Proposed Lahaina Sign Design Guidelines Topic of Workshop

Lahaina, Maui. Maui Now graphic.

By Maui Now Staff

A public workshop on the proposed Lahaina Sign Design Guidelines will be held on Thursday, July 24, 2014 in West Maui.

Staff members will present the most recent proposed revisions to the guidelines that regulate signs in the Lahaina Historic District.

County officials say the proposed revisions are intended to be more clear and consistent, allow for a broader choice of materials and design elements, and be more easily enforced.

Existing design guidelines were last revised in 2001 and are based largely on the Architectural Style Book for Lahaina that was adopted by the then-Historic Comission in 1969.

“We are working to balance competing interests – the need for businesses to advertise and promote themselves, and the need to preserve the historic integrity of the Lahaina Historic Districts,” said Maui Planning Director Will Spence. “Updating the design guidelines is long overdue,” he said.

County officials say that once the new guidelines are adopted, the department will proceed with enforcement of unpermitted and illegal signs. In the meantime, certain illegal signs that are specifically prohibited, such as lighted and portable signs, will continue to be cited.

The meeting runs from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 24, 2014, at the Kamehameha III Elementary School cafeteria on Front Street.