Grassroot Institute to host event on Lahaina rebuilding and Maui’s housing shortage

Policy suggestions for rebuilding Lahaina and increasing Maui’s housing supply will be the focus of a luncheon event sponsored by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii from noon to 1 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.

Admission is $10 and includes a light lunch. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. To register, click here.

Featured speakers will be Grassroot staffers Keli‘i Akina, president and chief executive officer; Joe Kent, executive vice president; and Ted Kefalas, director of strategic campaigns. Akina will also serve as moderator. The speakers will take questions from the audience.

The speakers will discuss the Grassroot’s recently published report, “Six ways to speed up the recovery and rebuilding of Lahaina,” which has been shared directly with all county, state and federal officials involved in West Maui’s recovery efforts following last year’s devastating wildfires that destroyed about 3,000 homes.

The report states that the immediate priority should be “legislation aimed at boosting housing supply and lowering prices, which means removing or at least waiving regulations that have been standing in the way of rebuilding efforts in Lahaina and other parts of Maui.”

In particular, the report recommends waiving permitting fees, expediting permits in special management areas, granting nonprofit organizations exemptions from certain building and zoning rules, and allowing reconstruction of nonconforming buildings.

After Gov. Josh Green released the Maui Interim Housing Plan earlier this year, Grassroot sent a four-page memo to government officials suggesting five additional policies that could benefit Maui’s displaced residents, including expanding Maui’s emergency permitting statute, which the Maui County Council approved in March.

Also at the Sept. 24 luncheon, Akina, Kent and Kefalas will discuss Grassroot’s upcoming report “How fixes to Maui’s water-fixture policy could ease its housing crisis.” The report is subtitled “Residents have been getting hosed by outdated plumbing rules and fees.”

According to that report, Maui County has not updated its water-fixture-unit rules since 1995, which along with the high fees the county charges for these units has discouraged or delayed the timely construction of much-needed housing in the county.