AH-15 CC 20-241 AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 2.96.030, MAUI COUNTY CODE, RELATING TO WORKFORCE HOUSING PROJECTS DEVELOPED UNDER CHAPTER 201H, HAWAII REVISED STATUTES (AH-15)
I support the bil proposed by Councilmember Molinal to amend Section 2.96.030 of Maui County Code to increase the percentage of affordable and workforce housing to 75% required for any projects seeking 201H-38 status. Please do not soften the language to "shall consider" or similar as suggested by the lobbyists for realtors, developers, and mortgage brokers. The threshold of 75% affordable should be a requirement.
My name is Noelani Hessler and I am a Kama`aina of Hamakuapoko ahupua'a. I wanted to voice my concerns on the HRS AH-15 201H Bill by Council member Mr. Molina. I agree with him and believe you should vote yes to this bill. I believe that 75% of units in an affordable development should have to be affordable and is the fairest instead of the 50% or especially the little 25% that it is today. If these subdivisions and community projects are truly 201H projects with HUD benefits designed for the workforce then they should be majority workforce housing. These are the subdivisions most developers only agree upon building to benefit themselves on their other higher end developments they already have in the works and for tax breaks. Why do they deserve 50% of occupancy to be full priced after getting huge discounts on the exemptions they have saved on the development for already being a HUD project? The whole project should be seen as an affordable housing development in my eyes; that's the reason why they get fast-track approval and exempt from planning, environmental laws as well as exemptions for zoning reasons. That should all be taken into consideration. Also, looking at the top ten jobs in Maui placed by our true workforce community; we make between $30,000 to $50,000 a year, even some with two incomes; like myself. All these positions still do not qualify for these affordable Housing projects. I have a good professional job in archaeology here in Maui. Born and raised here my entire life and still cant afford anything on this market. The smallest cheapest option on all of the affordable housing projects on this island I barely qualify since majority are lotteries with not enough homes to supply the list of people who signed up for them in the first place, and on top of it, the average cheapest option is $555,000. That is hard to qualify for many professional working class people. I see it as unfair and fixed advantage for the rich who are moving here from the mainland to escape the pandemic. It is not helping the local workforce community. Please vote yes to Mr. Molinas 201H bill and consider reducing the AMI to nothing over 100%, You need to serve the individuals who are making 50,60, and 80% of the AMI more then ever! Otherwise soon in time there will be no middle working class who keep this community together and moving. We will all have to move away, off island to places that can support us more. Thank you for listening and understanding.
Dear Chair Johnson, Vice-Chair Molina and
Members of the Affordable Housing Committee,
We are deeply concerned with this proposed bill to increase the percentage of required affordable housing units to 75%.
When the Council adopted Chapter 2.96 Maui County Residential Workforce Housing Policy, it required that 50% of units be affordable. The results of this chapter were extremely damaging with only 1 workforce housing agreement executed and only 3 homes built between 2006-2014. Given the appallingly low results, the chapter was later amended to 25% (where it currently stands) and hundreds of affordable houses have been built as a result.
While inclusionary zoning does work in some counties and cities, it does not work for all and arbitrarily increasing the percentage while disregarding historical data certainly will not work for Maui County. Why would we want to go back to a dark time in our history when affordable housing and rentals is a critical need and top priority?
We urge the committee to look at the historical data and not increase the percentage of required affordable housing units. The results of doing so will be a devastating blow to the progress we have made on affordable housing and halt future projects.
Please defer this bill.
Mahalo for the opportunity to provide testimony.
Sincerely,
Pamela Tumpap
President
Maui Chamber of Commerce
Aloha Committee Chair, Vice Chair, and Committee Members,
My name is Jason Economou, and I am Government Affairs Director for the REALTORS Association of Maui (RAM). I am submitting this testimony on behalf of RAM, and its 1,700+ members in opposition to agenda items AH-15.
