Report Title:

Affordable Housing

 

Description:

Requires petitioners for reclassification of district boundaries and developers of 25 or more housing units provide for at least 60% of the units to be affordable housing, of which 25% going to the households earning up to 80% of the area median income.

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1189

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT


 

 

relating to housing.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that affordable housing in the State continues to be a problem for many Hawaii residents.  The legislature further finds that currently there is insufficient support for low-income families and affordable housing.

     The legislature believes that a very effective means to provide for affordable housing is to require housing developer petitioners requesting a reclassification of district boundaries to dedicate a certain percentage of their housing projects to affordable housing.

     The purpose of this Act is to require housing developer petitioners for reclassification of district boundaries who develop more than twenty five housing units to dedicate sixty per cent of their housing project to lower and gap group income buyers.

     SECTION 2.  Section 205-17, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§205-17  Land use commission decision-making criteria.  In its review of any petition for reclassification of district boundaries pursuant to this chapter, the commission shall specifically consider the following:

     (1)  The extent to which the proposed reclassification conforms to the applicable goals, objectives, and policies of the Hawaii state plan and relates to the applicable priority guidelines of the Hawaii state plan and the adopted functional plans;

     (2)  The extent to which the proposed reclassification conforms to the applicable district standards;

     (3)  The impact of the proposed reclassification on the following areas of state concern:

         (A)  Preservation or maintenance of important natural systems or habitats;

         (B)  Maintenance of valued cultural, historical, or natural resources;

         (C)  Maintenance of other natural resources relevant to Hawaii's economy, including agricultural resources;

         (D)  Commitment of state funds and resources;

         (E)  Provision for employment opportunities and economic development; and

         (F)  Provision for housing opportunities, including rental housing, for all income groups, particularly the low, low-moderate, and gap groups; provided that the commission shall require that sixty per cent of all proposed housing units be dedicated and sold or rented to low, low-moderate, or gap groups persons and families, of which twenty-five per cent shall be sold or rented to households with incomes up to eighty per cent of the area median income as determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for:

              (i)  Any petition for reclassification of district boundaries; and

             (ii)  Any development of twenty-five or more housing units;

     (4)  The standards and criteria for the reclassification or rezoning of important agricultural lands in section 205-50;

     (5)  The county general plan and all community, development, or community development plans adopted pursuant to the county general plan, as they relate to the land that is the subject of the reclassification petition; and

     (6)  The representations and commitments made by the petitioner in securing a boundary change."

     SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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