Mayor Richard Bissen has signed two bills clearing the way for the development of 1,150 homes — both market-priced and workforce units — in the Honuaʻula master-planned community project south of Maui Meadows in South Maui.

Bill 171, now Ordinance 5846, amends the project district’s zoning to reduce the number of homes from the original 1,400 and limits the rate of market-unit construction to no more than 100 per year. There’s no limit on the number of affordable units that may be constructed in what was formerly called Wailea 670. The measure also specifies project development standards. Bill 172, now Ordinance 5847, amends the conditions of zoning, including a requirement to build at least 288 residential workforce housing units (25% of 1,150) and a stipulation that Piʻilani Highway must be widened from two to four lanes from Kilohana Drive to Wailea Ike Drive.

After signing the bills last week Thursday, Bissen released a statement on Tuesday.

“The Wailea 670 project has been passionately debated in our community for nearly 30 years, and I thank the many community members who have shared their input throughout this process,” the mayor said. “After much dialogue and deliberation, the Maui County Council recently passed changes to the previously approved project.”

Last week Wednesday, the Council passed the bills on second-and-final reading by a narrow vote of 5-4.

Bissen said: “My team and I have carefully reviewed the Council’s new amendments and conditions — many of which were designed to address long-standing community concerns. While I acknowledge the outcome of this project is not ideal, I have signed Bills 171 and 172 to provide critically needed housing for local families.”

Maui Tomorrow Foundation Executive Director Albert Perez expressed disappointment with the mayor’s decision to sign the bills.

“We have been opposed to these bills, because of the significant reduction in required affordable housing from 700 units down to just 288, along with an increase of 162 luxury ‘market-priced’ homes,” he said. “There may be another 50 affordables built if the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation pays for the highway expansion that had been promised by the developer, but the developer will still get the housing credits for those 50 units.”

Perez said he expected the initial number of affordable units provided by the development would likely “drop quickly” because the owners will be able to sell them at market prices in five to 10 years.

“Given the high median price of homes in Wailea, it will be very difficult for those people to resist selling and making a profit of about $3 million at todayʻs prices,” he said. “This loss of affordable units is a waste of the County’s investment of affordable housing funds. This practice needs to stop.”

Perez contrasted what the Maui County Council did in 2008 versus what has happened now.

“There has been no attempt to examine the claim that building 450 affordable homes ‘won’t pencil out,’ even though the previous developer’s representative said in 2008 that building 700 affordables would be no problem,” he said. “We estimate that the additional profit that the County has now given to this developer is over $405 million – as far as we know, the biggest giveaway in Maui Countyʻs history.”

In response to Maui Tomorrow’s comments, Honuaʻula attorney Cal Chipchase said: “We deeply respect differing views on the project and policy in Maui County.”

However, he said it’s important to discuss policy with “the same set of facts.”

“For example, the project is building substantially more workforce housing on site than County code requires,” he said. “All workforce housing credits have been waived. The project will not use county affordable housing funds, and the minimum affordable period is 10 years with an owner-occupant restriction in perpetuity.”

“We look forward to meeting with anyone who has questions or concerns as the project moves forward,” Chipchase said.

Regarding the mayor’s signing of the bills, Chipchase said he recognized “the mayor’s swift and decisive action to secure the many community benefits that were put forward through the amendments.”

Chipchase also confirmed that the project’s next steps would be to complete the process for obtaining a special management area permit for improvements to Piʻilani Highway.

Previously, he said other project benefits include the creation of evacuation routes and fire suppression, general tax revenue, job creation and the protection of more than 160 acres of land.

When the project bills were considered on second-and-final reading before the Maui County Council, minority council members tried unsuccessfully to restore an earlier benchmark of 450 affordable units. Now, the project guarantees at least 288 units, with the potential for an increase to 338 if the state Department of Transportation completes the highway widening project by 2030.

The mayor’s signature marked the final step in a process that has seen heated debate among community members, environmental advocates, and project proponents over the future of development in South Maui.