The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the Maui County Council on July 19, 2024.
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July 19, 2024, 9 a.m.
Council Chamber, Kalana O Maui Building
To: Maui County Council
Alice Lee, Chair
Yuki Lei Sugimura, Vice-Chair
From: Jonathan Helton, Policy Researcher
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
RE: Bill 103 — A BILL FOR AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 19.08, MAUI COUNTY CODE, RELATING TO DENSITY WITHIN RESIDENTIAL DISTRICTS
Aloha Chair Lee, Vice-Chair Sugimura and other members of the Council,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii would like to offer its support for Bill 103 (2024), which would allow more homes per lot in the County’s residential zoning districts on the islands of Maui and Lanai.
Maui, of course, had a severe housing shortage before the disastrous August 2023 wildfires[1] — and now the situation is even worse. But this bill could help ameliorate that situation by facilitating the construction of more homes for residents displaced by the fires
Specifically, Bill 103 (2024) would allow two houses and one accessory dwelling unit per 6,000 square feet of lot area in R-1 districts, versus only one house and one ADU under the current code.
In R-2 districts, it would allow three dwellings and two ADUs on 7,500 square feet of lot area, versus only one house and two ADUs under the current code.
And in R-3 districts, the bill would allow four houses and two ADUs on lot areas of 10,000 square feet, versus only one house and two ADUs under the current code.
Table 1, reproduced from the Maui planning director’s memo to the Lanai, Maui and Molokai planning commissions,[2] shows the a changes in greater detail:
The Grassroot Institute pointed out in its recent report, “How to facilitate more homebuilding in Hawaii,” that allowing more homes on the same lot is a powerful approach that many states and cities across the county have used to increase housing supply.
Such places include Minneapolis, Minnesota; Houston, Texas; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Columbus, Ohio, as well as the entire states of California and Montana.[3] Auckland, New Zealand, is a good international example.[4]
All “upzoned” their residential areas to allow greater housing density on lands already zoned for housing — and the research indicates these changes have worked.[5]
The benefits of upzoning in Hawaii wouldn’t be limited to a larger housing supply. Allowing local homeowners to build new homes on their properties would give them the opportunity to build intergenerational wealth — or just provide a place where their children or other family members could afford to live and stay in Hawaii.
Focusing on “infill” development — building homes within existing residentially zoned areas — would also help solve two major concerns with new housing. First, there typically is more water and wastewater infrastructure available in existing residential areas. And second, new housing built under this bill would not encroach on Maui’s rural and agricultural areas, which should please anyone who wants to “keep the country country.”
Thank you for the opportunity to offer our comments.
Jonathan Helton
Policy Researcher
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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[1] Janis Magin Meierdiercks, “Maui Is Hawai‘i’s Least Affordable County for Homeownership,” Hawaii Business Magazine, April 4, 2023.
[2] Kate Blystone, “Subject: A Bill For An Ordinance Amending Sections 19.08.020 And 19.08.040, Maui County Code, Relating To Density Within Residential Districts,” Memo to the Maui, Molokai and Lanai planning commissions, Feb. 21, 2024, p. 3.
[3] Laurel Wamsley, “The hottest trend in U.S. cities? Changing zoning rules to allow more housing,” NPR, Feb. 17, 2024.
[4] Ryan Greenaway-McGrevy, “Can Zoning Reform Reduce Housing Costs? Evidence from Rents in Auckland,” University of Auckland Business School, Economic Policy Centre Working Paper No. 016, June 2023.
[5] Christina Plerhoples Stacy, Christopher Davis, Yonah Freemark et al., “Land-Use Reforms and Housing Costs,” Urban Institute, March 29, 2023; and Vicki Been, Ingrid Gould Ellen and Katherine M. O’Regan, “Supply Skepticism Revisited,” New York University Law and Economics Research Paper No. 24-12, Nov. 10, 2023.
