Summary
The 20-year plan replacing the 1996 Kihei-Makena plan would guide where and how South Maui grows — housing, transportation, watershed management, and cultural site protection. Residents fear it locks in growth the roads, water system, and evacuation routes can't support.
At a glance
- Total mentions
- 18
- Last 30 days
- 5
Rising — discussed at 13 meetings since Sep 14, 2026, up from 0 in the two months before.
Impact analysis
Testifiers said the plan's projects and actions carry no visible cost or funding plan — potentially hundreds of millions in taxpayer-funded infrastructure.
Developers and future residents gain mapped growth capacity; one testifier said local families benefit if workforce housing near Wailea jobs becomes possible.
Current residents face worsened traffic, water strain, flood risk, and — in testifiers' words — a one-road 'death trap' during tsunami or fire evacuations.
Mentions & discussions (14)
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (2025-2027) — October 21, 2026
The decade-in-the-making replacement of the Kihei-Makena Community Plan is still not done — the committee deferred it again. It shapes where homes, parks, and industry go in South Maui for years to come.
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (2025-2027) — October 8, 2026
The committee reworked workforce housing policies — encouraging rather than requiring projects near jobs and transit, and broadening a residency preference program so it survives legal review. Residents with generational ties to South Maui would get preference in affordable housing.
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (2025-2027) — October 7, 2026
The new plan will replace the Kihei-Makena Community Plan and shape where homes, jobs and protections land in South Maui for years. The committee continues line-by-line review, with the Growth Framework still un-voted.
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (2025-2027) — October 6, 2026
The county is replacing the 1998 Kihei-Makena Community Plan with a new South Maui plan that will guide growth, housing, and land use for decades. The committee is grinding through parcel-level designation changes before sending it forward — no final vote yet.
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (2025-2027) — October 5, 2026
Wailea Golf's plan (approved at the Maui Planning Commission) would convert much of the Emerald Course to housing, while the Wailea Community Association wants a compromise that develops the Emerald but keeps the Blue and Gold courses. Testifiers split sharply, and the owner said he's committed to 30% affordable housing if he builds. Both sides agreed to keep talking.
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (2025-2027) — October 2, 2026
The county is updating the plan that guides growth and development in South Maui, replacing the decades-old Kihei-Makena Community Plan. Section 3, the Growth Framework, determines where and how much new development can occur — shaping housing, traffic, and infrastructure for years.
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (2025-2027) — September 28, 2026
The county is deciding whether to adopt an updated South Maui Community Plan that replaces the old Kihei-Makena plan and designates where future growth happens. Testimony split over whether the plan adds too many homes without the water, roads, and evacuation capacity to support them.
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (2025-2027) — September 24, 2026
The draft plan replacing the Kihei-Makena Community Plan is being polished line by line. The committee is deciding which departments lead each action, what things cost, and how promises get tracked — literally debating whether to hire compliance staff. Final adoption will shape South Maui development, roads and services for the next decade.
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (2025-2027) — September 21, 2026
Dick Mayer's presentation tallied roughly 4,500 already-entitled homes plus about 3,500 the new plan would add — with no unit counts in the plan, no water analysis, and about 50 of 145 cost items listed as 'to be determined.' Testifiers split on whether to cap the plan at what's already approved.
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (2025-2027) — September 17, 2026
Testifiers urged the committee to keep wide (100–200 foot) gulch buffers drawn from LiDAR data, restore Policy 2.2.37 requiring infrastructure before development, and preserve critical wetland parcels — arguing development in flood zones and wetlands puts future residents at risk.
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (2025-2027) — September 16, 2026
This is the 20-year rulebook for growth in Kihei, Wailea and Makena — replacing the 1998 Kihei-Makena plan. Every new discretionary development will be checked against it, so the policies being debated now shape where homes, hotels and evacuation routes go. The committee is still amending and hasn't voted on recommending passage.
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (2025-2027) — September 15, 2026
The county is updating the plan that will guide Kīhei-Wailea growth for decades — where homes go, what roads get built, and how parks and wetlands are protected. Residents say the review feels rushed and fear the plan is too development-heavy without a real funding plan for infrastructure.
Disaster Recovery, International Affairs, and Planning Committee (2025-2027) — September 14, 2026
The 20-year plan replacing the 1996 Kihei-Makena plan would guide where and how South Maui grows — housing, transportation, watershed management, and cultural site protection. Residents fear it locks in growth the roads, water system, and evacuation routes can't support.
Housing and Land Use Committee (2025-2027) — July 6, 2026
Johnson pressed Planning on when the long-delayed South Maui community plan update will arrive — the department targets transmission within weeks, aiming for adoption discussion later this year.
Related development
South Maui Community Plan Update (Bill 108, 2026)
If adopted as transmitted, the plan maps thousands of new homes across South Maui — residents say without first guaranteeing roads, water, stormwater, and evacuation capacity.
Resolution 26-110 — Timeshare, leasehold and other A-1/A-2 Apartment District rezoning referral (HLU-18)
If ultimately adopted after Planning Commission review, these vacation-rental and leasehold condos would be locked into hotel zoning, taking them out of play for conversion back to resident housing.
Resolution 26-111 — Hotel-like apartment district upzonings (HLU-19)
Properties with front desks, lobbies and hotel services would be formally zoned hotel, ending any path back to apartment residential use.
Resolution 26-110 — Community Plan Amendments and Change in Zoning for Timeshare, Leasehold, and Other A-1/A-2 Apartment District Properties (HLU-18)
If ultimately adopted after commission review, the affected buildings could permanently remain in the visitor accommodation pool rather than converting to residential use.
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