HALE MUA PROJECT
GETS GREEN LIGHT
240-acre
housing project passes through County Council, but is not without
sticking points. Legality of project questioned.
J.M.
Buck
WAILUKU–
After hearing two and a half hours of public testimony Tuesday,
the controversial Hale Mua affordable housing project was approved
by the Maui County Council. Though the development passed by a
7–2 margin, the decision was not without difficulties.
The 466-lot project, located in Waiehu between Wailuku Country
Estates and Waihe‘e, calls for 238 affordable house-and-lot
packages, 209 market lots and 19 “gentleman’s estate”
lots ranging between 2 and 25 acres.
The affordable homes in the Hale Mua subdivision will range in
price. Only twelve units will be marked at $173,000, and will
be available to families earning 70 percent of the median income.
The rest of the affordable homes range in price up to $258,000.
Although Council Chair Riki Hokama voted with the majority, he
did so grudgingly.
“I hope we don’t pass the line of no return,”
he growled. “You have 238 good reasons to support it, but
I’ve got thousands of reasons not to support it."
The 10,000 square foot market lots in the 240-acre subdivision
proposed by developer Sterling Kim will be permitted to have an
additional dwelling on each parcel, resulting in what could be
a tightly-packed development of over 700 units. Residents in the
area that will be impacted by the project voiced concerns ranging
from traffic congestion, clear title, and water rights to concern
over the safety of building materials to be used in Hale Mua’s
affordable homes.
Since the project was applied for under the 201G fast-track process,
the Council had 45 days in which to act or face automatic approval
of the development.
"We all support affordable housing, but we want to do it
right," said Mike Molina, who voted against the project along
with Councilmember Michelle Anderson. "I’m left hanging
and needing more answers, but the 201G process handcuffs the council
from making a sound decision."
Giovanni Rosati, head coordinator of the Maui Nui Housing Task
Force, lives in the neighborhood where the development will be
built.
 |
| Giovanni
Rosati of the Maui Nui Housing Task Force testified
before the Maui County Council on Tuesday. |
“I
have to accept this if it means 238 families will be able to buy
a home,” he testified. “I have to accept that it will
take longer to get through Wailuku.” Though a staunch advocate
of affordable housing, Rosati echoed a sentiment that seemed to
be on the minds of most. “The development is far exceeding
the infrastructure.”
Michelle Anderson made it clear that she was not happy with the
changes to Kim’s original plan of a 100-percent affordable
housing development.
“What I want to know is how this went from almost seven
hundred affordable homes down to only 238,” she demanded.
In a 2004 revised plan, the project went from its original 100-percent
affordable housing plan, with affordable homes on 7,500-square-foot
lots for families making 50-percent of median income, down to
51-percent affordable housing available only to families making
70-percent of the median income.
With “primary residences” plus “one additional
dwelling” on the 10,000-square-foot market parcels being
allowed to dominate over two-thirds the of the housing, this makes
the project, in actuality, 418 market residences, a violation
of the minimum affordable housing requirement providing just over
19-percent affordability. In addition, the affordable homes will
still be situated on 5,000-square-foot parcels with a zero-lot
line setback. Out of the 240 acres, only one-fifth of the land
is being allotted to affordable housing.
Anderson felt that if Kim needed to decrease the amount of affordable
housing, that he should at least have enlarged the 5,000-square-foot
parcels with land from some of the larger parcels and created
some sort of reasonable setback.
"These families deserve a standard-sized lot so their kids
can play in the back yard and so they can have a conversation
without being worried that their neighbors are watching every
move they make," she argued.
Mayor Alan Arakawa stated in an Aug. 4 commentary to the Maui
News that “When Hale Mua developer Sterling Kim brought
his concept for a 100-percent affordable housing project to us
over two years ago, it seemed a godsend. We have a desperate housing
shortage with over 4,000 units needed and this one project could
address a tenth of the demand at one time.”
Arakawa, addressing the impact that other projects proposed for
the same area will have, goes on to state, “…that
none of these non-affordable subdivisions, under our rules, were
required to contribute to the area’s infrastructure and,
in particularly, to the roadways. Together, the traffic from these
projects and the new Hawaiian Home Lands projects in Waiehu were
guaranteed to overwhelm Market Street in Happy Valley and Waiehu
Beach Road. And another 400 units at Hale Mua would just about
ensure gridlock.
“Hale Mua was reconfigured to meet the minimum requirement
of 51-percent affordability. In exchange, Sterling Kim agreed
to build a new bridge over Iao Stream at the Millyard and to extend
Imi Kala Drive to Waiehu — a strategy for improving Wailuku’s
traffic mess for at least 20 years.”
According to Matthew Slepin, a representative of Munikiyo and
Hiraga, the development consultant s for the project, the current
reconfigured plan does not take into account the second dwelling
option available to future owners of the 209 market parcels.
