Rezoning request for Hilo housing project advances

A proposed 90-unit affordable housing project in Hilo moved one step closer to reality Wednesday after a County Council committee approved a zoning change.

The project, called Hale Ola O Mohouli, would be built on a 9-acre parcel on Mohouli Street in Hilo, and would specifically target low- to moderate-income seniors and families.

Last November, the Windward Planning Commission approved an application from project developer Hawaii Island Community Development Corp. to rezone the parcel from Agricultural to Urban.

On Wednesday, the council’s Planning Committee voted to recommend the passage of a bill that would formally enact that zoning change.

According to an HICDC site plan, the project will include a community center and several dozen single-story and multi-story residential buildings with shared park and yard spaces. Access to the development will be from Mohouli Street, but HICDC hopes to obtain right-of way access through an adjacent lot, containing an emergency call center, to alleviate traffic jams on Mohouli Street.

At the November Windward Planning Commission meeting, HICDC director Keith Kato said the development will seek a “one-third seniors, two-thirds” family ratio.

The Planning Committee voted unanimously and without much discourse Wednesday to forward the bill to the full council with a positive recommendation.

However, Hilo Councilman Aaron Chung recommended that HICDC consider mitigating factors to shield the project site from the surrounding neighborhood. The project site is immediately adjacent to several residential lots on Kukuau Street and the Mohouli Heights Senior Neighborhood.

Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaii tribune-herald.com.