Maui Planning Commission members finished hearing public comments and then added their own Tuesday to a draft environmental impact statement for Ledcor South Maui’s plans to build as many as 975 homes.
One of the sticking points in both public testimony and commission input was the amount of project housing to address what the draft EIS says analysts acknowledge as “a sizable pent-up demand for primary resident housing units in the County.”
Ledcor representative David Goode said the developer is committed to meeting its requirements to provide 25% of its 900 market-priced units as workforce housing, as required by the Maui County Code. A quarter of 900 is 225 homes, and he said the developer would provide 75 units in the resort area; 75 off-site; and contribute in-lieu fees for 75 homes to the county’s Affordable Housing Fund to support workforce housing. He said the in-lieu fee is $240,000 per unit, which would amount to $18 million.
Still, most of the homes would be market-priced, and Commissioner Mark Deakos called that a “hard pill to swallow,” although he also added that that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.
Commission Chair Kim Thayer asked: If most of the Ledcor market-priced housing is purchased by off-island buyers, then what pent-up demand is being addressed?
She also said she was concerned about development impacts on the island’s water supply, including the ʻĪao aquifer, which she said already is close to its sustainable yield.
In public testimony, Maui Tomorrow Foundation Executive Director Albert Perez suggested adding a development alternative that includes permanently affordable housing, and that the Final EIS evaluate the positive and negative socioeconomic impacts of the proposed development.
Perez said the environmental study should discuss an alternative that has far fewer housing units and does not involve blasting. “This would save water, preserve more open space to absorb runoff, reduce traffic impacts and reduce impacts from blasting and destruction of natural and cultural features,” he said.
In other testimony, Shane Awai, speaking on behalf of building trades members, said local people need employment to afford to live on Maui, and construction jobs pay a living wage. “This is an opportunity for us to have jobs,” he said.
Kīhei resident Mike Moran focused his testimony on ground transportation, pointing out that South Maui has two primary ways in and out: Piʻilani Highway and South Kīhei Road. And, if South Kīhei Road is washed out by flooding or rising sea levels, then there’s only Piʻilani, he said.
The Lahaina wildfire disaster could be repeated in South Maui if people don’t have adequate escape routes, he said. “That’s what will happen if we keep doing more and more.”
Daniel Kanahele said more needs to be done in the project’s planning to address historic preservation in culturally significant areas. A cultural preservation area should be established in the project area’s largest parcel, he said.
Although zoned for 2,137 residential units, the Ledcor Maui development proposes building only up to 975 homes in the master-planned Wailea Resort community and a neighboring lot in Kīhei. Plans call for a mix of single-family and multifamily residential communities on eight properties. In addition to required workforce housing, parks, open spaces, amenities and pedestrian paths will be part of the new communities, according to the draft environmental study.
Public comment on the draft EIS has been extended to May 23. Comments should be sent to http://www.ledcorsouthmauipermitting.com. The Final EIS must include comments from both comment periods, so comments previously submitted do not have to be sent again.
The Maui Planning Commission is the approving authority for the developer’s environmental impact statement. So, Ledcor will make changes based on commission and public comments and return with a revised final EIS.
The project represents the last components of Wailea’s master plan, which began in 1973.
