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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PCPLUD 2024/11/19 (2022-2024) DRAFT Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use, and Development 24th Session West Hawaii Civic Center 74-5044 Ane Keohokalole Highway, Building A Kailua-Kona, Hawaii November 19, 2024 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Policy Committeeon Planning,Land Use, and ORDER: Development was called to order at 10:02 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Kailua-Kona, by Holeka Goro Inaba, Acting'Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair(via videoconference from Hilo)" Mr. Holeka Goro Inaba, Vice Chair Ms. Cindy Evans, Member Ms. Michelle M. Galimba,Member Ms. Jenn Kagiwada, Member (via videoconference from Hilo) Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Member Ms. Heather L. Kimball, Member Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS The Acting Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: (There were none.) ACTING CHR`INABA: If we could please proceed with Communications. COMMUNI- The Acting Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. Comm. 948: REQUESTS THE FORMATION OF AN AD HOC COMMITTEE PURSUANT TO.COUNCIL RULE NO. 7 AND SECTION 92-2.5 OF THE HAWAII REVISED STATUTES TO DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REVISIONS TO CHAPTER 11 OF THE HAWAII COUNTY CODE 1983 (2016 EDITION, AS AMENDED), ENTITLED "HOUSING" From Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, dated July 18, 2024. Postponed: August 6 and November 8, 2024 (Note: There is a motion by Ms. Kimball, seconded by Ms. Lee Loy, to close file on Communication 948.) PCPLUD-24 November 19,2024 and Comm. 948.2: From Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, dated October 25, 2024, transmitting the ad hoc committee's recommendations. (Note: Comm. 948.3 from Council Member Ashley L. Kierkiewicz dated November 8, 2024, transmitting an attachment to Chapter l 1 Ad Hoc Committee Recommendations to Comm. 948, was circulated.) ACTING CHR. INABA: Council Member Kierkiewicz, would you like to tee us off? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Sure. Thank you, Chair Inaba. You know, again, before you is a report of the Chapter 11 Ad Hoc, which included myself,;Council Members Jennifer Kagiwada, Holeka Inaba, and Sue Lee Loy in partnership with members of the Office of Housing and Community➢eveloptuent. We really sunk our teeth into diving into the various Housing issues that are being faced by our community and ways in which we can kind of untangle some of the bureaucracy to make development, you know, more,sustainable and accelerated here on the island to deal with our housing crisis. We had a really excellent convening with Housing contributions where we were able to test out some of the, you know,policyideas that the Ad Hoc came out with. Got really excellent feedback, and so this report is the summation of all those activities. This is just the first step. You know,I have recommended that we reconvene another Ad Hoc to really begin to get into the nitty-gritty policy development. But ;wanted to just provide this body the opportunity to dig into some of these ideas, either with members of the Ad Hoc. I know there's representation from Office of Housing and Community Development there as well, should folks have questions about any of the ideas that we are putting forward. Thank you, Chair, I yield. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. We do not have anyone in our Kona Chambers right now from Housing. Is there anyone in Hilo Chambers? No, okay. With that, opening it up to the body if there's any discussion or questions regarding this report at this time? MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: I have one. ACTING CHR. INABA: Sorry, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, go ahead. Page 2 PCPLUD-24 November 19,2024 MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you. To the maker of the communication, what members of the community besides the development community and County representatives were conferred with regarding housing and what's needed in the County? ACTING CHR. INABA: Council Member Kierkiewicz. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Any, like, homeowners in that list? I'm looking over the list you submitted in Communication 948.3. I'm not seeing a lot of the regular boots on the ground, `salt of the earth'kind of people. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: I think everybody on that list is a homeowner. And we did try our very best to connect with folks that are building single-family homes and larger developments. And many of them also were involved in real estate. So, they could definitely speak to the struggles that many of our local families face with trying to acquire financing that is required to, you know, take out a mortgage and all of the other financing pieces that are involved,in becoming a homeowner. They also talked about the stresses that folks face within the rental market. So, a lot of perspectives. Again, the work is not done. We worked at a very accelerated pace meeting weekly. Three to four hours at a timeto just get through the issues. So, certainly, more community engagement is going to be happening next year. