New affordable housing hearings required

A state board trying to overhaul affordable-housing requirements in Kakaako will hold a new round of public hearings after suggesting additional tweaks to proposed rule changes at a meeting Wednesday.

The Hawaii Community Development Authority board previously held four public hearings from March to May. Developers and landowners said some of the proposed changes would choke off residential development. Affordable-housing advocates said the proposed changes do not go far enough.

Two more public hearings are necessary because the board asked that a staff report detailing the changes be revised significantly. Two hearings are required to give the public a chance to comment on such revisions.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the board voted to reject a proposed change that would have required any new project with 10 or more homes to make 20 percent of the residences affordable to moderate-income residents. HCDA’s existing rule requires only projects on more than 20,000 square feet of land to deliver 20 percent of homes at moderate prices.

Generally, HCDA, which has been working on the rule overhaul for two years, aims to make more new homes in Kakaako a little more affordable to residents with moderate incomes and to maintain the affordability of these homes for much longer.

Some of the major changes proposed include keeping affordable rental rates in place for 30 years instead of 15 years, and giving HCDA the right to buy back and resell affordable homes at prescribed prices if they are resold within 30 years.

HCDA has regulated development in Kakaako, a hotbed of condominium tower construction, since 1976 and made numerous amendments to its rules since then.

International Market Place hosting job fair

The International Market Place will hold a job fair on Monday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the shopping center’s Queen’s Court on the first level. Applicants will receive free four-hour parking validation.

Merchants are looking to fill positions for sales, management, culinary, stock and inventory workers, and other jobs.

Interested candidates should come dressed for an interview and bring several copies of their resume. No appointment is necessary.

For more information, go to shopinternationalmarketplace.com/employment.

ON THE MOVE

SMS Research & Marketing Services has announced Daniel Naho‘opi‘i as its new executive vice president. He has 28 years of marketing research and evaluation experience, including serving since 2006 as the director of tourism research and planning for the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Prior to joining HTA, Naho‘opi‘i was the manager in the Strategic Planning & Implementation Group at Kamehameha Schools, senior project director of SMS Research, research manager at the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, an integrated resource engineer at Hawaiian Electric Co. and a management information consultant at Anderson Consulting.

The Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce has announced Wendy J. Laros as its new executive director. She was the Chamber’s operations coordinator and was active with the Chamber’s Education and Workforce Development Committee, and also helped in the development of the West Hawaii Workforce Needs Assessment.