Maui Council approves permits for 2026 Maui County Fair and Aloha Classic Windsurfing Tournament

Maui County Council members unanimously adopted Tuesday two resolutions approving special events permits for the 2026 Maui County Fair and the Aloha Classic Windsurfing Tournament.

The 99th annual fair will be held at Oct. 1-4 at the War Memorial Special Events Complex in Wailuku. The fair had been put on hold in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and financial hardships. The fair returned last year and drew more than 115,000 people.

Given that the Maui County Fair takes months of preparation, setup and breakdown, the permit extends from July 27 through Oct. 16.

The Aloha Classic Windsurfing event will be held from Oct. 19-30 at Hoʻokipa Beach Park.

In other action:

Council members voted 8-0, with Council Member Shane Sinenci absent and excused, to pass on first reading Bill 81 (2025), which requires greater transparency in county administration disclosures about county-owned land. Council Vice Chair Yuki Lei Sugimura, chair of the Council’s Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee, introduced the bill.

According to committee discussion on July 28, the bill amends the current Maui County Code to mandate that the administration disclose any funding source restrictions in budget transmittals when county-owned property acquired with special-purpose funds is proposed for a different use.

The bill stems from the County’s purchase of roughly 50 acres in West Maui from Maui Land & Pineapple Co. That land was initially acquired through the Open Space Fund, but after the Lahaina wildfires, officials began looking at the parcel as a potential site for affordable housing instead. According to the bill, Council members were never told—until they asked—that the purchase had drawn on Open Space funds—money that’s earmarked for land conservation rather than housing development.

In a litigation settlement case, councilors agreed to authorize a settlement with the Conservation Council of Hawaiʻi and American Bird Conservancy in a lawsuit filed Nov. 19, 2024. Hawaiian Electric Co. was a co-defendant.

The lawsuit alleged that streetlights owned and operated by the electric company for Maui County threatened the continued survival and recovery of three critically imperiled seabirds that are native to Hawaiʻi and protected by the federal Endangered Species Act. The Council’s resolution says that part of Maui County’s motivation to settle the lawsuit is to “avoid incurring expenses and the uncertainty of a judicial determination.”

The case will be settled by way of a negotiated settlement or offer of judgment. The terms of the settlement were discussed during a closed executive session of the Council’s Government Relations, Ethics and Transparency Committee. The resolution did not disclose the dollar amount, only that it would be “consistent with the Council’s settlement approval.”

The Council referred to committee a resolution that would send to the Maui Planning Commission a bill to change zoning to B-2 community business district for six parcels in the Māʻalaea Triangle, which includes the Maui Ocean Center.

On first reading, the Council passed the following bills amending the county’s fiscal 2027 budget:

• Bill 103 (2026), relating to the real property tax exemption expiration date for wildfire-impacted properties.
• Bill 104 (2026), relating to a new appropriation for a grant of $500,000 from the Department of the Army for watershed assessment.
• Bill 105 (2026), relating to new community development block grant appropriations for the Arc of Maui for $38,001 and Kaupo Community Association for $92,937.
• Bill 106 (2026), relating to changes in the conditional language for the Lahaina Restoration Foundation to include Hale Aloha.
• Bill 107 (2026), relating to a new appropriation for a grant of $390,038 from the Hawaiʻi Department of Health for a rural health transformation program.

On second and final reading, the Council voted 8-0 to pass Bill 95 (2026), which amends the Maui County Code on promoting Maui Bus ridership and expanding the fare-free bus pass program to include Maui County employees. The bill also allows the director of the county Department of Transportation to suspend bus fares for special events for up to 14 days in a fiscal year.

The bill advances to Mayor Richard Bissen for final action.