Three Hawaii Senate committees have advanced a contentious bill to allow housing on land owned by the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs in Kakaako, makai of Ala Moana Boulevard.
Some new provisions were also added to the bill, including one that would prevent Kamehameha Schools from developing housing on land it owns in the same area, and one that would require OHA to complete an environmental impact statement before seeking a development permit for housing on five parcels on the Kakaako peninsula.
Another amendment requires that OHA restrict resale prices for some homes so that they are affordable to moderate-income households in perpetuity.
The Senate Committee on Housing voted 4-0 Tuesday to advance Senate Bill 534 with amendments.
On Monday, Water and Land Committee members voted 4-1 to advance the bill with the same amendments, as did the Hawaiian Affairs Committee on a 3-1 vote.
The three committees received nearly 400 pages of written testimony on the bill discussed Jan. 29 during a three-hour hearing. Supporters of the legislation outnumbered opponents by more than 3-to-1.
SB 534, drafted by OHA, proposes to allow towers rising up to 400 feet, twice the current limit, on two agency parcels fronting Ala Moana Boulevard. OHA’s bill would mandate that more than 50% of all resulting homes on these two parcels be reserved for Hawaii resident households that don’t earn over 140% of Oahu’s median income.
Furthermore, buyers of these reserved homes would have to
be owner-occupants, and a
preference would be given to those who work within
5 miles of the area in “essential” fields that include education, health care, law enforcement, hospitality and construction.
The new amended version of the bill adds that these reserved homes must have perpetual price limits keeping them affordable for all future owners with the same income restriction.
On three other OHA parcels, the agency wants to produce market-priced housing within existing height limits and for only Hawaii residents with an owner-occupant restriction, or perhaps a hotel or condo-hotel on one parcel.
Proceeds from market-priced housing would help fund OHA programs that benefit Hawaiians, and allow the agency to pay for other planned improvements on its Kakaako land, including a Hawaiian cultural center and public waterfront promenade along the Ewa edge of Kewalo Basin Small Boat Harbor.
The Legislature banned residential use of land in Kakaako, makai of Ala Moana Boulevard, in 2006 to block another state agency’s plan to have a developer create a mix of housing, commercial uses and public spaces in the largely blighted industrial area.
OHA received 31 acres in the area known as Kakaako Makai in 2012 from the state to partially settle a dispute over unpaid revenue generated from former Hawaiian crown lands, and since then has tried several times to convince lawmakers to permit housing in the area.
