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Credit is due to Gov. Josh Green for recognizing the need for bold action on housing. And for the recent adjustments to the emergency proclamation that restore public input and other safeguards, thereby removing much of the initial opposition to his proposal. I hope for great success for this effort.

In addition to the large building projects being considered here, much else can be done right now to provide more housing. It will take political will to change some things that currently hold us back, but these can be done now, cost nothing and can have effects in a year or less.

These include increasing the use of accessory dwelling units, encouraging add-ons to existing houses, streamlining the permitting processes, promoting prebuilt housing construction, discouraging empty houses and removing barriers to the use of tiny homes.

Each of these can bring more housing, and more affordable housing, to Hawaii quickly and without major public investment.

Each of these proposals has met resistance in the past, usually based on a conception of Hawaii that prevents change. Often well-meaning, these barriers must be removed to address what is, indeed, an emergency. For example, some will say that we don’t want mobile homes because they fear what a “trailer park” might look like, degrading our image of paradise.

But there is something more urgent that is degrading our image and our lives right now, and that is people sleeping in doorways and on sidewalks, in front of businesses and homes. That is a bad look for Hawaii. It’s getting much worse each year, and any image of paradise is severely tarnished for those with eyes to see, including our visitors. And of course we have a great moral obligation to help homeless people.

More affordable housing will not solve all our problems with homelessness. But it might solve 90% of them, leaving a manageable homeless population that can be addressed by aid agencies that are now overwhelmed.

Tiny Homes Don’t Mean Trailer Parks

Let’s consider tiny homes. These include not just the spartan emergency shelters we’ve seen, but also delightfully attractive, very functional small homes. Often these are on trailers to address building code restrictions. These codes can be changed.

Look at the innovative tiny homes being made these days by local builders such as . They build beautiful, legal, small “accessory trailer units” that cost a small fraction of most houses. They can provide a functional, attractive home starting at about $100,000. For do-it-yourselfers, the cost can be much less.

The difference between an accessory trailer unit and a small home is simply its legal designation. By changing our zoning laws, we can make homes available for a 10th of the current median price.

Here’s why we should be flexible and welcome this change — with a stroke of the county pen, we can reduce the cost of home ownership by 50% to 90%, tomorrow. Don’t we have a moral obligation to do so?

I spoke with Ellie Madsen, co-owner and designer for Paradise Tiny Homes, and she helped me understand how useful such a dwelling can be for seniors who need a low-maintenance place that can be close to their families and allow them to live independently.

People can live with a sense of dignity, sustainability and joy. Simple, affordable housing can be crucial for our kupuna.

Currently such homes face permitting obstacles that can be solved by county and state rule changes. In most cases they are limited to 30 days in one location, therefore must be on trailers. They are limited by homeowner association regulations in some cases. All these restrictions can be modified to encourage such affordable options.

None of this is intended to promote vacation rentals, but long-term housing for residents. These homes can be located on the property of friends and family or in tiny home villages.

So let’s revisit the dreaded trailer park. Now that we look closer, we see it’s actually a large parcel hosting an actual community of people who want to live with their neighbors, in a walkable neighborhood of friends and family. And the little houses aren’t trailers or RVs.

They are remarkably attractive colorful homes that are easy to live in and maintain. They are mostly owned by the residents or affordably rented. This is not to be feared but encouraged, for the sake of community, affordability and the ability of our ohana to live near us and stay in our lives.

Besides supporting the wider use of tiny homes, other actions can make an immediate difference.

Zoning And Permitting Changes Needed

In the past, ohana zoning allowed for a second home, or accessory dwelling unit, to be built on lots of sufficient size. This has gone away in most areas. We can bring back this option with a simple change to county laws. Similarly, we can make it easier to add on rooms to existing houses, by streamlining and reforming our permitting processes. These can quickly increase our housing capacity and provide economic relief to homeowners through rental income.

Let’s allow and welcome prebuilt and prefab houses. This brings down construction costs and reduces the time it takes to develop housing. Mostly these have been opposed due to an understandable desire to protect local contractors and carpenters. But there is still local employment with prefab housing, and most contractors and builders are as busy as they can handle. Any such concerns must be weighed against the need to ease the burden on working people who cannot afford a home in Hawaii.

We can staff up the permitting and building departments that are so backlogged. The delays that builders must tolerate are expensive and often prevent much-needed housing development. Why does a homebuilder need to wait a year to have their plans reviewed? These delays result in a sense of futility by honest builders who must suffer the needless delays, and create suspicions of favoritism and influence. Why continue this toxic culture? We can fix this – it takes political will, but nothing magical.

Raise Taxes On Unoccupied Homes

Let’s also address the huge cost to housing that comes with unoccupied homes. Wealthy nonresidents own so many homes in Hawaii without penalties. This should change. In many areas unoccupied homes are taxed at much higher rates.

We can do this here. Define a Hawaii resident as someone who pays their income taxes here as their primary residence, and for those who do not live here, we ought to greatly tax these luxury second and third homes to discourage this. Keep the money for building houses and most importantly return these houses back to the market for Hawaii residents. This will add to our housing inventory and reduce the cost for local homebuyers.

We cannot legally prevent nonresidents from buying homes here, but we sure can tax them at much, much higher rates, and pull back the welcome mat. These nonresident owners of unoccupied homes are in large part causing our exorbitant home prices and are not part of our society.

These proposals are doable now. They cost little to nothing in terms of taxpayer funds and can result in more housing within a year or two. We will still need the large and small building projects that the governor’s plans will produce, but some of these alternatives are quicker and cheaper. We need “all the above.”

Most local working people and their kids have been priced out of paradise, and too many move to the mainland because they cannot afford a home here. This degrades our economy and our quality of life. There is indeed a housing emergency – it is of our own making and it’s within our power to fix it. It’s time to put Hawaii residents first, and take care of our own people.