Maui residents call
for affordable housing

A group proposes that
developers build homes on
land that the county would buy

WAILUKU » Facing housing prices among the highest in Hawaii, a Valley Isle residents group has proposed an ordinance that calls for Maui County to buy land and work with developers to build affordable dwellings.

The Maui Nui Housing Task Force said the county should make sure the housing remains affordable even upon resale by tying the price to a formula based on federal household income guidelines.

"It's about funding affordable housing for Maui's working families now," said Gladys Baisa, a Task Force participant and executive director of the nonprofit Maui Economic Opportunity Inc.

The median sales price of a house in Maui County from January through April was $640,000, according to the Realtors Association of Maui Inc.

The Maui County Council has received two other "affordable housing" proposals, including one from the county housing administration and the environmental group Maui Tomorrow.

The bills are expected to be heard in the Council's Housing and Human Services Committee in June or July.

Baisa said a major purpose of the task force was to halt young people and professionals, such as teachers and police officers, from leaving Maui because they are unable to afford housing. "The effects are immeasurable. They're so large," she said.

Task force coordinating committee member Regina Agcaoili said some working people are living on the beach and in vans and renting in crowded conditions because they are unable to find affordable housing.

Agcaoili said she knows of a group of 15 people living in a two-bedroom house -- overcrowded conditions that create problems, including a lack of privacy.

Baisa said the task force, which met about every two months for about two years, included people from a wide range of interest groups, from environmentalists to contractors.

Charles Jencks, president of the Maui Contractors Association, said his group would be more inclined to support a bill proposed by county human concerns director Alice Lee.

The county has no ordinance dictating the percentage of affordable housing for a residential developer, but has a general policy requiring the builder to make 10 percent available.

A number of business leaders as well as environmentalists want an affordable-housing ordinance to provide predictability in planning for Maui's future.

Lee's proposed ordinance would codify the policy and increase the developer's contribution to 15 percent. The county would continue a provision that allows it to buy back the houses put on the market within the first 10 years.

Jencks said the task force's proposal would block some people who want to take out the equity in a house based on market prices. Under Lee's bill the builder is required to develop affordable housing when the project requests a zoning change.

The Maui Tomorrow bill includes a provision that would require a major builder to provide 25 percent of the development for affordable housing.

Maui Tomorrow affordable housing Chairman Richard Michaels said the number of bills indicate affordable-housing legislation is an idea "whose time has come."