Zoning Overlays & Bonuses in Kauai County, HI (2026)

2 rules for unincorporated Kauai County, Hawaii.

Verified from official government sources

Note: These county rules apply to unincorporated areas of Kauai County. If you live within an incorporated city, that city's own rules apply: see the city list below.

Density Bonus Law

Kaua'i County Code § 7A-2.3 grants developers who fully integrate workforce units with market-rate units a density bonus: 10% more residential units and a 10% smaller minimum lot size than the comprehensive zoning ordinance otherwise allows, evaluated by the Housing Agency against the project's actual numbers.

Kaua'i Workforce Housing Density Bonus

Some Restrictions

Kaua'i County Code § 7A-2.3

(a) Notwithstanding any other County ordinance to the contrary, the County shall make available a density bonus to developers that integrate all workforce units with market units. The density bonus shall increase the total number of residential units that may be constructed on the project site by 10% and decrease the minimum lot size allowed by 10%, after evaluating the actual number of residen...

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

Downtown Design Guide

Kaua'i County Code § 10-5A.7 creates the Rice Street Neighborhood Design District (SPA-D), an overlay covering downtown Līhu'e that layers design standards onto the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance. New buildings on Rice Street cap out at fifty feet, blank street-facing façades are banned, and the Planning Director can waive height for compatible sloped roofs. The overlay supersedes conflicting Chapter 8 and Chapter 10 rules for anything built or expanded within its boundaries.

Kaua'i's Rice Street Downtown Design Rules

Some Restrictions

Kaua'i County Code § 10-5A.7

The following exceptions, modifications and additions to the provisions of Chapter 8 and Chapter 10 of the Kaua'i County Code shall apply to development within SPA-D, also known as the "Rice Street Neighborhood Design District." ... Building heights for new structures shall not exceed fifty (50) feet from finished grade to the highest point of the roof. The Director may waive the building heigh...

Full ordinance details →Official source ↗

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