WAILUKU - The first of four affordable housing projects in a new program planned by the county Department of Housing and Human Concerns hit a snag Friday during the regular County Council meeting.
The Family Life Center has proposed to purchase up to 15 units in Harbor Lights condominium in Kahului with a $1 million allocation from the county's Affordable Housing Fund.
The two-bedroom apartments would be made available for $900 a month to low-income families as long-term rentals, said Maude Cumming, director of the Family Life Center.
The families renting the county-owned units would be assisted in establishing credit and budgets with the ultimate goal of purchasing their own homes elsewhere, Cumming said.
But the idea that the Harbor Lights units were not suited for homeowners didn't sit well with the owners of Harbor Lights units.
Harbor Lights General Manager Virginia Brown testified that condominium board members were given the impression that these units would be used as transitional housing "until something better comes along."
"It's offensive," Brown said.
County Council members voted 7-1 Friday to approve the bill on first reading, with Council Member Michelle Anderson voting no. Council Member Bill Medeiros was absent. But the council members added a caveat that both sides will need to come to an understanding before the bill gets final approval.
After the vote, newly installed Housing and Human Concerns Director Lori Tsuhako met with both sides and set up a meeting for Monday to facilitate a compromise.
The conversation was friendly outside council chambers; and Cumming said she is confident an understanding will be reached.
"If there's no resolution, I will ask that we either file it or recommit it to the Budget and Finance Committee because I will not do committee work on the council floor," said Chairman Riki Hokama.
The units are listing for between $60,000 and $180,000 right now, Brown said. It is the perfect time bring in more families who will be owner-occupants rather than renters, she said.
"The plan doesn't really sit well with us," Brown said.
Harbor Lights board members are trying to preserve the complex's distinction as a place for single-family, privately-owned condominiums, although a number of units are being used as rentals.
Currently, 91 of Harbor Light's 352 units are rented by people who receive Section 8 federal housing subsidies.
Harbor Lights' double units are renting now for between $1,100 and $1,400 a month, Cumming said. The Family Life Center would use its resources to fill the gap in order to keep rents affordable to the families they hope to assist, she said.
The units to be purchased for the county program are not necessarily for the homeless, Cumming said. The tenants, some of whom qualify for Section 8, will need to have jobs and be able to pay their rent, Cumming said. They will also need to take classes in budgeting and parenting and have case workers who can inspect the units at any time, she said.
Cumming said it is important to make available a consistent source of housing for people who receive Section 8 assistance, since some landlords decline to participate in the program.
Council Member Jo Anne Johnson said Harbor Lights will benefit from one entity owning these units in perpetuity, which really means they will have a reliable owner who will pay the fees and maintain the facility.
The units will be made available to families who earn 80 percent or less of the county's median income, said Council Member Joseph Pontanilla.
But Anderson said she is worried that Family Life Center's purchase would displace people who already live in the units that the center would buy.
Tsuhako said both her department and the Family Life Center would work to place people in empty units within the same complex.
The plan utilizes the Affordable Housing Fund Program set up by the council two years ago. The program allocates 2 percent of annual real property tax revenues collected over four fiscal years, from 2008 to 2011, for low-income housing.
Three other projects that will utilize the fund are:
= A partnership with Lokahi Pacific and Women Helping Women for the Wailuku Wahine Hale Transitional Housing Project.
= Lokahi Pacific's Waiehu Mauka Rental Housing Project.
= Habitat for Humanity's 901 Lower Main St. Project.
Including the Family Life Center's Harbor Lights program, the projects are expected to utilize $4.3 million and provide about 100 housing units.
In other actions during the council meeting Friday:
= Council members unanimously approved on first reading a bill to allow dog parks, facilities in which dogs would be allowed to go unleashed.
"This will be the first step for people to have the ability to have their dogs use designated parks to run," said Council Member Michael Victorino. "And a 6-foot leash does not allow them to do that - unless the owner is really in shape."
The county code now requires dogs to be leashed at all times, unless they are within a fully enclosed yard.
Victorino said that the fenced-in dog parks would be located in park areas currently not used much by humans. Each dog park also would have a double-gated entry area and a sign posting the rules. People entering the park would get a "pooch pass" for their dog. If a dog misbehaves, their pass would be revoked.
= The council approved an extension until March 1 for the Maui General Plan Advisory Committee to complete its review of a draft General Plan and Maui Island Plan.
The all-volunteer GPAC had an original deadline of Tuesday to forward its recommendations to the council. However, members said they needed more time for the GPAC's various investigative committees to finish the review of a plan that will guide countywide development for decades to come.
Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.
