Charles Flaherty - Affordable Housing hearing

Aloha e,
There will be a public hearing tomorrow, Thursday, October 28th at 3PM at the Keauhou Sheraton Resort regarding Forest City’s proposed Kamakana Villages at Keahuolu.

The developer applied to be a housing project under Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 201H which authorizes the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to develop or assist in the development of housing projects which are exempt from certain statutes, ordinances, charter provisions, and rules of any governmental agency relating to planning, zoning, construction standards for subdivisions, development and improvement of land, and the construction of units thereon provided that:

• The project primarily or exclusively includes affordable housing units (Forest City is proposing less than 60% at 140% of median income);

• The Corporation finds that the project meets minimum requirements of health and safety (Forest City does not); and

• The development of the project does not contravene any safety standards, tariffs, or rates and fees approved by the public utilities commission for public utilities or various Boards of Water Supply (Forest City’s development would).

The state agency, Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation entered into a development agreement with Forest City Kamakana LLC which allows the developer to simply walk away from the development or any aspect of the development which may be deemed “financial unfeasible” with only 30 days notice.

HHFDC entered into development agreement without any regard to or consultation with the County of Hawai’i administration or its elected council representatives even though this development will have a great impact on the Kona community.

For instance, the county has reserved 431,360 gallons per day (“GPD”) capacity at the Kealakeke Sewage Treatment Plant, but Forest City’s documents state that the development will generate an average flow of 673,778 GPD with a peak flow of 2,555,477 GPD.

Further, as the Queen Liliuokalani Trust’s attorney’s have pointed out Forest City’s traffic studies are inadequate and incorrect.

But the biggest problem is that Forest City refuses to commitment to building any affordable housing units below 140% of median income. So how much money does your family have to make to buy a house in Forest City’s affordable housing project?

Household size = 1 person, $63,800; 2 people, $72,910; 3 people, $82,030; 4 people, $91,140; 5 people, $98,430; 6 people, $105,720; 7 people, $113,010; 8 people, $120,300.
From County of Hawaii website (2009 income schedule by family size)

The average household size in Hawai’i County is about 4.5, so the average family must make about $95,000/year to buy a Forest City “affordable” ($400,000+) home.

HRS Chapter 201H only gives the county council 45 days to make a decision or the project is automatically approved. At the last hearing, none of the county department heads had had time to read the latest revision to the exemptions being requested. It is clear that not all county departments, including police and fire have had time to evaluate what Forest City is proposing.

Forest City has purposefully ambushed the Kona council representatives and Forest City’s attorney has made substantial financial contributions to the political campaigns of council chair, Jay Yoshimoto, and council member Donald Ikeda. So please come speak out against this project as it is being currently proposed and designed. Tell them to go back to the drawing boards and to include our community, not special interests, in the process the next time instead of dictating demands.

Mahalo!
Charles Flaherty