Oceanfront Front Street home rebuilding project draws support, opposition

A proposed $1.85 million project to rebuild an oceanfront home on wildfire-ravaged Front Street in Lahaina is getting support from neighbors who also want to rebuild while taking hits from critics concerned with coastline impacts, rising sea levels, and what one opponent called “another mansion on the shoreline.”

After an April 8 hearing before the Maui Planning Commission, the project returns Tuesday morning for more testimony and possible action on its application for a required special management area permit. Earlier this month, the commission heard testimony from 22 people — 13 opposed, eight in support and one neutral or unclear.

The recessed meeting will continue at 9:05 a.m. Tuesday with more public comments, but no further testimony from those already heard by the commission on April 8. A testifier list shows who already testified. (The Planning Commission also has an agenda for a meeting on the same day starting at 9 a.m. Planning Department staff explained Thursday morning that the recessed meeting will happen first, followed later by the regularly scheduled 9 a.m. meeting.)

The commission will reconvene its April 8 meeting at the Planning Department conference room in the Kalana Pakui Building, 250 S. High St., Wailuku. The meeting can be viewed via Webex. The meeting ID: 2663 673 1476; Password: 042225. Testimony also can be provided in person or online.

The Stanley & Dilara Deal Trust owns of 1045 Front Street, which had a single-family house originally built in 2018. The owners want to reconstruct their two-story, 3,617-square-foot, home to “substantially” the same condition it was when destroyed in the Aug. 8, 2023, Lahaina wildfire, according to a Department of Planning staff report. Further project details are here.

In submitted written testimony, neighbor and project supporter Michael Keller praised the proposal as a model for “responsible, resilient, and sustainable rebuilding.” He emphasized fire-resistant features like a steel roof and fireproof siding, windows, and decking, along with advanced drainage systems to reduce ocean runoff and low-water landscaping.

“These measures directly contribute to easing the demand on West Maui’s precious water resources,” he said.

“The applicant has not only met but exceeded all requirements,” Keller said. “As a neighbor with property directly adjacent… I can personally attest to the thoughtful planning and responsible approach taken in this rebuild.”

Next-door neighbor Lynn Barr also expressed strong support for the SMA approval, emphasizing that the applicants, Stan and Dilara Deal, were able to act quickly during the 30-day window before new shoreline erosion hazard rules took effect. The couple also had a valid, previously approved SMA major permit from 2017 that had not expired, she said.

“I’m thrilled they can build. This rapid progress should be available to all coastal homeowners,” Barr said, asking for a “fair hearing so we can all rebuild our homes.”

“Please give us that aloha,” she said.

Barr also expressed frustration over what she called a double standard in the county’s approach to rebuilding Lahaina.

“Maui County believes seawalls will protect Front Street from erosion — but not our homes,” she said, pointing out that the county has publicly committed to maintaining Lahaina’s seawall to safeguard the wastewater infrastructure under Front Street. Yet, while Front Street is allowed to remain in place despite being inside the erosion hazard line, property owners behind the same seawall are being told to retreat inland.

She called for accountability and due process for fire survivors seeking to rebuild.

“We simply want to rebuild our previous homes where we had them before we tragically lost them in the fire,” she said. “Sea level rise, erosion, hurricanes, tsunamis and floods did not take our homes. It was fire.”

But project opponents urged the commission to deny the permit, warning that the home rebuilding threatens Lahaina’s fragile coastline and cultural heritage.

“This isn’t just any shoreline,” said Letitia Ii, a lineal descendant born and raised in Puʻunoa. “This is sacred land, our ancestral coastline, a place where our kūpuna fished, gathered, surfed, and raised families. Every inch of Puʻunoa holds history. You cannot erase that with cement and luxury homes that don’t belong.”

Ii noted the parcel lies entirely within the sea level rise exposure area and criticized the process for bypassing a required environmental assessment and review by the Maui County Cultural Resources Commission.

“Rebuilding in this location is irresponsible,” she said. “It’s wrong. And it dishonors the cultural and historical significance of this place.”

She also faulted the home design, deeming it as being out of place.

“The design looks nothing like Lahaina,” Ii said. “It looks like Malibu. But this is not Malibu. This is Puʻunoa where our roots run deep. We don’t want another mansion on the shoreline. We want protection, restoration and respect.”

Ii urged commissioners to reject the SMA permit and take a stand for the future of Lahaina.

Longtime community advocate Kai Nishiki echoed Ii’s concerns, urging the commission to deny the permit to uphold climate adaptation policies and protect the coastline from erosion.

“This is a precedent-setting decision,” she said. “Approving this application would set a dangerous precedent that allows development in areas we already know will be uninhabitable within decades. It contradicts the spirt and intent of climate adaptation policies, threatens coastal access and undermines community resilience.”

She added that the West Maui Community Plan requires pools in protected shoreline areas to show how the pool will be drained to prevent pool water from being drained into the ocean.

Prior to the wildfires, the Deal family resided at the Lahaina home about 120 days per year, the report says. A planning staff report says the property was never used as a short-term vacation rental, and the Deals plan to retire and live at the property “on a more permanent basis.”

A Current Planning Division application shows Stanley Deal’s address at the time of application was Mercer Island, Washington. According to the US Census Bureau, that 24,750-resident community had a median household income of $202,359 last year and per capita income of $120,120. The median value of homes is $1.88 million.

The Deals are represented by planning consultant Munekiyo Hiraga.

When asked about processing this permit application for an out-of-state resident, a Maui County spokesperson said:

“The Maui County Planning Department is legally required to process all properly filed applications in accordance with Special Management Area (SMA) rules and other applicable land use regulations, regardless of who submits them. SMA permit application SM1 2024-00014 was submitted on August 22, 2024, for the property located at 1045 Front Street, which is within the SMA. As required by law, the application is subject to a public hearing and review by the Maui Planning Commission.

“All applications are evaluated individually based on regulatory requirements, completeness, and applicable timelines—not on the applicant’s identity or representation. Submissions prepared by professional planning consultants, such as Munekiyo Hiraga, often arrive more complete, which can allow the process to move more efficiently. However, this does not influence the Department’s impartial review or the standards applied.”

Proposed improvements on the 8,668-square-foot Lahaina property include an existing swimming pool, landscaping, a driveway and a 352-square-foot garage.

The US Army Corps of Engineers granted Lahaina Wildfire Property Clearance for the home site on July 23, 2024.​

Project plans will incorporate sustainable features such as low-emissivity glazing, solar shades, blackout blinds, roof overhangs, and enhanced wall insulation to reduce solar heat gain. The design also emphasizes natural ventilation through strategic window placement. Active sustainability measures include high-efficiency appliances, low-flow plumbing fixtures, a heat pump water heater, and a photovoltaic system with 60 rooftop panels and four Tesla batteries for energy storage. An automated system will monitor energy usage to maintain efficiency. Landscaping will utilize drip irrigation to conserve water.​

The Planning Department reported that while the project would normally trigger compliance with conducting an environmental impact statement, given its location in the National Historic Landmark District. Nevertheless, the department exempted the project from conducting an environmental assessment.

Citing Hawaiʻi administrative rules, the Lahaina rebuild project is eligible for exemption because some actions, “individually and cumulatively, probably have minimal or no significant effects, can be declared exempt from the preparation of an EA.”

It also can be exempted because the proposed rebuilding is located in generally the same site and will have substantially the same purpose, capacity, density, height and dimensions as the structure replaced, the Planning Department said.

The department also said the home rebuilding project’s design incorporates several shoreline and flood resiliency features.

For example, the dwelling’s footings will extend 3.5 feet below finished grade, and key utility lines will be encased in concrete to reduce erosion and scour risk. The existing swimming pool has passed a buoyancy analysis, ensuring it will remain in place during flooding. Additionally, a pre-existing seawall built before 1963 remains fronting the property; it is considered a non-conforming, grandfathered structure.

The Planning Department recommends approval of the project’s SMA permit application with standard and project-specific conditions. After obtaining all necessary permits, the property owners hope to rebuild within a year.