Two measures aimed at relaxing building and zoning requirements for Oahu landowners and developers who build smaller, walk-up apartment buildings are up for a final vote of the Honolulu City Council on Wednesday.

Both Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Council Zoning Chairwoman Kymberly Pine support the notion that low-rise, walk-up apartment rentals can play a key role in addressing the island’s affordable-housing crunch and support the idea of providing incentives for those who build such units.

Walk-ups proliferated in McCully-Moiliili, Makiki, Pawaa and other urban Honolulu neighborhoods from the 1950s to the 1970s. But several developers Thursday told the Council Zoning Committee that as much as they’d like to build such buildings, financial incentives are needed to make them pencil out.

The Department of Planning and Permitting’s preliminary estimates show 14,000 to 15,000 affordable rentals could be built if the incentives are instituted, said retired Outrigger executive Mel Kaneshige, a proponent. “That could put a huge dent into the housing shortfall of between 65,000-85,000 units that are being forecast (as needed) by the year 2025.”

Allowing more apartments to go up would create less demand for “monster” houses, oversize houses in residential zones which essentially are divided illegally into apartment-size units, Pine said.

Caldwell, in his State of the City address earlier this month, said he wants developers and contractors to build multifamily structures in apartment-zoned areas, and specifically on smaller lots — 20,000 square feet or less — and wants to offer them incentives.

The proposal allows the buildings to have a maximum density four times the total square footage of a lot, up from 0.9 times the total now.

The city also would waive parking restrictions for such properties, letting the market decide how much a developer or contractor should provide. Additionally, the setback areas for such structures also would be reduced to allow for wider structures, more mass, than now allowed.

Among the proposals on the Building Code side is waiving a requirement for elevators for four- and five-story buildings (or up to 60 feet) on smaller lots. Currently, the law calls for elevators in apartment complexes taller than three stories. Builders would also need to provide only one standard entryway rather than the two now required. Instead, the second entry could just be a fire escape.

The two resolutions, both introduced by Pine, were given preliminary approval by the Zoning Committee, positioning them for final votes Wednesday.

Resolution 18-77 calls on the Caldwell administration to look at easing Building Code requirements in apartment zones and offers other incentives to builders for construction of affordable housing in apartment zones.

Resolution 18-78 offers a proposed bill with a five-year pilot project that includes incentives to apartment owners who build low-rise multifamily dwellings in apartment, business and mixed-use zones — and dedicate to renting them in perpetuity to those making 100 percent of area median income or less. The specifics, which Pine said she’s been working on with stakeholders for a year, are similar to those proposed by Caldwell.

Acting Planning Director Kathy Sokugawa said reducing the required number of entrances and exits to one or 1-1/2, instead of two as now required, is a concern to some. Federal Americans With Disabilities Act requirements might also be an issue, she said.

Additionally, DPP supports the concept of providing incentives only to those agreeing to rent in perpetuity to those making 100 percent of the area median income, but Sokugawa noted the proposal does not include provisions for how that rule will be monitored.

Retired developer Marshall Hung said walk-up apartments haven’t been built in four decades because they are cost-prohibitive. The incentives will help spur their construction, Hung said, adding that the lack of parking and elevators may not be a problem.

Walk-ups appeal to people who don’t own cars because they can’t afford the insurance, Hung said. Apartment dwellers are often younger and more physically active, making them less bothered by climbing steps to a fourth or fifth floor, allowing lower floors to be rented to older tenants, he said.

“These walk-ups can be built all over the island,” Hung said.