A state board made a bold and admittedly imperfect decision Wednesday aimed at increasing the long-term supply of affordable housing in Honolulu’s hottest area for residential development, Kakaako.

Board members of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, a state agency regulating development in Kakaako, voted 6-3 to overhaul requirements for producing affordable housing after two years of study and five public hearings since March.

The overhaul was adopted over objections from developers who argued that the proposed rule amendments would lead to fewer projects being built and therefore less affordable housing. But even some affordable-housing advocates, as well as some HCDA board members who voted with the majority, felt the rule changes didn’t go far enough in lowering affordable prices.

Two board members, Laurel Johnston and Wei Fang, offered “weak yes” votes because of concerns over certain aspects of the amended rules.

Voting no were Jason Okuhama, William Oh and David Rodriguez.

Okuhama, who was part of an initial task force that explored and recommended some of the rule changes, said he couldn’t endorse the whole package. “I’m still not comfortable with the end result,” he said.

Board Chairman John Whalen acknowledged the polarized testimony and said a lot of refinements were made based on public comments. “On matters of public policy like this, you’re bound to have divergent views,” he said. “It’s highly improbable to get consensus. My feeling is that we’ve done a lot of due diligence on this. It’s not perfect, but I don’t see the value of keeping the status quo.”

Whalen added that more work can be done and a future set of adjustments can be made if warranted.

Judging results of the rule changes could take years because high-rise development typically occurs in cycles and the current one appears to be in a waning phase. Also, the new rules won’t apply to two master plans covering about 7,000 homes, most of which have yet to be built.

The master plans are Ward Village by Howard Hughes Corp., which calls for 16 towers and 4,300 homes, and Our Kakaako by Kamehameha Schools, which calls for seven towers and 2,750 homes. Everything permitted by 2024 in these two master plans will be subject to an older version of HCDA’s affordable-housing rules.

HCDA rules generally require that developers reserve 20 percent of new homes in large projects for residents with moderate incomes.

One of the biggest changes in the amended rules would extend the affordable term for rental apartments built under this requirement to 30 years from 15 years.

In cases where developers satisfy the requirement with for-sale housing, HCDA’s amended rules would reduce prices and give the agency a right to buy back an affordable unit if an owner decides to sell within 30 years. Previously, HCDA could repurchase units if the initial owner sold within two to five years, depending on the project.

HCDA also tweaked a formula in which it receives some equity from resales of affordable homes.

Johnston said a 30-year buyback term in her view is too long. But she also said prices for affordable units weren’t lowered enough, which was a comment echoed by Fang and fellow board member Mary Pat Waterhouse.

Prices for these homes on average will have to be affordable to households earning up to 120 percent of the median income in Honolulu. At that level, a home could be sold for about $430,000 to a single person, $495,000 to a couple or $610,000 to a family of four. That’s a reduction from prices linked to 140 percent of the median income, which allows prices of around $505,000 for a single person, $580,000 for a couple or $720,000 for a family of four.

Buyers and renters still would be allowed to earn up to 140 percent of the median income to qualify for affordable homes under HCDA rules, which are aimed at a “gap group” that makes too much to qualify for government-subsidized housing but not enough to afford market-priced housing.

The 140 percent annual income level as calculated by HCDA is $84,900 for one person, $97,000 for two people and $121,250 for a family of four.

HCDA also tweaked rules for what it calls “workforce housing” under a program that allows developers to make projects twice as dense if at least 75 percent of the homes meet affordability guidelines.