On March 28, the City Council Committee on Zoning and Housing chaired by Kymberly Pine heard a number of bills in an attempt to address Oahu’s affordable housing shortage. Bill 6 is a bill to encourage development of affordable walk-up rental properties for low wage earners and reduce proliferation of excessively large single-family homes.
Read more: Affordable Walk-Up Rental Bill Heard by City Council
The City Council meets on March 8 at 10 A.M., and will hear bills to increase development of affordable rental housing on Oahu. The Affordable Rental Housing Report and Ten-Year Plan (July 2018), published by the Special Action Team on Affordable Rental Housing Report pursuant to Act 127 (Session Laws of Hawai’i 2016), states, in part, “Although many reasons contribute to the lack of affordable rental housing units for low- and moderate-income households, the primary reason is a poor rate of return for investments in affordable rental housing projects.”
Read more: Development of Affordable Rental Units Scheduled for First Reading
City Council Chair Ernie Martin presided over his last City Council meeting on Wednesday, December 5 at Honolulu Hale. The Honolulu Board of REALTORS® (HBR) says aloha to Chair Martin after working with him during his eight years in office. He has been a great advocate of homeowners and affordable housing, was a strong leader for his district, Mililani Mauka to Kahaluu, and an important ally to HBR and issues impacting REALTORS® including real property taxes.
Council Member Carol Fukunaga introduced Bill 82 to establish a real property tax incentive program for the development of homeless solutions. The bill offers licensed contractors, professional engineers, architects, surveyors, and landscape architects a credit for the value of in-kind contributions provided to a nonprofit organization or the City for the development of homeless facilities or support services on the island.
The Legislative Matters Committee of the Honolulu City Council will hear multiple bills and resolutions to address funding issues related to completing rail, including the 2018 Rail Recovery Plan to be submitted to the Federal Transit Authority (FTA). Immediately following the committee hearing, City Council will meet to consider third reading and approval of the measures.
Read more: Council Hearing Expected to Move Rail Transit Funding Forward
