Schatz secures $100M for federal program to boost affordable housing supply : Maui Now

A federal program to reward state and local government that reform land-use policies and other local barriers constraining the supply of affordable housing has received an additional $15 million in funding. The grant program now has a total funding of $100 million.

The $100 million federal grant program, also known as the Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) program, is intended to reward state, local and regional jurisdictions that address exclusionary zoning practices, land-use policies and housing infrastructure to increase the supply of affordable housing.

The PRO Housing program shares its design and goals with the Yes In My Backyard Act, which was co-sponsored by US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) last year.

“We need to legalize housing and abandon the exclusionary zoning that originated during Jim Crow and continues to fuel the housing crisis today,” said Sen. Schatz, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (HUD). “Government needs to focus on incentivizing housing instead of intentionally constraining the supply, which has been its mentality for far too long.”

For decades, local zoning and land use regulations as well as lack of necessary housing-related infrastructure have restricted housing production from keeping pace with population and economic growth, contributing to a nationwide housing shortage, according to a news release issued by Sen. Schatz.

PRO Housing policies include increasing density, reducing minimum lot sizes, creating transit-oriented development zones, streamlining or shortening permitting processes and timeline, expanding by-right multifamily zoned areas, allowing accessory dwelling units on lots with single family homes, eliminating or relaxing residential property height limitations, eliminating or reducing off-street parking requirements, and allowing the conversion of vacant retail and office space into residential housing.