Maui County · issues
Civic issues
Topics getting the most attention in Maui County public meetings, ranked by how frequently they come up.
Lānaʻi Project District 2 (Kōʻele) zoning change (Bills 24 and 25, 2024)
The committee added a sunset to the water-reporting condition: five years of quarterly reports, then annual reports or until a Phase 2 approval, whichever comes first. Water accountability on Lānaʻi stays on the books but won't run forever.
Piilani Promenade subdivision bond and drainage questions
Bill 58 would redirect $6 million in leftover bond proceeds to renovations of the 24 North Church Street building for the Prosecuting Attorney in the Wailuku-Kahului Community Plan Area.
Honua'ula (Wailea 670) fire station and retention basin overlap
Kay Anderson of Wailea 808 told the committee the Wailea Golf description in the draft plan is outdated — the Maui Planning Commission approved an updated plan in March 2025 that the community hasn't had a chance to review. The committee will need to fix it before final approval.
Infrastructure Priority for 100% Affordable and Workforce Housing
New rules push affordable and workforce housing near jobs, schools and transit, spread across South Maui's neighborhoods (minus conservation Sub-Area 6), and encourage developers of 10+ unit projects to face local community associations first. A fight over banning affordable-housing 'credits' was punted to a countywide code change.
Piilani Promenade land-use conflict with LUC order
The committee wrestled with whether to keep an 80/20 residential/commercial policy for Piilani Promenade when a Land Use Commission decision and order currently bars residential use there. Corp counsel flagged it as odd to mandate uses the LUC has prohibited; members discussed 'if-then' language in case the landowner goes back to the LUC, plus a lingering ~$20 million subdivision bond for the Kaonoulu extension road.
Central Maui base yard industrial expansion with 100-foot gulch buffers
The plan could add roughly 66 acres of industrial land east of Maui Veterans Highway, with open space buffers along Pulehu Gulch. Members liked the 100-foot buffer given industrial runoff risks, and the landowner agreed to it.
Wailea Golf mapping and the Chan proposal
Kay Anderson of Wailea 808 told the committee the Wailea Golf description in the draft plan is outdated — the Maui Planning Commission approved an updated plan in March 2025 that the community hasn't had a chance to review. The committee will need to fix it before final approval.
North Kīhei Mauka residential designation
Haleakalā and Kaonoulu Ranches are defending the plan's North Kīhei Mauka Residential area against arguments it adds too many units. The ranches say they're finalizing easements for a north-south road corridor and asked that flood-mitigation work mauka be documented for the committee.
Duplex/ADU action struck — residents can now legally add units
The committee struck a plan action item because recent county laws already allow kitchenettes and two ADUs per residential property. Members flagged that many residents — and even building inspectors — don't know these changes exist yet.
Kīpūola Kauhale — Maui's first kauhale community
After a deep cultural discussion with Native Hawaiian CPAC members, the committee agreed to build at least one pu'uhonua or culturally infused safe low-barrier shelter — and tripled the cost estimate to $30,000 per unit. The term was kept deliberately broad to avoid repeating the divisiveness around Pu'uhonua o Nēnē.
Workforce housing policies vs. Chapter 2.96 conflict
Attorney Kiola Whitaker warned that policies 2.2.18, 2.2.19 and 2.2.26 (requiring housing location 'to the extent practicable' and a genealogical-ties preference) could conflict with recorded workforce housing agreements under Chapter 2.96, delaying housing. Housing Director Remy Mitchell agreed and endorsed moving the preference language into the code. The committee marked all three policies for revisit.
Workforce housing policy conflicts with Chapter 2.96
Housing agreements attorney Keola Whitaker warned that requiring community-plan compliance at discretionary permitting could void recorded workforce housing agreements; Housing Director Mitchell agreed 'encourage' and moving the genealogical-ties preference to the County Code would be safer, and the committee marked the policies for revisit.
Housing outside flood hazard zones
New affordable and workforce housing in South Maui must now be planned outside special flood hazard areas under an approved plan policy.
Growth concurrency and impact fees
Multiple testifiers said the plan lets development outrun infrastructure — roads, water, wastewater, schools. They want concurrency requirements restored and impact fees so luxury growth for off-island buyers stops being subsidized by local taxpayers.
Wailea Golf Course plan discrepancy
Kay Anderson of Wailea 808 told the committee the Wailea Golf description in the draft plan is outdated — the Maui Planning Commission approved an updated plan in March 2025 that the community hasn't had a chance to review. The committee will need to fix it before final approval.