“The project as proposed would be just the initial house
(on market lots),” confirmed Slepin. “All along there
has been some discussion about accessory dwellings. Because of
the underlying agricultural zoning for the parcels, any secondary
dwelling would fall under the restrictions of the agricultural
zoning requirements. Technically speaking, there would be no possibility
of an ohana. But ag lots are allowed a second dwelling.”
Slepin went on to state that the 201G application that was just
approved Tuesday by the Council would allow an owner of a market
lot to construct a single, residential dwelling. “But if
they were then to decide to construct a second dwelling, then
they would be abiding by the restrictions of the ag district,”
explained Slepin.
In order to abide by the underlying agricultural zoning restrictions
of the subdivision to develop a “farm dwelling,” landowners
would need to provide proof of farming or raising of livestock.
Many people have gotten around ag zoning regulations in the past
simply by having a horse or a couple of goats or chickens on their
land, and then claiming that they have a farm and are “raising
livestock.”
If most or all of the landowners of the market parcels decide
to take advantage of the second dwelling option, Slepin agrees
that the subdivision will no longer be in compliance with the
51% affordable housing rule. But it seems that rule only applies
to the submitted plan, not the actual one.
Although the council has been aware of the “second dwelling”
option, it was omitted in the current plan that was set forth
in Hale Mua’s 201G application.
There is also no mention of the “farm dwelling option”
in the current draft impact assessment as submitted to State Department
of Health, Office of Environmental Quality Control (OEQC).
“Hale Mua Properties, LLC (the applicant) proposes the development
of a 466-lot single-family residential subdivision in Waiehu,
Maui, Hawai‘i,” the Feb. 28, 2005 OEQC report reads.
“The proposed subdivision will encompass approximately 240
acres of land identified by Tax Map Key (2) 3-3-02:01 (portion).
The subdivision will be comprised of 238 affordable single-family
house-lot packages, 209 market-priced lots, and 19 large lots,
along with attendant utility installations, drainage retention
basins, a new wastewater pump station, and three (3) parks.
"The affordable lots are proposed to be a minimum of 5,000
square feet (sf) in size with a zero-lot line development concept.
"Affordable house-models will provide approximately 1,100
to 1,200 sf of living area. These packages will be sold with a
buy-back clause to prevent rapid resale. The market-priced lots
will be approximately 10,000 sf in size, while the large lots
will range from two (2) to 25 acres. The market-priced and large
lots will be sold in fee simple interest.”
“It comes out to one-third of the actual dwelling units
will be affordable, and they’re all going to be crammed
onto zero-lot line lots with everything else surrounding it,”
said Anderson. “To me, it was just too low a standard to
accept.”
Mike Munekiyo of Munikiyo and Hiraga stated in his testimony before
the Council that off-site infrastructure improvements and traffic
requirements have driven up the cost of the project, resulting
in the need to cut the amount of affordable homes.
In an effort to alleviate the additional traffic that the development
would generate, Arakawa requested that Kim build a road from Kahekili
Highway across Iao Stream to hook up into Imi Kala Street, which
now ends at Mill Street. The county would then absorb the expense
of extending Imi Kala along an existing cane haul road behind
St. Anthony Junior Senior High School to intersect with Waiale
Drive.
According to both Kim and Munikiyo, the main factor that necessitated
the drastic decrease in the number of affordable homes in the
project was the county’s requirement of the Imi Kala extension
and new bridge construction.
According to the earlier mentioned OEQC report, Kim volunteered
the proposal of the roadway extension and the new Iao Stream bridge
after Arakawa made his request.
“Off-site infrastructure improvements required to service
the subdivision include drainage, waterline, and sewer line installation
with Kahekili Highway, a County roadway,” the report states.
“Additionally, the applicant has proposed the extension
of Imi Kala Street from its current terminus at Eha Street to
intersect with Kahekili Highway. This roadway extension will include
the construction of a new bridge across Iao Stream. This extension
is proposed as the applicant’s contribution toward regional
roadway improvements.
"The estimated cost for the subdivision improvements (excluding
house construction on the affordable lots) is $24 million.
"The estimated cost for the Imi Kala Street Extension, including
the new bridge, is $10 million.”
Anderson says the thing that disturbs her about the bridge is
that it is actually a project of another district’s land
entitlement, the Pi‘ihana Project District. Being that Pi‘ihana
hasn’t moved forward with their project, also a 51-percent
affordable housing development starting at 50-percent median income,
it appears that the responsibility for creating additional roadway
infrastructure has fallen on Kim.
Although several messages were left, neither Kim nor Arakawa could
be reached for comment prior to the publishing of this article.
The project will be soon be going before the State Land Use Commission
for approval.
“I think all of us understand the tremendous potential that
project has to help with affordable housing,” said Munekiyo.
“The issues are not insurmountable.”
