Legislative Update (7/19/2018)

HOUSING COMMITTEE (Update)

Legislative Updates:

• Bill 58 (2017) enacted 4/3/2018 as Ord 18-10; establishes an islandwide affordable (inclusionary) housing requirement: "New construction of ten or more for-sale dwelling units developed under a single or unified project concept, on one or more zoning lots;" or any subdivision creating ten or more lots for residential use; or conversion of existing structures into ten or more for-sale dwellings... will be subject to the Affordable Housing Requirement. Fee in-lieu is not an option. Areas within the TOD zone seeking height/density bonuses are required to provide higher proportions of affordable units. Although these Affordable Housing Requirements are in effect (as of 4/3/2018), DPP has yet to issue Administrative Rules detailing how the ordinance will be applied. Architects involved with new residential development should study the new Affordable Housing Requirements, which according to one study, would apply to nearly all new apartment buildings outside of HCDA.
• Bill 59 (2017) enacted 2/15/2018 as Ord 18-1; establishes affordable housing incentives. The extent to which these Affordable Housing Incentives will counteract the increased development costs associated with the Affordable Housing Requirements established in Ord 18-010 remains unclear. Architects involved with new multifamily residential development on Oahu may want to closely review both Ord 18-1 and 18-10, as these will impact their projects and clients.
• Bill 110 (2017) enacted 3/13/2018 as Ord 18-6; places a 2-year moratorium on Large Detached Dwellings (Monster Homes) and establishes a 8-member task force to provide input and advice to the Planning Commission and DPP on long term solutions tot he problems associated with the regulation of these homes. Geoff will be serving as the AIA rep for the DPP task force consulting on large dwelling policy development.  The housing committee had previously established an internal task force aimed at supporting the AIA rep in this effort. 
• Reso 18-78 adopted 4/25/2018; directs DPP and the Planning Commission to draft a report and proposed LUO amendment re: affordable rental housing built w/in Apartment, Apartment-Mixed Use and Business Mixed-Use zones. This reso was adopted partly in response to the growing awareness of Monster Home-type development. The draft bill (attached to the reso) proposes to eliminate parking minimums and reduce setbacks but would only for affordable rental multifamily housing. To understand current development patterns, a preliminary study by the Housing Committee merged the state's Dept of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' list of all CPR projects against tax parcels and zoning. It found that most new buildings built on apartment zoned land in the urban core are single-family dwellings, not multifamily. Not only is Honolulu losing dwelling units through redevelopment, but these small apartment zoned lots are often CPR'd and sold to separate owners, making it unlikely that these lots will ever be consolidated or developed as multifamily buildings.Under current land use policies, land intended to be used for medium-density apartments, is being converted into low-density single-family homes. And conversely, land intended for single-family homes are increasingly seeing Large Detached Dwellings. 
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• Bill 50 (2018) passed 1st reading 7/11/2018 and proposes to add harsher penalties for projects deemed Large Detached Dwellings (LDD), such as: revoke LDD permits issued after 1/1/2016, require demolition of unpermitted LDDs or portions thereof, and prevent the "responsible party from applying for any building permit for the dwelling or conversion for a period of one year....
• Bill 53 (2018) passed 1st reading 7/11/2018 and proposes to raise civil fines imposed by unpermitted construction (that has been cited with a notice of violation and directed to stop work) to the greater of 10 times the building permit fee if a permit been obtained or $10,000. 

Membership Engagement

• Housing Committee members are also actively participating in the LUO task force, the Big Island Permit Streamlining task force, and meet informally with DPP leadership from time to time to share our ideas and progress
• We continue to use the AIA Housing Committee Blog to post information on the various housing related issues within our community. https://aiahousing.blogspot.com/​