Moratorium on ‘monster homes’ faces final vote

A final vote on a bill placing a temporary moratorium on large-scale homes is scheduled for today, and Hono­lulu City Council members have been getting mounting pressure from both opponents and supporters of the “monster houses” legislation.

Supporters of Bill 110 (2017) say a halt is needed in the issuing of building permits for large-scale houses until the city Department of Planning and Permitting can come up with a more permanent plan to deal with the rising tide of larger houses sprouting up in older residential neighborhoods across Oahu.

Opponents of the bill, however, have been lobbying Council members about deferring the final vote on a moratorium because they believe that, as written, the bill will have unintended negative consequences such as hurting those families who simply want to put up an extension to help out family members.

Bill opponents might get their way.

Council Chairman Ron Menor said he’s open to the possibility of a deferral at today’s meeting, which takes place at 2 p.m. at the second-floor Council committee room at Honolulu Hale.

“Because the measure … is far-reaching, we need to do it right and ensure that the passage of the bill will not result in negative, unintended consequences,” Menor said. “In this regard, a deferral may be in order.”

Additionally, he said, Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration is expected to propose amendments that would require further vetting by the public. Meanwhile, Corporation Counsel Donna Leong has raised legal concerns about a provision in the bill that gives the Council the power to grant building permit exemptions.

However, a deferral would be temporary, he said, and delay a final vote only until the Council’s regularly scheduled monthly meeting Feb. 28.

Council Planning Chairman Ikaika Anderson, who authored the moratorium bill, said he’s not sure what’s going to happen today. “We will listen to the discussion, and we will all make a decision,” he said.

The version of the bill that passed out of the Planning Committee last week defines a large dwelling that falls under the moratorium as one that exceeds a certain floor area ratio, also known as FAR or density, based on a sliding scale that would allow a smaller percentage of living area for larger lots.

The current proposal calls for houses to not have a FAR greater than 0.75 for lots up to 3,500 square feet. On the other end, the maximum FAR would be 0.50 for lots of 15,001 square feet and greater. Those seeking to build structures within those ranges can still apply for building permits administratively through DPP, while those wanting to build larger structures could still apply for the permits by petitioning the Council.

Newly formed HI Good Neighbors last week put out a statement to media stating they don’t think the proposal as drafted goes far enough. Members want the Council to impose a tiered limit of bathrooms based on the size of the houses. The group also wants the Council to look at a maximum 0.60 FAR.

Meanwhile, leaders of the Building Industry Association of Hawaii are pressing for a deferral.

“The bill as it’s written now would negatively impact a lot of local families who are building multi-generational houses,” said BIA Hawaii president Dean Uchida. “There’s not a lot of new houses coming on, and local families are forced to kind of like double-up on each other.”

More younger people are moving back in with their parents, and more seniors are moving in with their adult children, he said. “It’s just kind of a fact of life in Hawaii.” The key to stemming abuses of building and zoning laws is better and more effective enforcement, he said.

Caldwell told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Monday that he supports a moratorium because he opposes what essentially are apartment buildings in neighborhoods zoned for single-family homes. “What I don’t want to do is shut down larger homes that are truly single-­family residential on large lots,” he said. “But building huge homes lot line to lot line in Kalihi or Kaimuki or Maunalani Heights, Hawaii Kai or Aina Haina are totally inappropriate.”