Kihei Rock Crushing Facility Seeks Zone Change

Piilani Highway file photo by Wendy Osher. The Kihei Rock Crushing Facility is located on the Mauka side of the highway, just south of the Kihei Wastewater Reclamation Facility.

By Wendy Osher

The company that owns a rock crushing facility in South Maui is seeking zoning changes for the operation from Agricultural to Urban and Heavy industrial.

Pacific Rim Land, Inc. is seeking the change for its Kihei Rock Crushing Facility to facilitate the existing heavy industrial use, and establish long-term use designations accurately reflecting “relatively small scale” activities at the site.

The Kihei Rock Crushing Facility is located on 14.5 acres of land mauka of the Piʻilani Highway, and south of the Kihei Wastewater Reclamation Facility.

According to the request, the facility was originally established in 1979 for the construction of the Piʻilani Highway.

It has been in continuous operation by Goodfellow Bros. since then, and has been operating under a State Land Use Special Use Permit (valid until October 2016) and County Conditional Permit (valid until November 2017).

An Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact was filed with the Maui Planning Commission.

In addition to a County Special Use Permit, Pacific Rim Land is also seeking the following:

• Community Plan Amendment to the Kihei-Makena Community Plan’s land use map, from Agriculture to Heavy Industrial
• Change in Zoning, from Agricultural district to M2, Heavy Industrial district
• State Land Use District Boundary Amendment from Agricultural to Urban district

The above request would be effective upon approval by the County Council and Mayor.

According to the assessment, prepared by Munekiyo & Hiraga, the facility crushes rock brought onto the site to make aggregate, stockpiles, and stores the aggregate used in South Maui road building and construction activities.

A small portion of the site is also used as a construction baseyard for trailers, stockpiles, and construction equipment.

New improvements would be limited to upgrading the existing waterline to meet fire flow requirements for heavy industrial uses.

***Supporting information courtesy State of Hawaii, & Final Environmental Assessment prepared by Munekiyo & Hiraga.