Residents and stakeholders have until Monday to weigh in on a major housing initiative proposed by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL). This notice, brought forth by DHHL and detailed on the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands website, invites public comment on a rehabilitation and construction project within the floodplains and wetlands of Nānākuli and the Princess Kahanu Estates.
The project, which is to take up to 20% of the 1,375 buildings within these communities, aims to provide secure housing for native Hawaiian ancestry, despite most of the project area being in Zone X, which is the state's lowest risk flood zone; however, parts may overlap with higher-risk categories. According to the DHHL notice, "The purpose of the proposed project is to provide people of native Hawaiian ancestry with safe and secure housing by retaining and increasing beneficiary housing supply in existing DHHL communities," while affirming the project advances on a lot-by-lot analysis to avoid and minimize environmental damage.
Public concern plays a crucial role in the planning stage, bringing to light potential environmental impacts on the designated floodplain and further ensuring the protection of these areas. DHHL has recognized that parts of the project may touch upon sensitive zones such as Zone AE and even wetlands, yet they "have determined that it has no practicable alternative," facing the rock and the hard place of the housing shortage and the environmental concerns they're to navigate them with careful planning.
Alternative solutions and mitigations measures have been considered, including the development of housing outside floodplain and wetland areas, still owing to Oʻahu's housing deficit, the department is inclined towards renovations within Nānākuli; the no-action alternative would likely decrease the number of habitable homes for the DHHL beneficiaries in the long run, further complicating the issue faced by the residents of these communities. DHHL has stated it is committed to maintaining and upgrading existing single-family housing as the most immediate solution to the housing demand.
