The need for housing affordable to the bulk of Hawaii’s residents is truly a crisis — one decades in the making, but now looming large and degrading quality of life for many. Hawaii has reached a state of emergency, with proliferating homelessness; households crowded into substandard, insufficient units; and desperation-
inducing shortages of medical professionals, teachers, social workers and mid-level professionals, including those necessary to staff and administer state and county governments.
Acknowledging this, Gov. Josh Green first issued an emergency proclamation for housing in July. It aimed to streamline and speed approval of housing development, suspending state laws pertaining to land use and historic preservation, environmental review and public input, along with certain fees and taxes, for project proposals that would instead be certified by a “Build Beyond Barriers” housing group.
Then, on Aug. 8, a wind-whipped fire destroyed the bulk of Lahaina, including thousands of homes. On Aug. 29, when the Build Beyond Barriers group held a meeting on Maui, a procession of residents suspicious of the proclamation, its effect on Lahaina and the state made their opposition known. And on Aug. 31, a coalition of opponents led by environmental litigators Earthjustice filed suit against the proclamation.
Rather than dig in the state’s
administrative heels, Green conceded to objections — and rightly so. A newly titled Sept. 15 emergency proclamation explicitly made “affordable housing” development the primary goal, and
excluded the area affected by
the Lahaina fire from coverage. It specified that testifying on agenda items would be included, and reinstated the Sunshine Law for Build Beyond Barriers meetings. All good, and necessary. Historic preservation law, including Hawaiian burial protections, Land Use Commission review and environmental impact statement rules were also reinstated. Even better.
On Tuesday, Earthjustice announced it was dropping its suit. The same day, Green issued a third, updated emergency proclamation, designating a team of three state agency leaders to direct Build Beyond Barriers, instead of a lone decisionmaker, as initially broached.
Green has not abandoned his effort to push Hawaii into a new era of home-building and housing creation, nor should he. The need is urgent. To continue moving toward the best outcome from Hawaii, what’s required now is concerted, supportive, statewide action to address the possible — to identify sites where feasible projects can add to the affordable housing supply, get them approved and get units built, as rapidly as Hawaii can.
The possibilities that clearly remain include two projects under the wing of the Hawaii Public Housing Authority (HPHA). With Highridge Costa Development Co. as the master developer, planning is underway for construction of 10,880 new affordable units and the renovation of 1,187 existing public housing units on Oahu, Hawaii island, Maui and Kauai. These projects would constitute one of the largest actions in the nation made by a public housing authority.
Already and positively, the emergency proclamation has sped operations within HPHA, which has been freed to employ contract workers to speedily rehab and open vacant units, getting low-income households sheltered with less delay.
Oahu residents will see forward movement soon. HPHA aims to renovate 364 units and create another 2,450 mixed-use and mixed-income housing units at Mayor Wright Homes in Kalihi, which has already received legislative approval for $10 million for its first-phase redevelopment. This project will change the neighborhood for the better: Mixed-income-
housing will be created, while 90% of the units will serve households earning at or below 120% of area median income.
Diversifying segregated low-income projects benefits communities, and HPHA Executive Director Hakim Ouansafi rightfully touts the plan as a means of breaking resident families away from patterns of multigenerational poverty.
While initial funding has been allocated, full-fledged, cooperative action by the Legislature will be vital in seeing HPHA’s statewide plan to fruition, as it will require continuing funding for years, beyond Green’s tenure. Also, the Legislature must embrace the need to plan for the future, working to eliminate outdated bureaucratic barriers to building housing that include certain overly restrictive land-use laws.
Federal funding can help. The state is applying for a $9.9 million federal Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing grant to fund infrastructure, “the state’s number one obstacle to building affordable housing,” statewide. Green’s emergency proclamation helps provide evidence that the state supports change.
To reverse Hawaii’s increasing lack of affordability and resulting population losses will require extensive commitments from state and county governments, citizens and private enterprise. The alternative is far less attractive. The time is now to support cooperation over crisis, and to demand vigorous action to house Hawaii’s own.