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: That's good. I mean looking over this list, we've got Richard Wheelock,Robert`Bob" Williams, Roland Higashi, HPM Building Supply represented. Se,,a lot of folks in the community develop. But I'm looking forwardto seeing some of the local community members. We're in need of the housing thatwe're hoping to build through different forms be represented in the discussions, Thank you., MS:'KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, if I could just respond to that very quickly? ACTING CHR. INABA: Yes, briefly, go ahead. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: The names that Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder mentioned were a very, very small selective sampling. I also want to point out a very interesting individual by the name of Max Behrens, Max Gainz, LLC. He's a local bruddah from the Ka`u side working to build single-family homes throughout the:Puna region and throughout Hawaii Island. And he had very interesting m`ana`o to share with the group. He's somebody that is, like you say, `salt of the earth,' somebody that is boots on the ground that we really want to make sure that we were including in the conversation. And he had great ideas that the Ad Hoc is considering and going to be taking action on. Thank you Chair. Page 3 PCPLUD-24 November 19,2024 ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you. At this time, we also have joining us from Housing, Administrator Kunz, Christina(Pineda), and Anne Bailey. Want to give the opportunity to you folks if you have anything to add at this time. We're just here to answer questions if there are any. Thank you Administrator. Sending it over to Council Member Evans and then Council Member Kimball. MS. EVANS: Thank you. Good morning. So, I reviewed the recommendations, and it's really a wonderful broadcast. I love this report: There were a couple things I wanted to point out, because I hadn't seen this discussed before. And that is, the idea in the in-lieu fees that we should be looking,at adjustments based on geographic location. And I know we briefly-touched on"that in a committee hearing quite a while back. But was there a lot of support amongst"the members about doing adjustments based on where you live on the island, West side versus East side for example? ACTING CHR. INABA: Council Member Kierkiewicz, can you answer some of these questions being that you were the Chair,of this Ad Hoc Committee? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Sure, but I was actually going to lean on you because this was an area that you were really passionate about: You know, Council Member Evans, in summary, yes,there were folks in the room that talked about having to make adjustments based on geography.. Because, youknow, the market is very different depending on the community that you're in. MS. EVANS: ,So, I'm in support of it. So, I really encourage that. The other thing I noticed, at least in one spot maybe more, this idea of concurrency. So, did you get any,indepth of the thought of concurrency? ACTING CHR. INABA: Go ahead, Council Member Kierkiewicz. Ms.,KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. We briefly touched on it during the summit, Council Member Evans. 'It was something that we did not have time to fully explore;but it was mentioned in the report that's something that we want to take a close-up leek at for sure. MS. EVANS: Thank you. I think that's come up. To me a lot of times, especially some of the rezoning that we've been discussing recently. The last piece to it is this thought of expanding the housing requirements of developers beyond 15 miles. What was that about, why would they want to expand it beyond 15 miles? Because you just know I come from a place of mixed-use development. I hate having not dividing if we can mix use a community. But what was that about wanting to expand beyond 15 miles? MS. KIERKIEWICZ: So, right now, Council Member Evans, you know the consensus of the Ad Hoc is, if we can realize that mix-use housing in that one single Page 4 PCPLUD-24 November 19,2024 project area, that is you know, the Number One goal that we had. That is what we want to make sure developers are working towards. In the event that it just doesn't pencil out, keeping it within the 15 miles is certainly, you know, the second best alternative. But we are realizing with the housing credits that are excess credits that are on the market and the limitation of the 15 miles, one of the strategies that we are considering is, for these excess credits which we will be sunsetting,just opening it up for housing development islandwide. And this is something that we will have to consider, because there was a change to Hawaii Revised Statutes regarding housing credits being applicable statewide. Seo, again, that's where, you know, a lot of different areas