“The County Has Fallen Behind” Maui Community Plans Need Updating

An online public meeting on expediting the community plan process is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 24, at 6:30 p.m., Maui County Council Chair Alice Lee announced.

Lee said the meeting will be conducted by Matrix Consulting Group, which has been retained to conduct a comprehensive study of procedures, evaluate alternative approaches and develop recommendations for expediting the timeframe for updating the nine community plans for Maui County.

She said interested members of the public can participate via video conference at the following link: https://meet.google.com/hro-mwwm-dca  Phone participation is available by dialing ‪1-609-800-2674 and entering PIN 740760753#

Under Chapter 2.80B of the Maui County Code, each community plan is part of the county’s general plan and includes the following elements:

1. A statement of the major problems and opportunities concerning the needs and development of the community plan area.
2. A statement of the social, economic and environmental effects of such development.
3. The desired sequence, patterns and characteristics of future development.

The code says community plans are to be comprehensively updated every 10 years, but the county has fallen behind, Lee said. The code lists the nine community plans and the year of their last comprehensive update:

• Hāna (1994)
• Pāʻia-Haʻikū (1995)
• Kahoʻolawe (1995)
• West Maui (1996)
• Makawao-Pukalani-Kula (1996)
• Kīhei-Mākena (1998)
• Wailuku-Kahului (2002)
• Lānaʻi (2016)
• Molokaʻi (2018)

Matrix has already conducted interviews and surveys with councilmembers, Planning Department staff, planning commission members and community plan advisory committee members and now seeks input and ideas from the public, according to Lee.

This meeting is scheduled to last approximately 90 minutes. Registration is not necessary.  Comments or suggestions may also be submitted by emailing Khushboo Hussain at [email protected] by Sept. 25.