RAM strongly suggests taking no further legislative action regarding AH-15 for several reasons. First, the County currently has Jeff Gilbreath and Hawaiian Community Assets working on a new Affordable Housing Plan, and this Committee should wait for that plan before considering any major changes to housing policy. It is better to wait and make well informed evidence-based modifications to the County Code, rather than rushing into legislation for the sake of legislation.
Second, it is unlikely that the proposed amendments in AH-15 will actually have the desired outcome. Ostensibly, the idea behind adding section 2.96.030(F) to the Maui County Code is that it would increase affordable housing production under 201H, but that is unlikely to occur in reality. Instead, requiring a minimum of 75% affordable units only available to 120% AMI and below will greatly deter use of the 201H process, because it will make it much harder to finance projects and recuperate costs. If you want more affordable housing developed on Maui, you need to incentivize it rather than trying to mandate it. Already, there is no great abundance of 201H housing projects producing homes on Maui, and this legislation won’t improve that circumstance.
Third, this legislation cuts housing for the 121-140% AMI group out of 201H projects in Maui County, which is unnecessary, irresponsible, and contradictory to the stated HHFDC affordability threshold intended for 201H. People in the gap income level of 121-140% AMI are our working class families that may be able to qualify to purchase an affordably priced home, but are unlikely to be able to afford a market rate home. RAM has been tracking housing affordability on Maui for many years now, and I can assure you that people in the “above moderate income” are not thriving in this housing market and still need assistance. According to our data, a household making 100% AMI is only making 46% of what is necessary to qualify for a median-priced home under current prevailing interest rates. This means that a household making 120-140% AMI still isn’t making what is necessary to qualify for a median-priced home right now, and is only doing slightly better than their counterparts making less than 120% AMI. By making it so that housing directed at that group no longer qualifies as “affordable housing” for the purposes of 201H, you are deterring housing production for that income level and further cutting them out of the market. Please do not abandon your working class at a time when they need more support than ever.
For the foregoing reasons, I strongly urge you not to move forward with this legislation. Doing so would further hinder housing production under 201H, and it would harm our working class. Should this legislation move forward, RAM will continue to oppose it strongly.
Mahalo,
Jason A. Economou
Government Affairs Director
REALTORS Association of Maui
I support the bil proposed by Councilmember Molinal to amend Section 2.96.030 of Maui County Code to increase the percentage of affordable and workforce housing to 75% required for any projects seeking 201H-38 status. Please do not soften the language to "shall consider" or similar as suggested by the lobbyists for realtors, developers, and mortgage brokers. The threshold of 75% affordable should be a requirement.
Testimonies received from AH Committee
Hello,
My name is Noelani Hessler and I am a Kama`aina of Hamakuapoko ahupua'a. I wanted to voice my concerns on the HRS AH-15 201H Bill by Council member Mr. Molina. I agree with him and believe you should vote yes to this bill. I believe that 75% of units in an affordable development should have to be affordable and is the fairest instead of the 50% or especially the little 25% that it is today. If these subdivisions and community projects are truly 201H projects with HUD benefits designed for the workforce then they should be majority workforce housing. These are the subdivisions most developers only agree upon building to benefit themselves on their other higher end developments they already have in the works and for tax breaks. Why do they deserve 50% of occupancy to be full priced after getting huge discounts on the exemptions they have saved on the development for already being a HUD project? The whole project should be seen as an affordable housing development in my eyes; that's the reason why they get fast-track approval and exempt from planning, environmental laws as well as exemptions for zoning reasons. That should all be taken into consideration. Also, looking at the top ten jobs in Maui placed by our true workforce community; we make between $30,000 to $50,000 a year, even some with two incomes; like myself. All these positions still do not qualify for these affordable Housing projects. I have a good professional job in archaeology here in Maui. Born and raised here my entire life and still cant afford anything on this market. The smallest cheapest option on all of the affordable housing projects on this island I barely qualify since majority are lotteries with not enough homes to supply the list of people who signed up for them in the first place, and on top of it, the average cheapest option is $555,000. That is hard to qualify for many professional working class people. I see it as unfair and fixed advantage for the rich who are moving here from the mainland to escape the pandemic. It is not helping the local workforce community. Please vote yes to Mr. Molinas 201H bill and consider reducing the AMI to nothing over 100%, You need to serve the individuals who are making 50,60, and 80% of the AMI more then ever! Otherwise soon in time there will be no middle working class who keep this community together and moving. We will all have to move away, off island to places that can support us more. Thank you for listening and understanding.
