A top U.S. Housing and Urban Development official told affordable housing advocates yesterday she was "shocked" to see how many regulatory barriers a developer — nonprofit or otherwise — must go through to build affordable units in the Islands.

The comment drew knowing nods from an audience of about 260 planners, affordable housing advocates and for-profit developers at the first-ever Housing Hawai'i conference in Waikiki.

"In Hawai'i, developing and maintaining affordable housing is an incredible challenge," Pamela Patenaude, HUD assistant secretary for community planning, told attendees.

"I was shocked at how many barriers there are to creating affordable housing."

The statement, made in response to a question from the audience, came as policymakers and advocates statewide are trying to determine to what extent regulations on construction should be eased for affordable housing units.

Housing Hawai'i, a coalition of affordable housing advocates created in November 2005, is pushing hard to reform permitting processes in the state. The organization includes for-profit developers, along with nonprofits.

"The one thing we are not advocating for is more studies," Housing Hawai'i President Kevin Carney joked yesterday in a talk at the conference. "What we need to do is educate our legislators and our public servants."

But others warn any changes to regulatory reviews of developments should be done with plenty of caution and geared to affordable housing for the neediest.

Drew Astolfi, lead organizer for Faith Action for Community Equity in Hawai'i, agreed that some development regulations are tedious and cumbersome.

But, he said, they were all added at some point to protect residents.

"Any streamlining of regulations has to be accompanied by a strict income-targeting that focuses on those people in Hawai'i who are needy," Astolfi said.

At the gathering yesterday, Patenaude also touched on several federal initiatives to increase the affordable housing inventory. She said HUD will soon release more details on a federal "call to action" to build more affordable rentals or homes for sale.

She also pointed to continued federal funding for affordable housing nationwide, including a program to encourage homeownership among low-income residents.

About 100 Hawai'i families have benefited from the American Dream Downpayment Initiative since 2003, she said. Nationally, 22,000 families have received the loans.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.