Affordable-housing stakeholders argue city’s plan

But the Rev. Bob Nakata of Faith Action for Community Equity said Thursday that he does not like the in-lieu fee option and questioned how the city would use the funds. He added that although the requirement for housing to remain affordable for 30 years is a good number, the thresholds need to be lowered to 60 percent of AMI and below to aid lower-income residents.

“Some of us think it’s [in-lieu fee] an easy way out for the developer,” Nakata said. “The middle class now is facing huge housing problems, which only the poor had faced up until now. It’s time for this discussion to really move.”

Gavin Thornton, co-executive director of the nonprofit Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice, said recent studies show that inclusionary policies in areas with high housing costs and a strong housing market can be effective in adding affordable units. But he said the majority of the demand is for those earning 80 percent of AMI and below and that “the devil is in the details.”