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From: Matt Ward <br /> To: WPCtestimonv <br /> Subject: Urgent Concerns Regarding Bill 121 <br /> Date: Tuesday,April 2,2024 1:16:26 PM <br /> Chairman Dennis Lin <br /> Windward Planning Commission <br /> County of Hawaii <br /> 25 Aupuni St. <br /> Unit 1502 <br /> Hilo, HI 96720 <br /> Aloha Chairman Lin, <br /> We have been following the development of Bill 121, and it has raised significant concerns for <br /> both us and the community. At a time when increasing housing supply is of utmost <br /> importance, Bill 121 proposes stringent regulations and additional bureaucratic hurdles to the <br /> already complex issue of housing. Our community has learned the hard way that excessive <br /> regulation hurts housing supply. Bill 121 suggests imposing even more regulations and <br /> barriers on people looking to expand housing options by further restricting what we can do <br /> with our properties. This is worrisome, especially since it's already incredibly challenging for <br /> members of our community to engage in construction due to high costs. Those who take the <br /> risk to build and subsequently struggle financially are at risk of losing everything they've <br /> invested. <br /> The housing crisis is a massive problem, and Bill 121's approach runs counter to what we truly <br /> need: your support for growth, rather than additional regulations and restrictions. Bill 121 <br /> introduces more restrictions, red tape, and even attempts to regulate who can share a room. It <br /> limits the ability to rent for periods ranging from 30 to 180 days, which doesn't accommodate <br /> people who require flexibility in renting for work-related travel or other unforeseen <br /> circumstances. We need open housing markets to address the shortage of housing units in our <br /> community, and imposing limitations on how our housing can be used will only discourage <br /> new construction and development. In contrast to Bill 121, we urge you to support efforts to <br /> reduce restrictions and encourage housing growth within our community. <br /> Many communities have demonstrated that reducing barriers is essential to creating new <br /> housing opportunities. The current Bill 121 lacks any economic analysis. By introducing more <br /> restrictions, this bill will ultimately leading to economic stagnation. Each new restriction <br /> dissuades people from committing to construction projects. Our community, including myself, <br /> lacks confidence in building because we never know when our rights to rent our homes will be <br /> threatened by new restrictive housing bills. <br /> Using our case as an example, we bought our property in 2021. We developed our farm on <br /> five acres under the current regulations, which allowed us the flexibility to rent when <br /> necessary and provided a sufficient budget to construct a detached bedroom for an Operator. <br /> Our plan included not only the benefits of new jobs on an active coffee farm but also an <br /> affordable bedroom to help manage the farm. Based on the maximum number of rooms we <br /> can build under the existing regulations; our design included a ratio of 4-1 bedrooms to <br /> affordable bedrooms since our intention was to subsidize the room for the Operator. This ratio <br /> significantly exceeds the number of affordable rooms typically found in most"affordable <br />