First emergency permit issued for Lahaina rebuilding after wildfire disaster

The first permit for rebuilding a Lahaina residence destroyed in the Aug. 8 wildfire disaster was issued on Wednesday, with another 40 applicants under active review, Department of Public Works Director Jordan Molina told members of the Maui County Council’s Water and Infrastructure Committee on Thursday.

“We have at least one property that is permitted, and they can begin construction as soon as they have their contracting team and all they need to do in place to get started,” Molina said.

He added that, assuming it takes about eight months to build a home, then next year, “we’ll be seeing people in new homes in Lahaina.”

On Friday afternoon, Maui County identified the homeowners as longtime West Maui residents Rich and Kari Alexander, who will rebuild their home on Komo Mai Street. The building permit received Wednesday morning brought tears to the eyes of Kari Alexander.

“Our kids are coming home from their first year of college at the end of the month, and my kids ask every time I talk to them, ‘Is anything changed? What’s going on?’” Kari Alexander said a county news release. “So today we’ll be able to tell them that we have our permits to start building. I think this gives them a sense of security, that we’re staying here, we’re rebuilding, and we want to give back to our community.”

“Just get back to normal . . . just looking forward,” Rich Alexander said, his voice cracking, according to the release.

He was one of the first residents to stop by the County of Maui Recovery Permit Center when it opened April 29 at the Maui County Service Center in Kahului. Maui County reported that, at first, the Alexanders said they felt overwhelmed by the permit application process, but they were helped by Shaina Hipolito, a 4LEAF associate planner/code enforcement officer. She assisted the Alexanders navigate the customer self-service portal in Maui County’s Automated Planning & Permitting System, known as “MAPPS.”

“It was very rewarding to watch him from the beginning, not knowing where to start,” Hipolito said. “So the whole process was rewarding. They were the ones that would call me every day.

“To see them actually hold their permit in their hand is unexplainable, I try not to get emotional about it,” she added.

Chaired by Council Member Tom Cook, the Water and Infrastructure Committee received an update on progress by the County and contractor 4LEAF Inc. in the expedited processing of what’s expected to be 2,000 to 3,000 permits, based on roughly 2,100 fire-impacted parcels. (Some properties need multiple permits.) Molina said it could take five to 20 years to get all the rebuilding permits issued, depending on each property owner’s situation and ability to rebuild.

Currently, 4LEAF is under a three-year, $16 million contract to help Maui County process permits for rebuilding homes and businesses in Lahaina and Upcountry. The company is processing Disaster Recovery Building Permits. These are for alterations, repairs, reconstruction and new construction of structures on parcels affected by a disaster or civil defense emergency. 4LEAF representatives are staffing the Recovery Permit Center to help guide residents through the expedited process.

Income from applicant permit fees will be used to pay the costs of emergency expedited building permits, Molina said, explaining that permit fees are not a reimbursable cost from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Molina estimated the permit fee cost roughly $3,000 for the single-family residence property owners who were first to receive an emergency permit to rebuild. Permit fees are calculated with the value of the structure being rebuilt, he said.

Rich Alexander, who works in construction, told Maui County officials that he thought it would take years to rebuild. But the Alexanders now say their goal is to have their house completed so they can move in by the time their rental lease expires in eight months.

“It’s going to be tough … we just have to keep plugging along,” Kari Alexander said in the county news release. “We’ve made it through the first hurdle. I can’t thank 4LEAF enough, because without them I don’t know that we would have been able to expedite.”

West Maui Council Member Tamara Paltin told Molina she’s been hearing complaints from wildfire survivors who’ve said the County should waive building permit fees “because it’s not their fault that their house burned down.”

Committee members expressed concern about building permit fees for residents and indicated a willingness to help them. Molina recommended against cutting permits fees and suggested establishing a relief program funded by reimbursable resources.

Kahului Council Member Tasha Kama asked whether expedited emergency permit procedures being established now could be used as a template for improving the county’s processing of regular building permits. Molina said the key difference is that fire-impacted homes are “rebuilds.”

“With a rebuild, we have a lot of awareness of what to expect from these permit applications, and we’ve had time to comprehensively look at the burn zone to understand the needs there,” he said.

In a regular permit processing, County staff does not have a pre-planned or pre-assessed application process, he said. Also, there isn’t third-party, outside assistance to help with the workload of processing permits.

Another factor allowing expedited emergency permits is that the County is assessing previously existing utility services for rebuild properties, Molina said. “It’s a little simpler to rebuild because you’re putting back what was.”

Paltin asked about rebuilding in Lahaina’s “Mill Camp” area, a neighborhood hard hit by the wildfires and the scene of the highest concentration of fatalities in the disaster that claimed 101 lives. The neighborhood was built in the 1920s as temporary Pioneer Mill worker housing with narrow roads and densely packed lots, before modern zoning laws were put in place.

Mill Camp is “definitely at the top of the list of the most difficult areas to work through,” Molina said. Road widths are only 20 feet, “wall to wall,” he said.

Paltin asked Molina to consider having public works representatives hold an in-person meeting with Mill Camp residents to hear their concerns, and he said he would do so.

In order to qualify for an expedited emergency rebuilding permit, a property needs to have fire debris removal completed, and, as of Wednesday, about 500 parcels had been cleared and are ready to receive permits, Molina said.

A viewer on Mauirecovers.org is available for residents to see if their property has been cleared. The site also has a map that shows structure safety assessments.

Safety inspections conducted from Sept. 8 through Oct. 3 of 2,635 fire-damaged properties in Lahaina and Kula found 1,799 red placard, or unsafe properties; 20 yellow placard, or restricted use properties; and 816 green placard, or properties without apparent structural damage.

When asked by Cook if people could return to live in properties without structural damage, Molina said, “not exactly,” because the safety assessment only looked at the condition of the structure itself and whether it’s safe to reoccupy. However, there are still concerns about restoration of utilities, having people live near ongoing debris clearing or being housed in closed, restricted areas.

“All of those factors are taken into consideration by the state and FEMA as far as deeming properties habitable for return,” he said.

Molokaʻi Council Member Keani Rawlins-Fernandez suggested creating a “how-to video” to help residents with a step-by-step guide in how to apply for an emergency rebuilding permit.

Molina said he can talk with contractor 4LEAF about preparing such a video, but he said he thought the most effective way is for people to call in and have a conversation to understand each applicant’s specific situation better. “I encourage people to call in, even if they have general questions,” he said.

Rawlins-Fernandez said a video would help “open a door for people.”

“Even sometimes a phone call can feel intimidating,” she said.

The Recovery Permit Center is located inside the County of Maui Service Center at 110 ʻAlaʻihi St., Suite 207, Kahului. The center is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. To contact the center, call (808) 270-5724.

A West Maui center is expected to open at the Lahaina Gateway shopping center in July.

For more information on Disaster Recovery Building Permits and links to the dedicated portals, visit https://www.mauirecovers.org/housingor https://mapps.mauicounty.gov/DSA-DRBP.  

A platform is available at mauirecovers.org/housing that provides information on temporary rental housing programs, temporary housing and on building a permanent housing within the wildfire disaster area.

Editor’s note: This post has been updated from its original post to add details, quotes and an image provided Friday afternoon by the County of Maui.