Hawaii economists say Lahaina locals could be priced out of rebuilt town without zoning changes

[sl8]

Last edited Sun Sep 24, 2023, 07:49 AM - Edit history (1)

https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfire-lahaina-tourism-unemployment-economy-e71b9020be83e39012bf69dc5cfb0d13

Hawaii economists say Lahaina locals could be priced out of rebuilt town without zoning
changes

BY ANDREW SELSKY AND JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
Updated 6:08 PM EDT, September 22, 2023

HONOLULU (AP) — Residents who survived the wildfire that leveled the Hawaii town of Lahaina might not be able to afford to live there after it is rebuilt unless officials alter the zoning laws and make other changes, economists warned Friday.

“The risk is very real,″ Carl Bonham, executive director of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, told a virtual news conference ahead of the group’s release Friday of its quarterly state economic forecast.

Soaring housing prices have already forced many Native Hawaiians and other longtime Hawaii residents to leave the islands and move to the U.S. mainland. The wildfire that claimed at least 97 lives and destroyed 2,200 buildings in the West Maui community of Lahaina — 86% of which were residential — amplifies that problem for the survivors. Nearly 8,000 of them have been placed at 40 hotels or other accommodations around the island of Maui.

“Market prices for this new housing are likely to far exceed the already high prices that existed in Lahaina before the fire. For renters, the old housing stock that was destroyed provided opportunities for reasonable rents,” the economic report said.

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On edit:

University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO) FORECAST FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII SEPTEMBER 22, 2023 (pdf) :
https://uhero.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/23Q3_Press.pdf

[3Hotdogs]

1. What changes in zoning will solve the problem? Changes I can envision, will cause other problems.

Our area of N.J. was mostly single and two family houses, along with random apartment buildings. 20 years ago, state began mandating low income housing for municipalities. This year alone, there are 625 units going up in a 3 mile radius, in addition to several thousand that have been built over the past 5 years.

Traffic and parking are now horrendous. Each new unit brings 1 or 2 cars onto the roads.

This all goes into urban and suburban areas because septic systems and water tables in rural areas can't handle new density.


Multiple units will allow lower income people to rent in Lahaina but at the cost of character and quality of life. What was liked about the area, will disappear. Single unit zoning will price out lower income residents.


Prime example -- my father was stationed in Hawaii from 1937-38. He remembered spending evenings on the beach, listening to music from the few hotels that existed. In the 80's, my parents decided to take an anniversary trip to Hawaii. His reaction that he was sorry they went. It was no longer beautiful.

[Martin68]

3. I'm afraid that is the case anywhere you go. It only takes a few decades for a popular beach

destination to become overbuilt and consumerized. I saw it on Key Biscayne, where my family lived for a year in 1966, in Bali, which my wife and I visited in 1980, Boracay Island in the Phillipinnes where we used to stay in a bungalow on the beach from 1981 to 1987, and Ko Phangan in Thailand, were we used to vacation from 1988 to 1994.

[billh58]

4. It was no longer beautiful?

Doesn't that depend on one's point-of-view? For those who were born and raised in Lahaina, and like generations of their families before them, "beautiful" is in the eye of the beholder. Through the charred remnants and bleak landscape I can still see and remember the Lahaina of my youth.

For tourists who complain about inevitable progress destroying the beauty of a commercial destination, the simple answer is: look harder, or go somewhere else. The fact is, that the entire planet is constantly changing, and those who call a particular location "home" change with the times and continue to see the beauty of the land through memories and adapting their culture.

Aloha is alive, and will remain as the driving force for those who live it. Imua kakou.

[Martin68]

2. That cannot be allowed to happen. Lahaina should be rebuilt providing affordable housing for

longtime residents. As a historical town closely tied to Hawaiian culture, that should be the highest priority in planning.