Sunday, December 8, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Monday, November 11, 2024
Backyard cottages one way to meet Maui housing needs
By Grassroot Institute @ 1:14 AM :: 865 Views :: Maui County, Development

Backyard cottages one way to meet Maui housing needs

The following commentary was first published on Nov. 4, 2024, in the Maui News under the headline “More ADUs would improve Maui housing affordability.”

by Jonathan Helton, Grassroot Institute

Maui County lacked sufficient housing even before Aug. 8, 2023, when the fires that razed Lahaina led to a heartbreaking loss of life and destroyed an estimated 3,000 homes. Rents and home values have gone up since.

More than a year later, Maui County needs all hands on deck to help resolve this situation. One option would be to let homeowners build more backyard cottages for use by relatives, friends or renters.

Legally called accessory dwelling units, these cottages are one- or two-bedroom, one-bath homes with small kitchens and living areas.

Right now, Maui residents can build a cottage on any residential property 7,500 square feet or smaller, which is the size of lots in most of Maui’s residential zones. Anyone who owns a lot larger than 7,500 square feet can build two per lot.

On Lanai and Molokai, the rules are different. Any lot larger than 7,500 square feet is allowed to have one cottage.

Council Chair Alice Lee has proposed a bill that would standardize these rules across the county. The bill would allow any owner of a residential lot to build two cottages in addition to the primary residence.

Lee’s proposal could be a powerful way to enable homeowners to help reduce the county’s dreadful housing shortage, especially given the popularity of multigenerational living in Hawaii.

As households grow and age, small cottages could make perfect sense for older relatives or young adults just starting out. Even a recent national survey revealed that more than half of people who built cottages on their properties did so to house family members.

Research indicates that smaller, backyard cottages tend to be more affordable than market-rate housing — in part because they are often rented to friends or family, but also due to their size.

Backyard cottages, as the name implies, tend to be smaller than normal homes. In Maui County, the county code actually limits the size of the accessory dwelling based on the size of the lot. For instance, lots smaller than 7,500 square feet cannot have an accessory dwelling larger than 500 square feet.

From a big picture perspective, building more backyard cottages and accessory dwellings also could help stabilize or lower home and rental prices by expanding the number of houses available for sale or rent.

A common objection to building more homes in existing neighborhoods is the stress they could put on street, water and sewer infrastructure. It is true that Maui needs to upgrade its infrastructure, but there are already plans to build a wastewater treatment facility in Central Maui.

Furthermore, the county’s new general excise tax surcharge, adopted last year, will give county officials the opportunity to upgrade streets, sidewalks and pipes.

It’s also important to consider that building additional homes in existing neighborhoods requires less costly infrastructure updates than starting from scratch for completely new neighborhoods.

And new construction would increase property tax collections from existing neighborhoods, which could also help the county afford infrastructure upgrades and maintenance.

Building more cottages isn’t the only way to reduce Maui’s continuing housing crisis, but it would help more local families afford the island’s high cost of living.

 

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii