OURchitecture

Feb 24, 2011

Steel Shipping Containers - a solution to end homelessness?

Honolulu City Council Resolution 11-54 directs the Dept of Planning & Permitting to look into the issue of allowing "Temporary Shelters" on all zoning lots, except AG-1.

Of course these recommendations are very preliminary and subject to input from the public and study/recommendations by the Dept of Planning & Permitting. But it is interesting to see the political winds blowing. Notably, that when a politician inverts Trailer Home into House Trailer, it becomes socially acceptable. 

But kidding aside, we badly need more housing units in Hawaii and I look forward to seeing this process unfold. Excerpts from the Reso:
“Temporary shelter” means a living space constituting an independent housekeeping unit for a family for a period of not more than five years, and consisting of a house trailer or intermodal container. For purposes of this chapter:
“House trailer” means a trailer that is designed, constructed, and equipped as a
dwelling place, living abode, or sleeping place; and
 “Intermodal container” means a standardized cargo container designed to be carried on different modes of transportation such as ships, trains, and semi-trailer trucks, and manufactured to the specifications of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), but does not include air freight containers.”