Pāʻia Sugar Mill Redevelopment — Community Plan Amendment and Change in Zoning
The old mill site could become a light-industrial village with manufacturing jobs, workforce housing, food processing and community event space. The committee shaped conditions on water, evacuation, chain stores and open space before sending it to the full Council.
Bill 9 carve-outs: hotel rezoning referrals for apartment-district TVRs
Two resolutions would refer bills to the Planning Commission to let apartment-zoned short-term rental properties switch to hotel zoning and keep operating as visitor accommodations instead of returning to long-term housing. Most testifiers called this an unraveling of Bill 9 during a housing crisis; owners of flood- and erosion-exposed buildings pushed to be exempted. The committee adopted criteria 5-4 and put off any decision to September 9.
Lahaina rebuild and affordable housing funding
Opponents tied the rezoning fight to Maui's post-fire housing crisis: fire survivors face Hale Ola'a program endings, rising rent burdens, and units being converted to visitor use. Advocates pushed rent stabilization and warned that chipping away at Bill 9 breeds distrust in county government.
First-time homebuyer program reach
Only 83 of a target 120 shopping letters have gone out from the $92.5 million first-time homebuyer program, out of 2,900 applicants. Members asked how to expand it — maybe through the housing department or a nonprofit — and the administration promised an assessment after the first 120 letters.
Huey Road subdivision fire hydrant and deferral agreement controversy
The County is spending up to $1 million defending itself against whistleblower Christopher Salem, and testifiers say the real problem is a developer that never finished required infrastructure — including a fire hydrant — at the Hui Road subdivision. One testifier demanded a Council investigation before more public money is spent.
Kamehameha Schools Kuʻia land negotiations for housing and evacuation routes
The County is in confidential talks with Kamehameha Schools about buying adjacent land in Kuʻia to add housing, fire resiliency and evacuation routes near the Waineʻe purchase. The school site is also returning to that area. Details were off-limits in open session due to an NDA.
Low-income housing rent increases (LIHTC/HHFDC)
Council Member Paltin raised an urgent side issue: low-income tenants in LIHTC projects using HHFDC rent schedules instead of the county's HUD schedule face $200–$300 monthly rent increases, hitting elderly and fixed-income residents hardest, including fire-affected Lahaina households.
Leasehold housing affordability criteria
The committee fought over whether only 100%-leasehold properties should get county-initiated rezoning referrals. The 100% criterion failed 4-5, keeping mixed-leasehold buildings like Lauloa Mā'alaea on the list — despite arguments that leasehold units are the most affordable and most likely to return to local housing.
Housing affordability and the Minatoya list
Testifiers on both sides anchored their arguments in Maui's housing crisis — FEMA housing aid ending within a year, thousands of TVR units sitting empty much of the year, and locals priced out. The core question: do these units become homes for residents, or stay visitor accommodations?
Long-term housing supply and owner-occupancy decline in condo complexes
Testifiers documented sharp drops in owner occupancy at complexes like Kaanapali Royal (54% to 9% since 2015) and Hale Ono Loa (70% to 3%), arguing these were once affordable housing. Council Member Cook reported Kihei businesses struggling without local residents, and cash buyers from the mainland dominating sales.
Affordable housing through zoning reform
Council members asked whether the rewrite could help housing affordability — through smaller minimum lot sizes, more housing types like missing-middle units, and possibly a workforce-housing zone. The consultant confirmed those ideas will be explored, mainly in module four's residential districts.
Kaulana Mahina parking and tenant treatment
A disabled resident testified she faced lease retaliation after reporting a landlord charging $85/month for parking that her contract says should be free. Members flagged possible enforcement action.
Bill 77: Affordable Housing Fund for houseless residents
Bill 77 would require part of the county's Affordable Housing Fund go toward housing the houseless population. Members want more data on shelter-bed gaps and program design before committing funds.
Housing crisis and out-migration
Testimony and member discussion centered on Maui's severe housing shortage driving local families to leave the island. Supporters argued the project is a rare large-scale chance to build workforce housing now rather than waiting years more for studies.
Ho'onani Village mixed-use development land-use amendments
A 163.443-acre former sugarcane parcel near Pulehu Road could become a mixed-use village with roughly 1,600 workforce housing units plus retail, industrial, and possibly hotel uses. The committee sent the growth-boundary and community-plan bills to full council 5-1, but the zoning bill waits on the state Land Use Commission.