HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

52

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING County AFFORDABLE HOUSING REQUIREMENTS IN UNILATERAL AGREEMENTS TO BE MET BY IN-LIEU CASH CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS DEVELOPED BY THE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION OF HAWAII OR THE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS.

 

 

WHEREAS, zone change ordinances to permit development of large residential housing projects generally are approved by the respective county councils, subject to conditions in unilateral agreements requiring the developer to develop affordable housing units; and

WHEREAS, in the City and County of Honolulu, for example, these affordable housing conditions typically require that no less than thirty per cent of the total number of dwelling units in the project must be affordable to households with incomes not exceeding one hundred twenty per cent of the median income for Honolulu, with no less than ten per cent of the total number of dwelling units being affordable to households with incomes not exceeding eighty per cent of the median income; and

WHEREAS, the affordable housing rules for the City and County of Honolulu provided that a developer may satisfy the affordable housing requirement by providing one or more of the following options, as acceptable to the Department of Housing and Community Development:

(1) Affordable for-sale units on the project site;

(2) Affordable rental units on the project site;

(3) Conveyance to the City and County of Honolulu of improved or unimproved land within or without the project site, zoned and suitable for the construction of affordable housing units;

(4) Affordable for-sale or rental units constructed on a site other than the project site;

(5) A cash contribution, or an "in-lieu fee", to the Department of Housing and Community Development equal to the difference between the estimated cost of building the affordable housing units less the estimated sales price of the affordable housing units at the time the in-lieu payment is due; and

(6) Finished house lots for affordable housing owner-builder efforts, under guidelines to be formulated by the Department of Housing and Community Development; and

WHEREAS, the City and County of Honolulu's Department of Planning and Permitting, in recent zone change applications for residential developments, has recommended that the zone changes be conditioned upon the applicant's entry into binding agreement with the department to participate in an affordable housing program acceptable to the department; and

WHEREAS, two state agencies engaged in the development of affordable residential housing projects are the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; and

WHEREAS, the State supports providing affordable housing to all residents throughout the entire State; and

WHEREAS, based on the foregoing, the State believes that the provision of affordable housing to the residents of the State will be enhanced by amending each county's affordable housing rules to permit affordable housing conditions in unilateral agreements to be satisfied by in-lieu cash contributions toward affordable housing projects developed by the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii or the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature requests that each county amend the respective county's affordable housing rules to include, as one of the options for the satisfaction of affordable housing conditions in unilateral agreements, an option for in-lieu cash contributions to the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii or the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, as appropriate, subject to the following conditions and such other conditions as the county may deem appropriate:

(1) The contribution shall be used for a specified affordable housing project developed or financed by the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii or the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands;

(2) The affordability requirements shall be as set forth in the applicable unilateral agreement;

(3) The Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii or the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands shall provide, prior to the county's approval of the in-lieu cash contribution, such information as the county may require regarding the specified affordable housing project; and

(4) The county may require an agreement between or among the county, the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii, or the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and, if necessary, the zone change applicant, regarding the use of the in-lieu cash contribution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor; the Acting Executive Director of the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii; the Chairman of the Hawaiian Homes Commission; and the Mayor, the Chair of the Council, and the Director of the department having jurisdiction over land use planning in each county.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Affordable Housing Projects