A bill that would create more incentive for homeowners to apply for second dwellings on a property got a preliminary approval from the City Council Zoning and Planning Committee on Thursday.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell proposed Bill 27 in an effort to entice more homeowners to create smaller, affordable rentals on their properties after the initial rollout of the accessory dwelling units program in September got few takers.
The bill would set up a two-year period during which applicants for accessory dwelling units would receive waivers from fees for such things as sewer hookups and building permits. It also would waive a requirement to dedicate land or fees toward public park or recreation space.
City officials contend that ADUs, either within or in addition to existing homes, are a key component in the effort to create more affordable rental units on housing-starved Oahu.
Officials estimate that the incentives in the original bill could shave as much as $10,000 from a homeowner’s cost of creating an ADU. The flat-rate sewer hookup fee alone costs $6,624. An additional $2,000 to $4,000 in savings could be available to ADU applicants through the waiver of building permit fees, which are based on the value of work, as well as plan review changes and grading and grubbing permits.
Council Chairman Ernie Martin introduced changes to the bill that would require the Department of Planning and Permitting to expedite the ADU approval process.
Homeowners have complained about the amount of time it takes for permits to be processed, “and you know we’re in a very hot construction climate, and every day wasted, the cost of construction continues to rise,” he told committee members.
Martin’s amendment, approved by the Zoning Committee on Thursday, would require the DPP to act on an ADU application within 30 days. No DPP action within that time would result in automatic approval.
If department officials decide “additional resources” are needed to speed up the processing time, the Council could consider adding them in next year’s budget, he said.
Martin’s new draft also calls on the DPP to come up with a public map identifying areas on the island that are eligible for ADUs, based on available infrastructure.
Martin, a potential 2016 mayoral candidate who has clashed with Caldwell on a number of other key issues, applauded the administration for proposing incentives.
“Waiving the fees is a good idea for a temporary period of time,” he said. “I think we all realize we are faced with a significant housing crisis before us.”
DPP Director George Atta said the administration looked into possible incentives when the ADU program received a lukewarm response as well as some complaints from the public after it began in September.
“We hadn’t thought … there were a number of permitting fees that comes with what’s called a new dwelling,” Atta said.
DPP Deputy Director Art Challacombe said that since September the department has received 67 completed ADU applications and approved 15. A number of homeowners have told DPP staff they are waiting to see what happens with Bill 27 before submitting their paperwork, he said.
Atta said that DPP “probably can live within” a 60-day time table, rather than the 30-day proposal by Martin.
Atta also pointed out that the department already has expedited review programs that many homebuilders choose to skip because of the impression that a lengthier, back-and-forth review process results in fewer errors that might be found by city inspectors in the field that could result in expensive delays.
As for Martin’s requirement that the DPP create a map identifying potential ADU areas, DPP officials said it would take much longer than a month, possibly six months, to complete such a project.
Oahu residents and sisters Helen Lee-Clark and Rosalina Lee testified in support of the bill.
Lee-Clark said any additional cost-saving incentives would make it easier for her to step up to apply for an ADU. “It’s more of a burden for us to have to come up with $10,000.”
The bill now goes to the full Council on Wednesday for the second of three votes.
