Ohukai Light Industrial Park advances in council committee

A proposal to turn a portion of a mango farm in north Kīhei into a nearly 15-acre light industrial project advanced Wednesday to the full Maui County Council with a recommendation for passage on first reading.

The Housing and Land Use Committee chaired by Council Member Tasha Kama recommended approval of an application by property owners Chris and Candy Hayes to reclassify 14.6 acres in the state land use district from agricultural to urban and to change county zoning from rural to M-1 light industrial (conditional zoning).

In 2017, the couple bought 28.7 acres south of Ohukai Road and east of the Kīhei Commercial Plaza. They intend to divide the property into two equal parts — live and farm mango trees on the mauka half and develop the makai half into the Ohukai Light Industrial Park. The proposed development requires land use changes.

The development plans call for creating 21 fenced areas, ranging from a half to 1 acre, according to planning consultant William Spence. These would be available for lease, not subdivided, and used by tenants as baseyard storage for contractors, agencies and others. The ground would be graveled, not paved; and the project would be accessible by a county standard 20-foot-wide road. A landscaped buffer with a sidewalk would be on the Ohukai Road end of the property.

Spence demonstrated how the project developers conducted community outreach to neighbors, the Kīhei Community Association and lineal descendants, cultural practitioners and others with knowledge of the area. The association’s recommendations were adopted into project plans, including a 20-foot-deep green buffer of trees and vegetation; water availability for each leased space to cut down on dust and dirt; and security lights that would not disturb neighbors.

The developers also agreed to support an association recommendation that would make the project “purely light industrial,” by eliminating uses that would be allowed in business district zoned areas. Permitted uses in business districts include general merchandising, theaters, fitness centers, automobile services, day care facilities, restaurants, bars, schools and multifamily dwellings, duplexes and bungalow courts.

By removing business zoning designations (B-1, 2 and 3), “the property will never turn into a retail shopping center like the Safeway at Hoʻokele or by the Target store (both zoned light industrial),” Spence said.

Also, “the Hayes really want to aid in the recovery of Lahaina,” Spence said, and their project could be used as a staging area for contractors working to rebuild the fire-devastated community.

Jim McGovern, director and president of Hawaii Modulars & Building Systems, told council members he would like to use space at the project for his business to provide much-needed modular buildings, offices and homes.

Spence said the project could serve as an employment center with appropriate light industrial uses such as warehousing, light assembly, service and craft-type operations, business incubators, live-work spaces, retail and commercial uses that serve the needs of people working in the area.

Committee members amended zoning conditions proposed by the Maui Planning Commission. They deleted a requirement that a lease document be presented by property owners to the Council for its approval. They decided to include a sidewalk within the 20-foot landscape buffer for the safety of children walking in the area. And, they agreed that no short-term or transient vacation rentals would be allowed in the project.

Things got a little testy before a final committee vote when Council Member Tamara Paltin proposed and the developers appeared to balk at a condition to prohibit the project from being “CPRed.” That means it would not be permitted to have a condominium property regime. (In this sense, condominium doesn’t mean a unit or building; it’s a type of ownership in which condo property owners own their own units, but all share ownership of the land and “common elements,” usually things like hallways, lobbies, roofs and recreational areas.)

Spence said the developers had not thought of doing a “CPR” for the property, but if the property were to change hands in the future it would not be desirable to have such a restriction.

Paltin said she understood that there was no intention of doing CPRs or building apartments, which was why such plans were not discussed in community outreach efforts.

“I’m just trying to nail down what is being represented to us,” she said. “It’s getting pretty tricky here, what is being represented.”

Spence said he correctly represented the Hayes’ current plans, but disallowing a condominium property regime ownership could tie a future owners’ hands.

“That’s for the future,” he said. “That’s not happening now. I never misrepresented anything. If I did, my apologies.”

Paltin said she thought it’s “disingenuous” to conduct community outreach on only what the current owners intend to do, and then when the council proposes conditions to support that, “then they’re talking about future value.”

“We’re already doing an up-zone,” she said. “If we had gone in the opposite direction, people would call this a taking.”

“If a future owner wants to do something else, then they outreach to the community and change it at that time,” Paltin said. “I’m not trying to build wealth for this particular landowner.”

Spence said the landowners were looking at the matter as a “straight zoning” issue. If the County Council grants rezoning, then “you can do all the things that are allowed under that,” he said.

“We never even discussed among ourselves apartments,” he said. “Nothing was intended to be sneaky or anything of that nature.”

Ultimately, the proposed amendment to prohibit a condominium property regime for the project failed. It received four votes in favor from Council Members Paltin, Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, Alice Lee and Tasha Kama; and two against, Council Members Tom Cook and Yuki Lei Sugimura. The motion fell short of a required fifth vote.

The main motion to approve the proposed change of zoning passed by a 6-0 vote. Council Members Nohelani Uʻu-Hodgins, Shane Sinenci and Gabe Johnson were absent at the time of the vote and excused.

Editor’s note: This post has been updated to correct the status of farming on the Ohukai property. The upper portion of the 28.7-acre property continues in active farming with approximately 175 mango trees in two orchards.