There is sparked widespread concern many of Hawaii's children won't be able to afford living in their homeland as adults.
Now, amid growing urgency, both the governor and Hawaii’s legislative leaders are making housing a top priority.In one of his first moves after taking office in January, Democratic Gov. Josh Green created a new housing czar to oversee the effort. One thing Chief Housing Officer Nani Medeiros is focused on is identifying roadblocks and redundant permitting at local and state levels that can hold up construction.
“It really bothers me that we are saying to the young people of Hawaii, ‘It’s great that you might have been born and raised and educated here, but now that you’ve become an adult, you have to leave and you cannot come back,’” said state Sen. Stanley Chang, a Democrat who chairs the Senate housing committee.
Wayne Tanaka, the director of the Hawaii chapter of the environmental and social justice nonprofit the Sierra Club, said efficiencies could expedite needed housing development, but the “devil is in the details.” He said the community must also consider the environment, water sources, food security and climate change threats, like severe drought and powerful hurricanes.
Everett Dowling, the president of Maui developer Dowling Companies, said a developer can’t begin work on other housing when its money is tied up in a project awaiting permits. Engineers, architects and lawyers also can’t move on. And costs escalate.
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