If we're not careful, nearly everything will become "historic"

by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D., President / CEO, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

If your house is at least 50 years old, do you think it should be considered historically significant?

Under state law, that could easily be so, because it defines any building, structure, object, district, area or site, including heiau and underwater site, that’s over 50 years old as historic — though there are limited exceptions for single-family homes and townhomes.

In recent years, this definition of “historic” has gone from a mere hindrance to a serious problem for the construction of new housing.

SHPD has acknowledged that its archaeological reviews take an average of six months to a year, while a new white paper from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii reports that the agency’s average review time over the past four years is 94 days.

What’s more, the brief notes that SHPD has issued determinations for fewer than half of the nearly 6,000 applications it has received.

This process might be needed to prevent destruction of historically significant property, but SHPD determines more than 90% of the time that the proposed construction won’t have any effect on historic property.

It is cumbersome regulations like the SHPD review process that contribute to Hawaii’s high housing costs. Bureaucratic approvals and delays are strongly correlated with higher housing prices, and Hawaii is one of the worst states for both. That alone makes it worth reforming Hawaii’s historical review process.

And those delays are about to get a lot worse because many of Hawaii’s buildings were constructed during the building boom of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, making an increasing number of properties soon to be eligible for historic review.

Specifically, more than 2,500 non-residential and 100,000 residential structures were built between 1970 and 1980, and they are aging into the historic category, which will significantly add to SHPD’s review burden.

Fortunately, the Legislature is considering multiple bills that would reform historical review. HB533 would change the definition of historic property, removing the 50-year provision; HB830 would require SHPD to contract with private third-parties for review of certain projects; and HB738 HD1 would expedite historic review for transit-oriented development areas.

Just to be clear, I am not proposing that we throw the baby out with the bath water. I think it’s possible to preserve our history without contributing to the housing crisis.

But too many Hawaii residents have faced frustrating delays due to the state’s historic review requirement, and I think we must act on this issue sooner rather than later — if for no other reason than to prevent the situation from getting a whole lot worse.

E hana kākou! (Let's work together!)