California Supreme Court OKs Affordable Housing Requirements
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell is working on an islandwide strategy to require all major developments to set aside a certain amount of affordable housing, a policy also known as inclusionary zoning.
The California Supreme Court has upheld San Jose’s affordable housing rules that require developers to set aside a certain amount of affordable homes or pay the city a fee, .
The strategy, known as inclusionary zoning, is common in California counties but was challenged by the California Building Industry Association as unconstitutional.
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration is working on a similar strategy to require developers who build 10 or more units to set aside a certain percentage for low- to moderate-income households.
Currently Honolulu’s inclusionary zoning rules only kick in when developers seek to rezone property, but Caldwell wants to make them apply at the building permit level to help address the city’s affordable housing shortage.
Gladys Marrone, CEO of the Building Industry Association of Hawaii, criticized the mayor’s draft strategy after it was released last September.
“Imposing affordable housing requirements at the building permit stage seems questionable from a legal standpoint as zoning is discretionary while building permits are more ministerial,” she wrote in an email.
