Oahu homeowners could soon put up second dwellings on their lots under a proposal advanced this week by the City Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee.
Bill 20 now will likely go to the full Council for a final vote Sept. 2. If the Council approves the measure, it would go to the mayor’s office for consideration.
Supporters of accessory dwelling units view them as a quick way to add inventory to the strapped affordable rental market because they create new units on existing property at no cost to the city.
"The problems of homelessness and the lack of affordable housing have been in the news now for quite some time," Councilman Ron Menor said. "It’s clear we have a major affordable housing crisis."
Opponents maintain that accessory dwelling units subvert existing planning guidelines; overtax roads, water and sewer lines, and other infrastructure; and make it easy for people to set up illegal transient vacation or bed-and-breakfast units.
The latest draft of the bill — passed unanimously by the committee Thursday — adds some new wrinkles, most of them aimed at ensuring ADUs are not used inappropriately as transient vacation units or B&Bs.
Advertising an ADU as a B&B or TVU would be grounds for revoking an ADU permit. Additionally, the minimum rental or lease period for an ADU must be six months, up from three months, and all rentals are required to have a written rental agreement.
The amended Bill 20 also adds country-zoned properties to the list of areas where ADUs would be allowed.
Creating ADUs is one of three major components of a housing crisis action plan pitched by Mayor Kirk Caldwell last year.
The accessory units could be no larger than 800 square feet. Each ADU must include at least one off-street parking space, except when it is within half a mile of a rail station. ADUs could be newly built or part of an existing structure either attached or detached from the primary dwelling.
On Thursday, city Planning and Permitting Director George Atta said the administration supports the additional enforcement conditions.
Kali Watson, housing and economic development chairman for the Sovereign Councils of Hawaiian Homelands Assembly, said his organization believes the bill will help Native Hawaiians.
"When you look at the homeless, especially the surveys that were taken in Kakaako, a significant number of them are Native Hawaiians," Watson said. He pointed out that there are homestead communities nearby in neighborhoods like Papakolea, Kalawahine and Kewalo where ADUs could be established.
Those communities include counseling and educational programs that could help those staying at ADUs, he said.
"Our goal is to build maybe 500 of these throughout the homesteading community," Watson said, noting that DPP officials have already indicated a willingness to fast-track approvals. "I think that would go a long way in trying resolving this situation."
Also testifying for the bill were representatives from homeless advocacy groups Faith Action Community Equity and the Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice.
"In light of the current circumstances, it’s more clear than ever that we must take action, and this is a chance for the Council to do something right away to increase our inventory of rental housing," said Jenny Lee, Hawaii Appleseed public policy director. ADUs can also help homeowners with paying mortgages, she said.
