Ask the Mayor: Clarification on Work Near Kanaha Sanctuary

Kanaha Pond. Photo courtesy DLNR.

Mayor Alan Arakawa answers some of the questions submitted to his staff.

Submit your own questions about County of Maui programs, services, operations or policies to Mayor Alan Arakawa at [email protected], 270-7855 or mail them to 200 S. High St., 9th Floor, Wailuku, HI 96793.

Questions submitted will be considered for inclusion in the “Ask the Mayor” column.

Dear Readers:

A: I would like to clarify my response in last week’s column regarding concerns expressed about work being done on a parcel adjacent to the Kanaha Pond Wildlife Sanctuary.

The applicant, The Gas Company, was issued an SMA Minor permit in August 2016 for the grubbing of overgrown vegetation and for the construction of an 8-foot perimeter security fence; there will be no grading of the lot under this permit.

The lot is county-zoned M2 Heavy Industrial and is physically separated from the Kanaha Pond Wildlife Sanctuary by a 100-foot-wide concrete drainage channel.

The SMA Minor permit for this project, which has a valuation of $95,000, was subject to certain conditions including the following: “That the applicant apply proper Best Management Practices to prevent and eliminate any runoff or pollution into the drainage canal fronting the parcel; That any future grading of the parcel be completed to protect the adjacent wetlands from runoff that could pollute the wetlands area; and That the Applicant be a good neighbor to the environmentally sensitive wetlands adjacent to the parcel.”

To date, the county has not received an application for an SMA Major permit, which would encompass a project with a valuation in excess of $500,000.