05-20-2018, 06:30 AM
In poster pbmaise’s thread Adapting housing to lava flows and S02 (posted in “Building in Puna"), the topic of mobile homes arose.
Discussion seems to have stalled there; it is worthwhile to restart it here, given the acute housing crisis that is emerging.
http://www.civilbeat.org/2018/05/big-isl...hese-days/
Mobile home use is justified as an emergency measure for homelessness. It is also justified long-term for life on lava zones; people could move their homes to escape lava flows. They might return to their properties after the lava has cooled and been graded.
Mobile homes are illegal in Hawaii for general use, according to the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. A possible option for legalizing these homes over the objections of various interests would be to allow their use only in lava prone areas. This would exclude all islands except Hawaii. Code could be written that limits mobile home use to certain lava zone classifications.
(Arguably mobile homes should be legal statewide, but some use in parts of Hawaii Island is better than no use at all.)
Here is a 2016 article and video from the Grassroot Institute:
http://www.grassrootinstitute.org/2016/0...in-hawaii/
Excerpts from clip (multiple speakers):
“The cheapest form of low cost and good housing is mobile homes...that’s outlawed on the islands...it’s so amusing because there’s exceptions to that rule: They allow contractors to have mobile offices...they use the trailers that in Alabama would be used for housing...
...developers...don’t want the competition of the trailers...the power of the lobbyists, the union and construction industry are not friendly towards competition like this...
A mobile home or prefab home...can be constructed on the mainland...and put on a barge and come over here...the trailers are unbelievably inexpensive....you can buy a high class home for $50,000...you can buy a used mobile home on the mainland for $3,000 and a nice new one for $15,000...
We’re paying a medium price of a house here of about $650,000-$700,000 and half of the price is the construction..."
So the construction companies that have been so instrumental in banning mobile homes from Hawaii carved out an exception for their own use...No surprise here. #$@&%*!!
Discussion seems to have stalled there; it is worthwhile to restart it here, given the acute housing crisis that is emerging.
http://www.civilbeat.org/2018/05/big-isl...hese-days/
Mobile home use is justified as an emergency measure for homelessness. It is also justified long-term for life on lava zones; people could move their homes to escape lava flows. They might return to their properties after the lava has cooled and been graded.
Mobile homes are illegal in Hawaii for general use, according to the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. A possible option for legalizing these homes over the objections of various interests would be to allow their use only in lava prone areas. This would exclude all islands except Hawaii. Code could be written that limits mobile home use to certain lava zone classifications.
(Arguably mobile homes should be legal statewide, but some use in parts of Hawaii Island is better than no use at all.)
Here is a 2016 article and video from the Grassroot Institute:
http://www.grassrootinstitute.org/2016/0...in-hawaii/
Excerpts from clip (multiple speakers):
“The cheapest form of low cost and good housing is mobile homes...that’s outlawed on the islands...it’s so amusing because there’s exceptions to that rule: They allow contractors to have mobile offices...they use the trailers that in Alabama would be used for housing...
...developers...don’t want the competition of the trailers...the power of the lobbyists, the union and construction industry are not friendly towards competition like this...
A mobile home or prefab home...can be constructed on the mainland...and put on a barge and come over here...the trailers are unbelievably inexpensive....you can buy a high class home for $50,000...you can buy a used mobile home on the mainland for $3,000 and a nice new one for $15,000...
We’re paying a medium price of a house here of about $650,000-$700,000 and half of the price is the construction..."
So the construction companies that have been so instrumental in banning mobile homes from Hawaii carved out an exception for their own use...No surprise here. #$@&%*!!
