Land Use Commission is impediment to housing

In a recent "Island Voices" column, it was opined that the state Land Use Commission (LUC) has worked (Star-Advertiser, Jan. 28).

We agree that it has worked to serve a certain public purpose, but who really benefits?

If we continue on the path we’ve been on, the only winners are special-interest groups that put "panoramic views" ahead of housing for Hawaii’s working families.

We believe the LUC process has impeded the development of much-needed housing. We now have record-high median home prices, low inventory of homes, multigenerational and multifamily living situations, and fewer and fewer units to call home for the next generation. Is this the type of sustainability we desire for the future of Hawaii?

Koa Ridge is a case study in delaying needed housing development. If you had given birth to your child when entitlements for the Koa Ridge housing development were first applied for, your child will be graduating from high school by the time the first family moves in.

Koa Ridge requires us to revisit the LUC process. The Central Oahu project took more than 12 years — and three court cases — just to get through the LUC for an area that was already identified by the City and County of Honolulu as an area for future growth. This excludes the time to obtain permits to build and complete the necessary infrastructure.

Ask yourself: Is 12 years a reasonable time frame just to receive approval for the LUC to reclassify land to build homes for Hawaii’s families?

We don’t think so, either. All told, it will be 15 years or more before the first family will be able to move into their new home. The result is a per-housing unit cost of more than $150,000 before the first shovel hits the dirt. The longer it takes to obtain approvals to build, the more the indirect and direct costs associated with building increase. However, the biggest cost is time.

How many homes are actually being built?

Contrary to what has been portrayed by no-growthers, we are currently building the smallest number of homes since World War II. Prior to the creation of the LUC and adopting contested case hearings in the mid-1970s, we were building 12,000-plus homes a year, enough to accommodate growth. Within just a couple of years, that number dropped to 4,000, and it’s progressively gotten smaller. In 2014, 864 building permits were issued for 1,819 residential units.

The state Department of Business and Economic Development and Tourism estimates that we need more than 5,000 new residential units a year to accommodate our growing population. If we don’t act fast, we will become a community of the very rich and very poor, with little or no middle class, and no tax base to support government functions.

Government’s role is not to just say "no" or "wait."

The existing LUC process eliminates competition by restricting the supply of developable land to only those who have the staying power to go through the lengthy process to get lands reclassified and zoned.

If the system were improved to provide more developable land in areas of planned growth, perhaps other small- and medium-sized developers could enter the market and provide more competition and selection to prospective buyers.

That is why we support legislation to remove the overlapping jurisdiction and clarify the roles and responsibilities of the state LUC and county planning departments.

We need to take appropriate and assertive steps to reduce the cost of developing housing and, in turn, reduce the price of new housing in Hawaii to ensure we provide opportunities and choices for our children and other young families to enter the housing market.