HHC Committee on Admin Rules Seeks Comment

Posted on May 14, 2012 in Hawaiian Homes Commission

HHC Ad Hoc Committee on Administrative Rules Seeks Comment

Since August 2011, the Hawaiian Homes Commission Ad Hoc Committee on Administrative Rules has considered a series of policy issues related to the implementation of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act through rules.  The commission plans to continue this process on a series of other policy issues.

On April 23, 2012, at the regular meeting of the commission, the Committee on Administrative Rules reported it would consider and take action on a proposed policy on diversifying homestead products (like rentals and multifamily units) at its next regular meeting in May.  The committee subsequently deferred the consideration and action on this proposed policy (so it will not be considered in May), but the committee is seeking comments on this issue.

Beneficiaries and the general public will be permitted a 14-day comment period to provide input on the preliminary recommendation(s).  This is an initial effort to receive basic input and ideas on a preliminary policy recommendation and is not a substitute for beneficiary consultation (which will occur once rule amendments are drafted).

Please provide your comments through the feedback form below by 4:30 p.m. on May 28, 2012.

ISSUES AND PRELIMINARY RECOMMENDED POSITIONS FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION

At a future regular meeting, the commission will consider the issue diversifying homestead products as authorized by Section 207.5 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act.  Below are our preliminary recommended positions:

  • The department should develop multifamily housing units/homesteads as well as rental units on homestead lots.

The waiting list for homestead remains long with a number of applicants waiting for decades.  Among the many reasons for this, one key factor is the inability to afford to build or pay a mortgage for a homestead home.  Thus, in an attempt to look at alternatives to shorten the waiting list and to provide affordable housing for native Hawaiians, the concepts of multifamily housing units and rentals have surfaced as a means to diversify the product offered by the department.

COMMENT

Any interested parties may submit comments on this preliminary recommended position on the department’s website, and may consider the following questions related to this issue:

  1. Should the department develop multifamily homes/homesteads?
  2. Should the department develop a rental program on homesteads as an alternative to home ownership on homesteads?
  3. Should available inventory (e.g., new units or returned homestead) be rented to native Hawaiians?
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