HLU-20/HLU-22

A Kaheāwai Media journalist questioned why the county is creating Bill 9 carve-outs and asked members to consider whether exemption-seekers' testimony is consistent with their records on housing and environmental issues.

A born-and-raised Kīhei nurse said the units are livable for local people and opposed the exemptions, saying locals could buy and live in them.

Maui Housing Hui's principal researcher said the county should judge Bill 9 as a whole rather than shrink it through piecemeal zoning changes, and noted focus groups with wildfire-survivor renters show housing access is the top barrier.

Maui Tomorrow Foundation's director opposed both resolutions, saying H-3/H-4 zoning gives shoreline owners cash flow to armor the shoreline, contrary to coastal zone management policy, and perpetuates the conversion of worker housing into STRs.

A Waiheʻe resident since 1986 said legislation shouldn't address individual hardship cases, criticized shoreline development, and argued STR tax revenue has never delivered affordable housing.

Gave a detailed case that SLR-XA shouldn't justify more intensive visitor use, citing the county hazard mitigation plan's $1.2 billion exposure, urging comprehensive coastal analyses, bonded removal obligations, and a state-county voluntary buyback program (SB 3034).

Urged a no vote, arguing investors are not constituents, unpaid transient-accommodation taxes shortchanged the community, and water scarcity makes the exemptions indefensible.

Said the units offer walkability, equity, and community for local people, called the H-3/H-4 push an attempt to undermine Bill 9, and argued most listed buildings plainly are not hotels.

A parent who backed Bill 9 called the resolutions backtracking, cited climate and water constraints, compared tiny new Lahaina educator housing to these condos, and shared emergency housing cases she is handling.

A Baldwin High agriculture teacher who stayed at Kāʻanapali Aliʻi after the storm said it plainly wasn't a hotel — no staff, a luggage shopping cart — while Honua Kai clearly is; he urged case-by-case review and brought his students to watch.

A West Side resident, weary of repeated testimony cycles, said the properties were built for housing, are largely outsider-owned, and urged the committee to stop undermining Bill 9.

Argued shoreline-threatened buildings should be condemned or acquired for affordable housing rather than given H-3/H-4 zoning, and urged higher taxes on vacant STRs.

Said passing the resolutions undermines Bill 9 and lets out-of-state investors build generational wealth while local families like hers can't buy homes here.

The lone clear supporter in this round, she argued property owners have a right to income from their homes regardless of residency, said STR owners already pay the highest tax class, and rejected characterizations of discrimination.

A fire survivor still living out of a suitcase three years after losing his home said the fight for Bill 9 should have been enough, called the exemptions money-driven, and asked the committee to keep Bill 9 intact.

A Lāhainā resident and neighbor to several listed buildings said she wants families and kids next door, not revolving doors of visitors, and asked the committee to uphold apartment zoning's purpose.

A longtime ILWU-era testifier, visibly frustrated to be back after 50 years of housing advocacy, demanded the committee return to Bill 9 as passed and stop layering on amendments that whittle it down.

Shared her personal homeownership journey through small condos, called using the SLR-XA as a line locals can't live across a form of redlining, and asked the committee to reject the added amendments.

Ran through permit history for roughly 26 proposed properties in seconds each, arguing blanket upzoning is not thoughtful planning and urging removal of shoreline properties from the exemption lists.

A young entrepreneur and former homeless teen said apartment districts were meant to launch young lives and retire elders, and warned that exporting local people is the real cost of prioritizing tourism dollars.

A local nurse and mother said local owners like her are being hurt by NOT being on the exemption list — her unit is underwater $100,000 and its access roads are in the SLR-XA — and asked for support of the resolutions.