional 100-unit family rental project under construction to be complete in October 2024.