where we are having to now go beyond"considering just outside of the 15-mile radius of where that original project is being developed. MS. EVANS: Okay, and then my last one is wastewater. So, knowing the challenges of wastewater and what we're up against, there was a discussion about a Waiver for Innovation. ACTING CHR. INABA: Council Member Evans, can you speak up? MS. EVANS: Okay, trying to get the Department'of Health to look at proof of concept and to get some new ideas onboard. Given'that the Legislative Session is coming up soon, do you see the Council moving on some of these things before the group comes knack together? MS: KIERKIEWICZ: You know, Council Member Evans, I believe addressing wastewater issues was something that was a legislative priority for this body that was elevated through the HSAC (Hawai`i State Association of Counties)package. We're going to do all the things.' We're going to find ways to, you know, connect ;with the State Legislature on this particular issue. I think there are also ways to work through the Governor's Office and the Department of Health directly on the Waivers of Innovation Mike Dahilig with U.S. Senator Brian Schatz's Office did talk about some pilots that are happening on Kauai. So, we definitely want to connect with our neighbor island friends to see what they are exploring, and if that's something we can do here on Hawaii Island. Soy we're going to do all the things. We're not just going to limit ourselves to working with the State Legislature, because oftentimes it could just be an Administrative signoff on the Department of Health side. MS. EVANS: Okay, thank you. Page 5 PCPLUD-24 November 19,2024 ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Evans. Council Member Kimball and then Villegas. MS. KIMBALL: Thank you. First of all,just mahalo to all the members of the Ad Hoc Committee. This is a really thorough report, and I know that you guys spent a lot of time meeting together and with individuals to put it together. I'm just going to ask all my questions here at one time, and then ask for the response. I'm curious a little bit about some of the feedback you got from, particularly, the nonprofit developers about the ideas ground phasing out credits, and if they thought that would impact them in'any way,negatively, or if they were comfortable pursuing the change with in-lieu fees instead`, Then, I'm not sure with the timing, if all of your meetings occurred before we had the HSAC meeting where they brought in the woman from Vail to talk about the Indeed Program, which we've talked,about as a body before. But she expanded upon that program, and I think a lot of us were really impressed with what we were doing. So, hopefully, as we were looking at legislation to follow-up this report, that it's something that's considered. Along that line, I love Maui's $100,000 Grant Program for helping people build ADU's (Affordable Dwelling Units). If we can get a new dwelling unit and only spend$100,000 of government money instead of $500,000 of government money,;I think that's a win for everybody. But I just wanted to ask then, in addition to the Indeed Program, you know, one of the things that I like about it is the restrictions on the term of affordability. And so, I wonder if that,particular questiori was any part of the dialogue particularly around affordable lots'for sale. That's been one of the areas that has been concerning to me, that we only need to market, I think. And Holeka, you can correct me if I'm wrong,it's like 180 days of the affordable rate, and then it can go to market. Same with, you know, the 10 year affordability requirements. So, wanted to see if the group discussed thatissue at all, and if there were any thoughts on that? Thank you, I yield. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Chair, I can kick us off here. Council Member Kimball, in order of the questions you asked, if nonprofits have concerns about phasing out excess credits. We did not hear, you know, any concerns raised from that sector. There was a strong advocacy, though from them to allow for developers to convey land as a way to meet their affordable housing requirements, because that's how a number of those entities are able to realize their affordable housing projects. Council Member Kagiwada will get into the Indeed Program. And with the suite of options that have been successfully implemented in Vail County, those are things that we want to explore. We also are going to be taking a hard look at how Maui is Page 6 PCPLUD-24 November 19,2024 successfully rolling out its $100,000 grants for the ADU program. And to see if that's something that we can learn from and model here in the County. When it comes to lots for sale, I know that our Office of Housing and Community Development specifically, Anne Bailey and Christina Pineda work really hard with community members . I think even going beyond. Some of the timelines to qualify people. The big issue is, they may be able to qualify to purchase the lot, but they don't have enough financing available to take out a loan to do construction. So, we're taking all of that into consideration so that we can build all of these GAP (Grants for Affordable Rental Projects)programs that help our community members get into a home. Build a home. And they may be in the audience if you'd like to hear more from them about some of the work that they're doing to hold hands of community members so thatthey can realize that home ownership dream. Thank you, Chair. