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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0181.008 2006-2008 Page 1 of I Murashige, Laura From: GeoMikeS@att.net `r. r1~" t Sent: Friday, April 13, 2007 5:18 PM ; FV~ ~t~ To: Ford, Brenda; counciltestimony@co.hawaii.hi.us Cc: Pilago, K. Angel ;,i., Subject: testimony on Bill 75 Dear Councilwoman Ford, Would you please consider proposing amendments to draft Bill 75 concerning General Plan review. There is a reading on this Bill at the April 17-18 Council meeting. I believe these suggestions will help clarify and improve the Bill. On 16.1 a) A clear definition of the term "substantial change" needs to be included. There should be a clear understanding between Department and Council on the use of this term. c) The words "the Council shall adopt" should be changed to "the Council may adopt" to allow the County Council to hold public hearings on the proposed amendments. The legal use of the term "shall" is absolute. In other words, the Council has no choice but to adopt a change. Perhaps they feel one is not needed but as written, a change must be made. In addition, "shall" could have the impact of eliminating any and all requirements for public hearings and input. d) The 150 day period should be changed to "within not more than 60 calendar days" in order to make it consistent with the time frame in 16.2 Suggested changes to 16.2 are: a) That the Commission shall submit its recommendation to the Council within 60 days. This realistically helps to streamline the process. b) In an issue dropped by the revision, I suggest that a $100.00 filing fee be submitted at the time of submitting the amendment, and if the amendment is accepted for processing by the Director, an additional $400.00 fee shall be submitted to help defray administrative costs of processing the amendment. If the intent is to eliminate any filing fee, that is acceptable, but should be made clear. Thank you for your consideration. Michael Reimer Kailua-Kona, HI GeoMikeSnaJatt.net ~cra„ Pdo. ~ d ~ • 0 Rer". ,Preue+M« u!'lci/ ReF. Dote APR 18 2007 _ 4/16/2007 Y County of Hawaii, County Council Page 2 Affordable Housing Requirements for Industrial Developments reconstruction to existing facilities, and including one or more businesses at the same or adjacent sites, must earn one affordable housing credit for every four full-time equivalent jobs created." Discussion: 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 the State Legislature is also in the process of finding 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 i35 in zoo4. A common finding in each of these efforts was that there was a need to provide more housing in all income categories, and that one of the major problems was an overall lack of supply. The problem of an overall lack of supply cannot be solved by County exactions and inclusionary zoning requirements. The crux of the problem is not the new jobs that are being generated but, rather, the lack of affordable workforce housing available. These are two related, but distinct, problems which should not be linked together. The connection between housing and income should be understood by policy makers. Employers generally look for an educated work force and affordability in housing when locating or expanding businesses. From a public policy standpoint, if we want to attract employers here to provide higher paying jobs for our residences both now in the future, we need to insure an adequate supply of housing. We need both new employment opportunities and affordable workforce housing. Rather than placing the affordable housing requirement on investors who are bringing new jobs to the market, the County might consider what could or should be done to increase the supply of affordable workforce housing. Increasing the supply of housing would create housing opportunities to those who secure the new jobs. However, as we have seen in our State's past, housing exactions and inclusionary zoning does not create more affordable housing. Rather, exactions add to the cost of a new home because what is sold at abelow-market price is subsidized by a higher market price home in the same development. We caution the Council to carefully consider how best to balance government's intervention in the market system. Placing too many controls on the housing market may result in slowing the production a nd availability of new workforce housing units. While local government does not have an ability to influence income or interest rates, there are options; however, these options arc usually limited to one of the following: 1. GoaernmentApprouals--(/,oninct/Permitting.) Government can either require units be built as a condition o[ the approvals or create incentives to stimulate the market for development of housing units; County of Hawaii, County Council PaSe 3 Affordable Housing Requirements for Industrial Developments 2. Government Financing--(infrastructure, tax credits, public housing). Government plays the role of actual developer in CIP for infrastructure or public housing. Government also assists in providing tax credits for affordable housing projects. Any policy developed on affordable housing should consider all of the elements that are interconnected and that influence the housing market. Focusing on one element without considering the others, or focusing on one segment of the market, will not lead to a sustainable affordable housing policy. Furthermore, policy makers should be aware of the impact of housing exactions in a growing and stagnant economy. It wasn't too long ago when there was an oversupply of housing because of the depressed economy. There is no simple solution to the problem; however, if the goal is to have more product (housing) built, one suggestion would be to launch various initiatives to address some of the problems identified in each of the elements. We appreciate the opportunity to express our opposition on this matter.