Everyone knows there is a shortage of affordable housing on Oahu.

According to City Council Resolution 14-200, more than half of all households statewide are paying more than 30 percent of their income toward housing. We all know families that have multiple generations living in the same home. Many of those impacted by the lack of affordable housing are our kupuna as well as our young adults who are recent high school and college graduates and unable to find an affordable place to rent or buy on their own.

Families with young children are also heavily affected by the high cost of housing.

Meanwhile, there is a strong desire among many residents of Oahu to stop over-development, prevent urban sprawl, improve traffic and keep the country, country. But how can we house our children, kupuna and young families while preserving our open spaces, agricultural lands, rural and country districts?

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) would allow for in-fill development to occur in already urbanized and suburbanized neighborhoods. This would help address the pent-up demand for rental units and reduce the need for new developments and urban sprawl which require new infrastructure, new utilities, cause longer commute times, and create the need for expanded government services.

The ADUs would be able to connect to already existing infrastructure and utilities in places where the City and County Planning Department determines there is additional capacity.

The reality is that there already exists an underground ADU market on Oahu created by homeowners who build extensions, close in garages, or add “recreational rooms” to their existing dwellings and then convert these extensions into separate units and rent these spaces out illegally.

Under an amended Land Use Ordinance, these types of units could be permitted and legally rented, creating additional tax revenue for the state and needed rental housing for the growing Oahu population.

Concerns by residents about impacts to street parking are fair and are addressed in the resolution by requiring one off-street parking stall for studio and one-bedroom ADUs and two off-street stalls for two or more bedroom ADUs.

A valid concern remains that the ADU ordinance could be used to create even more illegal vacation rentals in areas such as Kailua. This issue already desperately needs to be addressed; however, we should not forbid other residents of Oahu the right to house their kupuna and young adults in ADUs because of the few who use their properties for illegal vacation rentals. Perhaps the City and County could disallow ADUs in neighborhoods where there is a proliferation of illegal vacation rentals.

While ADUs will not solve Oahu’s growing housing shortage problem, it could provide some relief through private investment by homeowners in creating ADUs on their properties. It also could help to preserve those areas that we all value, including our agricultural lands and rural and country areas.

Residents of Oahu should support Council Resolution 14-200 relating to accessory dwelling units.

ON VACATION:
“On Politics” columnist Richard Borreca is off until mid-August.