Mahalo Nui,
Noelani Hessler
Dear Chair Johnson, Vice-Chair Molina and
Members of the Affordable Housing Committee,
We are deeply concerned with this proposed bill to increase the percentage of required affordable housing units to 75%.
When the Council adopted Chapter 2.96 Maui County Residential Workforce Housing Policy, it required that 50% of units be affordable. The results of this chapter were extremely damaging with only 1 workforce housing agreement executed and only 3 homes built between 2006-2014. Given the appallingly low results, the chapter was later amended to 25% (where it currently stands) and hundreds of affordable houses have been built as a result.
While inclusionary zoning does work in some counties and cities, it does not work for all and arbitrarily increasing the percentage while disregarding historical data certainly will not work for Maui County. Why would we want to go back to a dark time in our history when affordable housing and rentals is a critical need and top priority?
We urge the committee to look at the historical data and not increase the percentage of required affordable housing units. The results of doing so will be a devastating blow to the progress we have made on affordable housing and halt future projects.
Please defer this bill.
Mahalo for the opportunity to provide testimony.
Sincerely,
Pamela Tumpap
President
Maui Chamber of Commerce
Aloha Committee Chair, Vice Chair, and Committee Members,
My name is Jason Economou, and I am Government Affairs Director for the REALTORS Association of Maui (RAM). I am submitting this testimony on behalf of RAM, and its 1,700+ members in opposition to agenda items AH-15.
RAM strongly suggests taking no further legislative action regarding AH-15 for several reasons. First, the County currently has Jeff Gilbreath and Hawaiian Community Assets working on a new Affordable Housing Plan, and this Committee should wait for that plan before considering any major changes to housing policy. It is better to wait and make well informed evidence-based modifications to the County Code, rather than rushing into legislation for the sake of legislation.
Second, it is unlikely that the proposed amendments in AH-15 will actually have the desired outcome. Ostensibly, the idea behind adding section 2.96.030(F) to the Maui County Code is that it would increase affordable housing production under 201H, but that is unlikely to occur in reality. Instead, requiring a minimum of 75% affordable units only available to 120% AMI and below will greatly deter use of the 201H process, because it will make it much harder to finance projects and recuperate costs. If you want more affordable housing developed on Maui, you need to incentivize it rather than trying to mandate it. Already, there is no great abundance of 201H housing projects producing homes on Maui, and this legislation won’t improve that circumstance.
Third, this legislation cuts housing for the 121-140% AMI group out of 201H projects in Maui County, which is unnecessary, irresponsible, and contradictory to the stated HHFDC affordability threshold intended for 201H. People in the gap income level of 121-140% AMI are our working class families that may be able to qualify to purchase an affordably priced home, but are unlikely to be able to afford a market rate home. RAM has been tracking housing affordability on Maui for many years now, and I can assure you that people in the “above moderate income” are not thriving in this housing market and still need assistance. According to our data, a household making 100% AMI is only making 46% of what is necessary to qualify for a median-priced home under current prevailing interest rates. This means that a household making 120-140% AMI still isn’t making what is necessary to qualify for a median-priced home right now, and is only doing slightly better than their counterparts making less than 120% AMI. By making it so that housing directed at that group no longer qualifies as “affordable housing” for the purposes of 201H, you are deterring housing production for that income level and further cutting them out of the market. Please do not abandon your working class at a time when they need more support than ever.
For the foregoing reasons, I strongly urge you not to move forward with this legislation. Doing so would further hinder housing production under 201H, and it would harm our working class. Should this legislation move forward, RAM will continue to oppose it strongly.
Mahalo,
Jason A. Economou
Government Affairs Director
REALTORS Association of Maui