WHEREAS, Hawaii is facing a historic affordable housing crisis; and

WHEREAS, it is projected that at least 50,000 housing units will be needed to meet Hawaii's affordable housing shortage through 2016; and

WHEREAS, public officials and agencies are taking steps to address this crisis by funding and constructing additional affordable housing units; and

WHEREAS, there is currently no public policy in place to guide the geographic placement of affordable housing units in the State; and

WHEREAS, the lack of such a public policy has resulted in an inequitable geographic distribution of affordable housing units, which is especially acute on the island of Oahu; and

WHEREAS, downtown Honolulu has the highest number of affordable housing units; and

WHEREAS, the State has launched a major project to expand Mayor Wright Homes from its current 364 housing units to an estimated 1,200 to 1,500 housing units; and
WHEREAS, the Hawaii Public Housing Authority is proposing to build an additional 600 to 1,000 housing units on its Kalihi-Palama property; and

WHEREAS, these proposed housing projects and other future projects will further increase the concentration of affordable housing units in downtown Honolulu, resulting in an even greater inequitable distribution of affordable housing units in geographical areas in the State; and

WHEREAS, a policy brief by the Center for Housing Policy found that "large concentrations of affordable units are best avoided in favor of moderately-sized developments that may limit the negative effects associated with concentrations of poverty"; and

WHEREAS, the same policy brief also found that:

(1) The vast majority of studies have found that affordable housing does not depress neighboring property values, and may even raise them in some cases; and

(2) There is an emerging consensus among researchers that subsidized housing of various types does not have negative effects—and sometimes has positive effects—on property values, particularly in higher value neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, beginning in 1972 with the creation of the Section 8 rental housing assistance program, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has placed increasing emphasis on dispersing the geographic pattern of housing assistance; and

WHEREAS, the City of Houston's low level of clustering has been attributed to a mandate that low-income housing properties not be located within one mile of another property; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, that the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, in consultation with the University of Hawaii at Manoa Department of Urban and Regional Planning, is requested to develop policies for the equitable geographic distribution of affordable housing units on Oahu; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Public Housing Authority is also requested to:

(1) Develop a schedule that gives higher priority to the construction of affordable housing units in neighborhoods with low or minimal concentrations of affordable housing units over areas with high concentrations of affordable housing units; and

(2) Observe a moratorium on further construction of affordable housing units in the downtown Honolulu area until a policy for the equitable distribution of affordable housing is enacted by the Legislature; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Public Housing Authority is requested to submit a report of the actions taken pursuant to this measure, including findings and recommendations, to the Legislature no later than 20 days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2016; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Executive Director of the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, the Chairperson of the Hawaii Public Housing Authority Board of Directors, the University of Hawaii President, University of Hawaii at Manoa Dean of College of Social Sciences, and University of Hawaii at Manoa Chairperson of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Hawaii Public Housing Authority; Affordable Housing; Equitable Geographic Distribution Policy

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	110
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII