Maui Planning Commission recommends approval of Honuaʻula project condition changes

By a 5-2 vote, the Maui Planning Commission is recommending approval of proposed amendments to project district zoning conditions attached to development of the controversial Honuaʻula master-planned community in South Maui.

After a meeting recess on March 11, the commission passed a main motion on March 25 to approve all amendments proposed by the Maui County Council. Now, Bills 171 and 172 return to the full Council for further action.

During Council committee debate late last year, a major point of contention focused on the number of required residential workforce housing units. Under earlier ordinances, the project was required to allocate 50% of its 1,400 dwelling units to workforce housing, with 450 units on-site and 250 off-site. However, the current Maui County Code mandates that developers provide workforce housing equal to at least 25% of market-rate units.

With the developer now proposing 1,150 total units, the minimum required workforce housing would be 230 units. The developer has pledged to construct at least 288 workforce units, exceeding the minimum by 58 homes.

The Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee proposed requiring all residential workforce units to be built on-site and capping the total number of units at 1,150, down from the previously approved 1,400. The panel voted to remove references to 450 affordable units in the Kīhei-Mākena Project District 9 ordinance. The bill also eliminated provisions for a golf course and related facilities, instead incorporating cultural and educational centers as permitted uses.

The Planning Commission recommended finding a way that 50 or so affordable workforce housing units be built in conjunction with the state Department of Transportation’s widening of Piʻilani Highway.

The commission also said that at least 2 acres should be dedicated for a nonprofit organization to develop and manage a Hawaiian cultural, educational and community facility. Commissioners said an appraisal should be done sooner rather than later.

The commission recommended an onboarding and continual cultural education program for residents including partnering with local schools for hands-on place-based education.

The project developer has committed to contributing $5 million for that project.

The commission also asked the Council to follow up with the County’s Department of Fire and Public Safety and the Maui Police Department to ensure the conveyance of a 2-acre lot is adequate for their needs.

Voting in favor of the main motion were commission Chair Kimberly Thayer, Vice Chair Dale Thompson and members Mel Hipolito Jr., Ashley Lindsey and Brian Ward. Dissenting were commission members Mark Deakos and Andrea Kealoha.

The commission’s action came two weeks after a March 11 public hearing during which commissioners heard nearly six hours of testimony. Fifty-eight of 66 testifiers opposed the developer’s requests for land-use amendments for Honuaʻula, located on 670 acres south of Maui Meadows and mauka of Piʻilani Highway.

Tuesday’s public hearing was convened as part of a procedural requirement following the postponement of Maui County Council action on two land-use bills in December. Bill 171 and Bill 172 had been slated for a first reading on the Dec. 13, 2024, Maui County Council agenda. However, the Planning Department acknowledged that the commission had inadvertently failed to conduct a mandatory public hearing in South Maui, as required by the Maui County Code.

On Dec. 3, 2024, the Maui County Council’s Housing and Land Use Committee voted 5-3 to recommend passage of Bill 171 on first reading. Councilmembers Tasha Kama, Tom Cook, Alice Lee, Yuki Lei Sugimura, and Nohelani Uʻu-Hodgins voted in favor, while Gabe Johnson, Tamara Paltin, and Keani Rawlins-Fernandez opposed the measure. Shane Sinenci was absent and excused.