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Council Member Kagiwada. MS. KAGIWADA: Thank you, Chair. Yeah,,I'll just add a little bit more there. Going back to Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder's comment, I think going forward, it's a great idea to figure out ways to involve more community members in these discussions. And I think whoever's on the Ad Hoc will definitely look at doing that. As far as the Indeed Program and the other programs that are kind of innovative that we're hearing from other counties, I just want to echo what Council Member Kierkiewicz just said. I think we're very interested in exploring some of those more. We didn't really have enough time to go deeply into them, and I think we do want to go into some of them and see how parts of them could work for our County. o,I think that that's kind`of a charge going forward. But I think there was a lot of interest there. Then, I also wantedto piggyback on what Council Member Kierkiewicz said about the affordability, because I do think, and I think I mentioned this in our last meeting, working with the lenders and figuring out why those GAP's are really critical. We weren't able to do that in the last session. We did so much, and we just ran out of time to do everything that we wanted to do. So, but figuring out, you know, some of these GAP's that we can fund, potentially, with lower amounts of money, but make really big difference in people's lives and their ability to acquire stable housing. I did want to mention, I did want to mention I'm going to be going to the Housing Solutions Conference this week, so I'll be looking for more things to bring back to this Council. So, I just wanted to add that to our discussion. Thank you. Page 7 PCPLUD-24 November 19,2024 ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Kimball, you still have the floor. MS. KIMBALL: Just wanted to again, touch on the question about term of affordability and if there was a conversation about that particular aspect of Chapter 11? ACTING CHR. INABA: I'll answer briefly. There was discussion, and we know term of affordability right now, has an issue. So, yes, definitely. As we look to amend and revamp our Code, looking to extend,that, and also the sale period for those affordable lots. Making sure we have enough runway to market and get things out there and qualify people. So, housing was very involved and will have a definite way in making sure that that timeframe is adequate. Council Member Villegas. MS. VILLEGAS: Thank you. First off, thank you, Council Member Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder for pointing out, there dues seem to be—it's all the same players at the table that have been at the table for decades. So, I'd love to see more inclusion from community members and people that are predominantly focused on affordable housing projects, and we know that the County has had some partners like that. I see a very heavily represented East side component here versus the West side. And with many of the projects currently facing some challenges in Council. I think it would be good to have some more representation from West side businesses, and I just always get concerned when.,,if the intention is to serve the community, which I understand and,trust is the highest intention, that the people that have the potential for the most financial gain, and are the ones at the table making the rules. So, that just concerns me, and I know it concerns my constituents. I have some questions, and thank you for asking this question, Chair Kimball, abouts you called it""the `termed affordability" or term of affordability. Because I think that's.really there's a fundamental issue that's been nagging at me, and one of the conversations we had about a certain project, and the allocated affordable housing components associated with that, and that term of affordability was so small and so short. My question was, how does that actually provide affordable workforce housing for our community? And the answer was, it provides an avenue to create generational wealth, which is like the goal, right? But not really, because the goal is to have a home, and for that home to belong to the people that already live here, and that we recognize the compacity of the land, the water, and the space. And we authentically, build homes for the people that already live here. And not become this footnote of what you have to do if prices are reasonable enough. Page 8 PCPLUD-24 November 19,2024 I want to see some questions asked in here, because I constantly hear from developers, we can't afford to build that. But I also know that the industry standard is a minimum of 20 percent