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Home My WebLink About11/14/2018 Public hearing minutes on BILL 2725 PUBLIC HEARING NOVEMBER 14, 2018 A public hearing of the Council of the County of Kaua`i was called to order by Arthur Brun, Chair, Community Assistance & Veterans Services Committee, on Wednesday, November 14, 2018, at 1:32 p.m., at the Council Chambers, 4396 Rice Street, Suite 201, Historic County Building, Lihu`e, and the presence of the following was noted: Honorable Arthur Brun Honorable Mason K. Chock Honorable Ross Kagawa Honorable Arryl Kaneshiro Honorable JoAnn A. Yukimura Excused: Honorable Derek S.K. Kawakami Honorable Mel Rapozo The Clerk read the notice of the public hearing on the following: "Bill No. 2725 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 7A, KAUAI COUNTY CODE 1987, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING PRESERVATION," which was ordered to print by the Council of the County of Kaua`i on October 24, 2018, and published in The Garden Island newspaper on October 31, 2018. The following communications were received for the record: 1. Anonymous, dated November 10, 2018 2. Burrell, Pamela, dated November 9, 2018 3. Cartsen, Donna, dated November 11, 2018 4. Clune, Constance, dated November 12, 2018 5. Cook, Lisa, dated November 11, 2018 6. Dente, Mari, dated November 10, 2018 7. Dick, Steven, dated November 9, 2018 8. Dinner, David, dated November 12, 2018 9. Edmonds, Jim, dated November 13, 2018 10.Ellenburg, Peggy, dated November 11, 2018 11.Freund, Dan, dated November 11, 2018 12.Glass, Steve and Sharry, dated November 13, 2018 13.Hamilton-Cambeilh, Renae, dated November 13, 2018 14.Hunt, Steve, dated November 10, 2018 PUBLIC HEARING 2 NOVEMBER 14, 2018 BILL NO. 2725 15.Imaikalani, Inette Miller & `Iokepa Hanalei, dated November 11, 2018 16.Jones, Kalina, dated November 13, 2018 17.Jordans, Ruta, dated November 9, 2018 18.Kaneko, Sarah, dated November 9, 2018 19.Kennedy, Suzanna, dated November 9, 2018 20.Kupihea, Kendra, dated November 12, 2018 21.Levy, Joan, dated November 9, 2018 22.Maitino, Maria, dated November 13, 2018 23.McGraw, Laurel, dated November 9, 2018 24.Miller, Lucy, dated November 11, 2018 25.Morris, Bonnie, dated November 10, 2018 26.Mulhall, Mary, dated November 10, 2018 27.Murakami, Tracy, dated November 12, 2018 28.Pezzato, Dennis, dated November 9, 2018 29.Pollock, Sherry, dated November 13, 2018 30.Taylor, Gabriela, dated November 12, 2018 31.Walton, Anne, dated November 14, 2018 32.White, Judith, dated November 11, 2018 33.Yost, Robin, dated November 13, 2018 The hearing proceeded as follows: SCOTT K. SATO, Deputy County Clerk: We have two (2) registered speakers and received thirty-three (33) written testimonies in support. Committee Chair Brun: Thank you. Mr. Sato: The first speaker is Joyce Miranda, followed by Anne Walton. Committee Chair Brun: Please state your name for the captioner and then you will have three (3) minutes. JOYCE MIRANDA: Okay. Good afternoon. I am Joyce Miranda from Po`ipu and also here in Puhi. I feel that this is a very concerning subject and that is why I came out. I do not usually come out and speak. I know that as a business owner, it affects me for there is a lack of housing for qualified people, so many of our children need to live with us as parents because they cannot afford their own. They cannot even afford to buy it, nonetheless rent it. I feel that I am in a subdivision in Puhi that was supposed to be affordable. I believe seven (7) years of a buyback is too short. I know that this particular one that was at the Villas at Puali was a seven (7) year buyback or what you know as affordable. I believe that was speculated. People would wait-out and everything, or also being on the Board of the Association, some units were asked if the County wanted to buy them back and there was never any response, and that was about four (4) years ago. I think that we are going on about eleven (11) years now, but there was a seven (7) year buyback. That is kind of PUBLIC HEARING 3 NOVEMBER 14, 2018 BILL NO. 2725 discerning, too. Please, for all of the people on Kaua`i, let us address this housing. It is so important. Thank you. Committee Chair Brun: Thank you. Mr. Sato: The next speaker is Anne Walton. Councilmember Yukimura: Joyce. Committee Chair Brun: Joyce. Ms. Miranda: Yes? Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you for coming to speak. Ms. Miranda: Sure. Councilmember Yukimura: About how much are the units now going for? Ms. Miranda: At the time in which—I bought my unit because it was one of the developers, so I did not need to qualify and I paid more than what it was initially. I believe it started out as three—I am going to say three hundred sixty-six thousand dollars ($366,000). Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Ms. Miranda: Today, any unit in there goes for over four hundred thousand ($400,000), four hundred fifty thousand dollars ($450,000), or five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000). Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Ms. Miranda: And that is within ten (10) years. Councilmember Yukimura: Okay. Thank you very much. Committee Chair Brun: Thank you. Ms. Miranda: Thank you. Committee Chair Brun: Next. Anne. ANNE WALTON: Good afternoon, Councilmembers. My name is Anne Walton, for the record. I will just go ahead and read my testimony. You have also been provided with a printed copy of it. As we all know from our firsthand experience of losing friends and family from this island to seek more affordable housing on the mainland, there is no better time than now to propose a sound policy solution to secure permanent and truly affordable housing. In fact, there is not a moment to spare and as your 2016-2018 term comes to an end, now is the time for PUBLIC HEARING 4 NOVEMBER 14, 2018 BILL NO. 2725 you to act on this most pressing issue of your time on the Council. As we all learned from our new General Plan, we have a housing shortage of nine thousand (9,000) units that is projected out over twenty (20) years. Eighty percent (80%) of those projected housing needs are for affordable housing, meaning families with one hundred forty percent (140%) of median income or lower. That is what we are calling affordable housing. Or conversely, we need seven thousand two hundred (7,200) units for housing that ensures families who no more than thirty percent (30%) of their household income will go to housing costs. The projections on housing needs, particularly those pertaining to affordable housing, can only be estimated with some level of accuracy if our model is to build our inventory so that we are at least maintaining, if not, building an inventory and not taking away from that inventory, or those projected numbers mean nothing at all. That means that those units would not be sold at market rate over a period of time or converted to vacation rentals. Sunset clauses that allow for buybacks of zoning conditional housing or housing built through public funding mechanisms, whether at the ten (10) or even fifty (50) year mark, only depletes any possible progress we can make towards building our inventory. This has never been a good idea and now is the time to put it to an end. Bill No. 2725, as proposed by Council Chair Rapozo and Councilmember Yukimura, establishes a policy that all affordable housing required by County zoning or developed with public funds be required to remain within the long-term affordable housing inventory for the longest term generally accepted by law, and we see that as ninety-nine (99) year lease agreements, although that could be questioned what that time limit might be. Bill No. 2725 will provide a sound foundational policy that is the first step in meeting our twenty (20) year targeted needs for affordable housing as identified in the General Plan. Without Bill No. 2725, we will never meet our goal. Thank you in advance for making this commitment to the people of Kaua`i and ensuring fair and equitable access to affordable housing for all our community members. Thank you. Committee Chair Brun: Thank you. Anyone else wishing to testify? Councilmember Yukimura: Thank you. Committee Chair Brun: Seeing none, this public... Councilmember Kagawa: That gentleman just came in. You should check if he wants to testify. Committee Chair Brun: Do you want to testify? Seeing none, this public hearing on Bill... Councilmember Yukimura: Oh, wait hold on. There were people who were supposed to come here. Is there any way to recess? Okay. Committee Chair Brun: The public hearing for Bill No. 2725 is now adjourned. PUBLIC HEARING 5 NOVEMBER 14, 2018 BILL NO. 2725 There being no further testimony, the public hearing adjourned at 1:39 p.m. Respectfully submitted, SCOTT K. SATO Deputy County Clerk :aa