COM 0200.044 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

County of Hawaii, County Council Page 3 Affordable Housing Requirements for Industrial Developments In particular, Bill t56 is unconstitutional because the Council has: (i) Failed to complete a thorough and detailed study of the workforce jobs required and generated by the new, or additions, or reconstruction to existing industrial park developments, confirmation that those prospective industrial employees are in need of housing and that those employees would financially qualify for such housing; (z) Failed to provide any study, legal analysis or justification of Bill a,56 under the "Essential Nexus" Takings Test; (3) Failed to provide any study, legal analysis or justification of Bill i56 under the "Constitutional Proportionality Nexus" Test to support the proposed requirement of one affordable unit credit for every fourfull-time equivalent jobs created. Attached is a legal memorandum prepared by Professor David Callies of the William S. Richardson School of Law, addressing the Kauai County Council during their deliberation of affordable housing requirements for residential developments of five or more dwelling units and "large" resort commercial and industrial developments. The following is an excerpt from Professor Callies' memorandum, which explains that in order to legally justify imposing affordable housing exactions on landowners and developers, the government must first perform thorough and detailed studies to establish a rational and proportional nexus between the projects and the demand for affordable housing: `:As to housing exactions orset-asides on commercial development, the principle -indeed virtually only -federal case approving such set-asides did so only after the local government requiring such set-asides engaged in thorough and detailed studies of the workforce jobs required and generated by the proposed commercial development, which requirements were then cut inhalf -far less than the 40% which the draft County of Kauai Housing Policy Ordinance would require of such commercial development." Proposed Bill i~6 is Counterintuitive to the Development of Affordable Housing The Hawaii's history has generally shown that that overly aggressive affordable housing requirements result in (i) the costs of such affordable housing requirements being passed on to residents as increased prices of market homes; and (z) many times such aggressive requirements result in landowners and developers postponing their projects, which result in fewer affordable units being built. On the other hand, if developers are provided with incentives, it will encourage them to build more housing supply in all price ranges for all income groups, including affordable rentals and housing. As with other counties in the state, the County of Hawaii has an insufficient supply of rentals and for sale units for all income groups. Maui County just recently passed a workforce housing policy to try and address this issue, Kauai County is also in the process of adopting a housing policy, and in its zoos session, the Legislature was also trying to find ways to increase the supply of affordable housing. LURF participated in the Joint Legislative Housing and Homeless Task Force, the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu's Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, and Affordable Housing Task Force created by Senate Concurrent Resolution 135 in 2004. It