The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the Maui County Council Committee on Housing and Land Use on Nov. 20, 2024.
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Nov. 20, 2024, 9 a.m.
Council Chamber, Kalana O Maui Building
To: Maui County Council, Committee on Housing and Land Use
Tasha Kama, Chair
Tom Cook, Vice-Chair
From: Jonathan Helton, Policy Researcher
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
RE: Bill 104 — RELATING TO KITCHENETTES, KITCHENS, DWELLING UNITS AND WET BARS
Aloha Chair Kama, Vice-Chair Cook and other members of the Committee,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii would like to offer its support for — and an amendment to — Bill 104 (2024), which would allow up to two “kitchenettes” in dwellings in the residential and rural zoning districts on the islands of Maui and Lanai.
A kitchenette is defined in the bill as an area “used for the small-scale preparation and serving of food and beverages that may contain a sink, a refrigerator … and small appliances for the preparation of hot food or beverages, such as counter-top appliances and/or a two-burner range.”[1]
In essence, this bill is responding to the reality that often an individual or family occupying only part of a house will want access to a sink, refrigerator and a countertop to prepare food. Current code allows only one kitchen per dwelling unit, thus discouraging multigenerational households and rooming. Allowing homeowners in residential and rural zones to legally install small sinks, refrigerators and other appliances would increase the availability of housing by increasing the amount of space with normal amenities.
Since many Maui households displaced by the August 2023 wildfires have been and will be living together for some time, this bill is a smart, simple approach to a big problem.
Regarding the proposed amendment, Grassroot believes that the section of the bill that would require one parking space per kitchenette should be removed.
A 2020 study from the Ulupono Initiative found that a single on-grade, residential parking space on Maui could cost as much as $15,200.[2] This estimate was prepared prior to the advent of the COVID-19 crisis and the August 2023 wildfires, so the costs are likely much higher.
Requiring property owners to add an extra parking space as a condition of building a kitchenette would drive up costs, which could in turn encourage people to build kitchenettes without a permit. The result would either be less housing created or more unpermitted construction, both of which run counter to the bill’s intent.
Finally, Grassroot recommends that the Council consult with the director of the Maui Department of Water on the issue of water fixture units to maximize the success of this bill. Any new kitchenettes would require water, and the county’s annual budget sets limits on the number of fixtures — a rough proxy for water use[3] — that each type of water meter can accommodate.[4]
A homeowner with a water meter that is already using its maximum fixture units would not be able to add a new sink, even if this bill were to be approved and enacted into law.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Jonathan Helton
Policy Researcher
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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[1] Kate Blystone, “A Bill For an Ordinance Amending Section 19.500.110, Maui County Code, Regarding Nonconformities,” Memo to the Maui, Molokai and Lanai Planning Commissions, Feb. 21, 2024, p. 3.
[2] “The Costs of Parking in Hawai‘i,” prepared by PBR & Associates for the Ulupono Initiative, August 2020, p. 3.
[3] “Fixture unit,” Wikipedia, accessed Feb. 20, 2024.
[4] Jonathan Helton and Aaron Lief, “How fixes to Maui’s water-fixture policy could ease its housing crisis,” Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, September 2024.
