Question: Auwe! If the governor is going to suspend important laws to fast-track housing construction, it should be only affordable housing!
Answer: Income and asset restrictions for government affordable housing would prevent too many middle-class Hawaii residents from buying or renting the homes, Gov. Josh Green’s administration indicated in information posted online to explain some details of the sweeping emergency proclamation that Green signed Monday. The order suspends certain laws to streamline construction so much that even the supply of market-rate homes might swell enough to drive down prices. Still, affordable housing, and the restrictions it carries, also are a big part of the plan. You can read the emergency proclamation, a guidebook for developers, fliers and FAQs at 808ne.ws/proc.
The FAQ says the proclamation applies to all housing projects rather than only to affordable housing projects because “nurses, firefighters, teachers, and many government workers make too much money to qualify for a government affordable housing unit; however they don’t earn the $252,000 in annual income that is needed to afford a median-priced home. We need housing for all of our people, and we need to be fair. We are all in this together: kupuna need affordable homes, and the healthcare workers who care for them need homes they can afford too.”
The FAQs say that Hawaii needs about 10,000 new housing units a year to begin to address a long-term construction shortfall that has inflated housing prices, driven Hawaiians from the state and worsened homelessness. “Through suspending onerous regulations and modernizing processes, the proclamation will shorten development timelines, thus increasing the supply of units and helping to make housing more affordable for our people,” it says.
Q: Is the shoulder lane from Aiea to Pearl City open all hours now? I thought it was for the evening rush. That’s what the sign says, but I see people speeding past all the time, even in light traffic.
A: No, the westbound shoulder lane on the H-1 freeway from the Halawa Interchange to the Waimalu Interchange is for use Monday through Fridays from 3 to 7 p.m., according to the state Department of Transportation’s website, which devotes a page to special-use lanes throughout the state. No trucks or buses are allowed on this shoulder lane, which is not supposed to be used on weekends, holidays or outside the posted weekday hours.
Q: Wasn’t the city supposed to switch a bunch of tennis courts to pickleball, not just at Keehi Lagoon? Did they drop that plan?
A: Yes to your first question and no to your second. Ke‘ehi Lagoon Beach Park was always first in line, and now that four underutilized tennis courts there have been converted into 12 pickleball courts, similar conversions are up next at Kailua District Park, Ka‘ala Neighborhood Park and Makakilo Community Park, according to Honolulu’s Department of Parks and Recreation.
Q: Do you have to be a veteran for Tuesday’s job fair?
A: No, U.S. military veterans will receive priority service, but all are welcome at the WorkHawaii hiring event, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Dole Cannery, according to Honolulu’s Department of Community Services. Tuesday is “National Hire a Veteran Day,” and the job fair has been marketed toward those with a history of U.S. military service.
Mahalo
Mahalo to the Kailua EMTs. On July 11, I fell in my condo and could not get up. The Kailua EMTs came and lifted me up into a comfortable chair. I think I was in shock from the fall, and they were just great. So I became another senior statistic in falling and getting help from them. Thank you so much. — Claudia
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
