Blackout martial law hawaii12/4/2023 ![]() While the proclamation doesn't require projects to include below-market-rate units, the working group is directed to prioritize projects that do include some affordable housing. They'd also have to pay their workers prevailing (union) wages and host at least one public meeting about their project. Developers would still need to go through an expedited historic and environmental review process laid out in the proclamation. This arrangement wouldn't quite be a regulatory free-for-all. In sum, homebuilders would theoretically have the opportunity to build housing projects of unlimited density almost anywhere all while skipping normal layers of review and process. They could also skip the need to get approval from the state's Land Use Commission-a duplicative zoning body. They could avoid historic preservation regulations, and get relief from normal impact fees and taxes. They wouldn't have to go through Hawaii's cumbersome environmental review process (which can add months or years to a project's approval). If a project satisfied these criteria, the group could then ink a development agreement with the builder allowing them to proceed with a project without having to comply with Hawaii's thicket of regulations.ĭevelopers with a working group–certified project wouldn't have to comply with normal zoning restrictions. The working group would consider whether a project's sponsor had the experience and financing necessary to start construction within three years and whether their project would avoid "irreversible and irretrievable" impacts on environmental and cultural resources. The working group will review individual housing projects and determine whether they're eligible for regulatory relief. Key to the governor's proclamation is the creation of a Beyond Barriers Working Group made up of representatives of both state and local agencies, the legislature's housing committees, housing advocacy groups, and environmentalists. It may create some constitutional liability." "The long-term impact on the balance of power will have to be considered. He's basically eliminating longstanding laws in one fell swoop without the input of the legislature and therefore the people," he says. The proclamation nevertheless "puts the governor in the position of being a super legislator. Keli'i Akina, president and CEO of the Honolulu-based Grassroot Institute, a free market think tank, says the governor is correct in identifying government regulation as the primary cause of Hawaii's astronomical housing costs. Others support the substance of the order, but question the governor's sweeping use of emergency powers. The governor's proclamation "cuts through the Gordian knot" of red tape, he says.Īt the same time, Green's sweeping invocation of executive, emergency powers-a sort of "yes in my backyard" (YIMBY) martial law-is provoking concern from an equally bipartisan group of critics.Ĭivil Beat reports that environmental groups have already denounced the proclamation's potential to allow for high-rises in residential neighborhoods. "Hawaii has probably the most regulated land on the planet," says Robert Thomas, a former Hawaii real estate attorney who now works at the Pacific Legal Foundation, a libertarian public interest law firm. ![]() "This is probably the single most significant state-level action on accelerating housing production maybe in the whole country, maybe ever," Sen. ![]() It's a radically deregulatory approach that's received praise from across the political spectrum. Local governments are given far more flexibility to expedite housing approvals, while developers will have the chance to route around basically all existing regulations on home building to get housing projects approved. Green is in fact taking bold action by suspending whole sections of state and local laws and regulations that relate to homebuilding. It's really that simple," said the governor at a press conference last month, where he promised "bold action to streamline processes for creating thousands of affordable housing units." "We don't have enough houses for our people. Josh Green had already proclaimed a statewide housing emergency with the purpose of slashing through all that regulation to get thousands of new homes built. In Hawaii, median home prices are close to $1 million and regulations on adding new supply are incredibly strict. The fire has only worsened an insufficiency of homes on the island and in the state more broadly. Some 2,000 homes have been destroyed so far, leaving thousands more homeless or displaced. The loss of life from the deadly wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui has been made even worse by the loss of shelter.
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