profit margin. So,perhaps it's time. That's not a naturally occurring phenomenon. Somebody decided that number and that became the industry norm. But perhaps for the betterment of the overall community, some of that could be adapted and that profit margin could be considered to be flexible. So,just want to think outside the box there for the overall 'greater good, because that is what we're trying to do here, and it breaks my heart when I hear from community that they once again, question you know, is the fox in'the henhouse? And where does that really leave us? So, thank you for taking this on; digging deep into the "i's" and the "t's" and having brought together this great big group`of people with their perspectives. But I would humbly ask that you continue to expand that and that these big issues of term of affordability. It's not our job to make it,easy for developers. Yes, we want homes, but we want homes for our residents to live in perpetuity and ideally to become generational homes, not just an avenue for generational wealth. I yield. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Villegas. Council Member Galimba. MS. GALIMBA: Thank you. So, my comments are somewhat different from my colleague, Although I hear her concerns as well. But you know, it's like, I guess for me,one of the things I got out of the Keyser Marston Report was that they made the point that it really doesn't pencil out for developers to build on our island,pretty much anywhere. So, there's different issues on East versus West side making that so. o, that kind of puts it back on to individual folks to build their houses, and that is a big ask for folks to navigate all of the issues. Credit, Building Code;just the logistics of buildirsga house while also having a job and raising a family. It's a lot to put on,people that'they have to build their own house. And a lot of them just can't do it. They don't have the credit; they don't have the time to do that. So, driving here; whenever I drive from my home to here, I go through Ocean View, and that is our affordable housing solution right now. Because you can buy a lest for$20,000 or you can sort of rent to own it for $500 a month, because I was checking Zillow last night, and that's like the lowest level of housing availability. If you picture a lava flow in Ocean View that you can rent-to-own for $500 a month; and then, you can build something on it. And usually, it is an unpermitted structure of some sort or another. Some of them are nice, and some of them are tents or buses. I mean that is literally what I drove by; or containers. I mean, I drive through Ocean View, and I really recommend all of you to drive through Page 9 PCPLUD-24 November 19,2024 Ocean View one day. Because you'll see things that you will not be able to forget. No really, like go for a drive on a street and come back down. It's not only Ocean View. There are places in Puna as well. But, to me, Ocean View is really where we're growing the most. So,that is our affordable housing solution right now. And there's no water there. There's no schools. There is a very dangerous, perilous road between Ocean View and Kona, where all the jobs are. So, there are people who are putting their lives at risk every morning doing that run. So, I just wanted to kind of say that, because that is what is our real affordable policy right now. And I think part of it is, we need to change a lot of things around making it easier for people to build houses, Because our Building Code is too onerous. People need to have options to build a house that they can afford. And so, I feel like that's sort of one very,you know,practical thing looking at our alternatives to our stick-built houses. And it could,be with some of these new materials, like concrete or prefab, which then leads us to a group that I didn't see on this list, which are the unions. So, I don't'know if there's a plan to do that, but that might be in the construction industry that might,be a good group to talk with. So, those are my thoughts. And,a really great start. I really appreciate the work being done here on this report. Thank you to everyone on this committee. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you. With that, I'm going to wrap it up. MS: KIERKIEWICZ: Chair Inaba. ACTINO CHR; INABA: Okay, Council Member Evans briefly and Council Member Kierkiewicz: MS:'EVANS Thank you, Chair. I don't know if it was touched on by the group or not, but having lived in:South Kohala for 26 years, the Urban Legion is that, when Rockefeller built Mauna Kea, the County would not allow it unless he built housing for the workforce. That's how we ended up with Kawaihae Village. When the Hyatt, which is now the Hilton in Waikoloa, built their 1,200 rooms, or whatever, they were not able to do it unless they build housing for the workforce, which is, I think it's called Elima Lani now. But it was a nice housing development up in Waikoloa. So, it might be something for this group to consider that when you have people, the employers, because there is employment tied to housing. You want to look at tying it to job creation. And see how when these new job creations come in. I hear rumor, there might be another resort being proposed. But it just might be something for the group to consider that when these large, maybe the future of job Page 10 PCPLUD-24 November 19,2024 creation on this island, that we do tie eventually, them solving the workforce housing as a component of it. Thank you, I yield. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you. Council Member Kierkiewicz, can you wrap us up please. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you. Very quickly. Council Member Evans, you question about housing development based on, you know, resorts and other things; industry. There's actually a provision in the Code that requires some of that housing development right now. But we are revisiting it to make sure that it continues to be affected in this modern day. You know, I also did want to share that, in addition to some of the names thatwere mentioned earlier, which all these names were, you know, provided by member,of the Ad Hoc committee, which includes folks that represent Puna, Hilo, and West Hawaii. Everybody had an opportunity to suggest folks to attend the Housing Contributors Summit:,"There were nonprofits in the room that touched lives of community membersslandwide. Hawaii Island Community Development Corp., Keith Kato and Mayor Kishimoto were there. We had representatives from Hawaii Community Assets, Hawaii Community Lending, Vibrant Hawaii, HopeServices, Habitat for Humanity, and the Hawaii Island Land Trust; All of these folks are working really hard to make housing affordable and attainable for tour local residents. I think,atthe end of the day, things boil down to the regulatory process. You know, the uncertainty within the permitting processes was one thing, but also the cost to develop infrastructure. And right now, we have a really golden opportunity because the State Legislature gave the County the authority to now look at using some of their General Excise Tax to support housing infrastructure. That's critical. f think that is where we are going to be able to work in collaboration with the developer community to put in that infrastructure, which would then bring the cost of development down, which benefits folks that are looking for rental homes or homes to own. So, a lot of moving pieces; a lot of strategies to continue to work on and hone. But I feel really`confident with the folks that are, you know, on the Ad Hoc and committed to continue this work that we are going to be putting forth solutions that result in what Council Member Villegas had mentioned earlier, folks having a home that they can afford, so that they're building that generational wealth. Thank you, Chair, it's been really a pleasure to serve with everyone on this Ad Hoc. I yield. ACTING CHR. INABA: Thank you, Council Member Kierkiewicz. And with that, you know, I think this report is a really good foundational piece for us. There's two parts moving forward. When we talk about some of those programs, again circling back, our Code currently allows for some of these programs to be Page 11 PCPLUD-24 November 19,2024 stood up. It's a matter of which of these programs are going to prioritize as an Administration? Then on the Council side, when we're looking at legislation, what changes we make to the Code is where the rubber kind of hits the road for us, right? We have a suite of options right now, and as we get into this next term, working together to come those best solutions, engage community. Those who were a part of and those who may not have been a part of that large meeting, to make sure we're passing Code that represents and addresses the needs of all folks on our island. So, with that before I take the vote, I'm going to call on the Clerk to just remind the body of the process here. MR. HENRICKS: Just procedural matters. So, the vote to close file that will take place shortly will then the report has been presented. We'll dissolve that Ad Hoc Committee. That Ad Hoc Committee should not interact anymore on this matter. That will complete that process. And.then, the material that's presented will then be available to any eligible person. Then to pursue,'looks like as legislation, and then that would be the final part of the process, which will be deliberate action on the Ad Hoc Committee's findings and recommendations. Thank you. ACTING CHR. INABA- Thank you. With that, all those in favor of closing file on Communication 948 please say, "aye." Any opposed? Vote on Comm. 948: The motion to close file on Comm. 948 was carried by Filed the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Evans, Galimba, Kagiwada, Kaneah'i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Kimball, Villegas, and Acting Chair Inaba—8. Noes: None. ;Absent: None. Excused: None.' ADJOURN-'::, , There being no further business, Acting Chair Inaba adjourned the meeting MENT: at 10:35 a.m. Approved: Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Chair (Date) Policy Committee on Planning, Land Use, and Development AK/dt Page 12