Cairo Village Seeking More Affordable Housing, Planner Says | Local news from the Big Island

The Hall County Regional Planning Commission on Wednesday held a hearing on Cairo’s updated comprehensive plan, which includes its future land use map.

Bobbi Pettit, owner and operator of Five Rule Planning, told RPC that the Cairo village council should consult the map for advice on developing new housing.

Cairo’s Birdie Boulevard is currently developing with large single-family lots that “are building slowly and steadily,” Pettit said.

Something more is needed, she argued.

“For those of us in the trenches, trying to build our careers and raise our kids, if you go back to where I grew up, we had Elks, T-ball, school and Sunday school and we walked there. We need more neighborhoods like this, ”she said. “I think we have moved away from through streets and moved away from development to a place where we can extend sanitation and affordable water.”

Cairo started working on its comprehensive plan in 2019.

The future land use map will be an essential tool for the development of the village.

“We have worked very hard to make the planning process as light as possible,” she said. “I spend a lot of time on the future land use map and helping (village councils) understand that a lot of the policies that we try to communicate to the community and to the builders in our community are done in through this global plan. ”