I mentioned that Washinton state encourages what they call accessory dwelling units (ADU) to create affordable rental housing by allowing the construction of dwelling units on single family zoned lots.
There is NO logical reason Hawaii could not do something like this. There may be vested political and/or economic interests here that would not want to see it done here and would fight it if it were to be proposed. What a pity that would be. It seems like such a simple proposal to solve what everyone keeps saying is a big problem here.
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Mercer Island, a small island community of 22,000 in Washington State instituted an aggressive ADU program as one of the city’s primary policies to achieve GMA requirements for accommodating new population. Since Mercer Island is a built-out community with little vacant land, finding space for constructing new residential housing is a challenge. The ADU program therefore encourages small dwellings (maximum 900 square feet) as part of existing or new single-family homes. Since 1995 about 173 new ADUs, both attached and detached, have been permitted in single-family residential zoning districts. This success was a result of streamlining the permitting process for ADUs, a good public education and information program, and low fees for permitting.
FROM:
http://www.transcoalition.org/ia/acssdwel/04.html#body
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Here is a small portion of a very comprehensive study about ADUs with from the Washington Municipal Research & Services Center (MRSC). You can go to the link and read the whole text. I did not want to put more here because of the length and this is copyrighted material.
FROM:
http://www.mrsc.org/Publications/textadu.aspx
Introduction
Allowing the development of accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, in single-family homes is becoming an increasingly popular technique for creating low- and moderate-income housing for both homeowners and renters. Homeowners benefit from the additional rental income that they can use to pay part of their mortgage payment or to help with the upkeep on their homes. Renters benefit from the availability of moderately priced rental housing in single-family neighborhoods. The community benefits from the addition of affordable housing for little or no public expense.
ADUs are most commonly understood to be a separate additional living unit, including separate kitchen, sleeping, and bathroom facilities, attached or detached from the primary residential unit, on a single-family lot. ADUs are usually subordinate in size, location, and appearance to the primary unit.
Attached units, contained within a single-family home, known variously as "mother-in-law apartments," "accessory apartments," or "second units," are the most common types of accessory dwelling units. Accessory apartments usually involve the renovation of a garage, basement, attached shed, or similar space in a single-family home.
Less common are detached "accessory cottages" or "echo homes" (an acronym for "elder cottage housing opportunities"
, which are structurally independent from the primary residence. These units are often constructed or installed to provide housing for elderly parents being cared for by their adult children. Accessory cottages are permanent structures, while echo homes are temporary and movable. [Accessory Units: An Increasing Source of Affordable Housing, p. 5]
To reduce housing costs and meet changing market demands, pressures have increased in recent years to allow higher densities in urban areas, make more efficient use of existing housing stocks, and to eliminate regulatory barriers that unnecessarily limit affordable housing opportunities. Recent state legislation has underscored the need to review local housing needs and to plan for and take action to encourage the development of more affordable housing. Accessory dwelling units have emerged as an important component of the affordable housing strategies being carried out in many Washington cities.
The purpose of this report is to help local officials as they begin to consider proposals to allow ADUs in their communities. It is intended as a primer for city council and planning commission members on the potential of ADUs as a source of affordable housing and on the various regulatory issues and options that are likely to arise as ADUs are discussed. The report begins with a discussion of the reasons for the current interest in ADUs. It also reviews some benefits that ADUs can provide for homeowners, renters, and the community. The remaining sections focus on ADU policy issues and options, including a discussion of common zoning regulations. The report also includes sample ordinance language where applicable.
