Maui Council committee questions temporary site plan for people living in vehicles

The Maui County Council is scheduled to take a final vote Friday on a bill that would let the county open a temporary site for people living in their vehicles, and officials hope to begin relocating people from Pūlehu Road as early as next week.

The Council’s Water Authority, Social Services and Parks Committee, chaired by Council Member Shane Sinenci, discussed Bill 133 (2026) Monday but took no legislative action.

Department of Human Concerns Director Margaret Willis told the committee the county is preparing a site on a county parcel south of Hansen Road, about three-quarters of a mile from where people now live along Pūlehu Road. The site would initially operate for an estimated six months and serve 50 to 60 people. Willis said about 45 to 50 people currently live along the road, and they would have priority for placement at the temporary site.

Relocations could begin next week only if crews finish the site this week and the Council passes the bill, Willis said. Managing Director Josiah Nishita said the administration is not disclosing the exact location to avoid drawing onlookers.

Willis said people living along the road could not meet the existing ordinance’s requirements, so the department is asking the Council for “some grace and some flexibility” by updating the current ordinance.

The bill would amend a 2022 ordinance that authorized a pilot allowing people experiencing houselessness to sleep in their vehicles in designated county parking lots. Bill 133 would extend that to other county-owned or managed parcels, remove compliance with all county, state and federal laws as a condition of participation, and replace the overnight-only hours with hours set by the county. The bill’s findings say participants may lack a valid driver’s license, vehicle registration or vehicle safety check, so the measure removes those “impediments” to allow their participation. It also requires monitoring during all hours of operation and retains the requirement for Council review within 12 months after a pilot project begins. The bill does not rule out use of county parks, Willis said.

First Deputy Corporation Counsel Mimi DesJardins said the change would allow people onto the site without suspending the underlying laws.

“It’s not about suspending the actual laws,” she said. It was “pretty much agreed” in liability discussions with the administration that participants would not be allowed to drive vehicles off the site without the required registration, driver’s license or insurance, DesJardins said.

Willis said her department is talking with the Department of Finance and the Division of Motor Vehicles and Licensing about pathways for participants to register vehicles and resolve fines.

“The goal here is to create a space that will be safer so they won’t be exposed to traffic, right, and the danger that that creates,” she said, emphasizing that the temporary site is meant for people now living along Pūlehu Road. “It is not designed to be the end all solution,” she said.

The site would have a restroom accessible to people with disabilities, portable toilets, handwashing stations, potable water and generator lighting, Willis said. The county plans to provide 24-hour private security, with about four hours of additional trauma-informed and cultural competency training before guards begin work.

Willis said the county is using its homelessness emergency proclamation, instead of a request for proposals, to contract for security. The agreement is still being finalized.

Council Member Tamara Paltin asked how the county would handle weapons and drugs. Willis said the county could prohibit weapons but lacks the capacity to search people.

“I don’t think it’s conducive to a trauma-informed environment to be requiring people to get pat-downs or have their vehicles inspected,” Willis said. “But we will put things in place regarding behaviors, and the expectation that people will behave in an appropriate manner in this sort of community setting.”

Security would call 911 when incidents require law enforcement intervention, she said.

Residents would have help deciding which belongings to bring to the new site, Willis said.

“We will not allow everybody to bring everything that they have,” she said. “They will need to make choices. That’s the trade-off of being able to move to a safer space that has some basic hygiene amenities, right?”

Belongings that relocating residents leave behind would be disposed of later. She said storage would also be available for people who decline to move to the site while they find another place to stay. Those who decline will be offered other shelter or treatment options, and the roadside area will be cleared, she said.

Some council members raised concerns.

Council Member Kauanoe Batangan said the ordinance changes that lift time constraints and vehicle safety and registration requirements make the project resemble “an encampment of sorts” rather than a safe parking program.

“I actually don’t think we have a safe parking program in front of us,” he said. He added that he’s comfortable allowing flexibility for a pilot but wants a structured, public process for any permanent program.

“I just want it to be clear to both this body and to the public what it is you’re intending to move forward with, and that whenever constraints are put in place that there is a robust process for soliciting community input and that we’re not working in silos here,” Batangan said.

DesJardins pointed out to Batangan that a subsection of the proposed ordinance amendment requires Council review within 12 months of launching the pilot program. Batangan said the 12-month Council review does help alleviate some of his concerns.

Council Member Nohelani Uʻu-Hodgins, who said she supports the bill, said “a lot of people struggle paying their registration” and questioned the fairness of relaxing vehicle requirements for people at county sites while others who struggle to meet them face enforcement on public roads.

DesJardins said detailed questions about liability would require executive session and invited members to call her before Friday.

Council Chair Alice Lee told Willis, “the idea is you must proceed.” Council Member Tom Cook urged the county to “do as much as we can, as fast as we can.”

Eight people testified. Clark Johnson and Stitch Gordon urged the county to use parks or existing parking lots with restrooms and showers.

Gordon said building a new facility when beach parking lots already have restrooms and showers is “just a waste of money.” He described the proposed location as “the middle of nowhere.”

Lisa Darcy, a Hawaiʻi Public Housing Authority board member and a participant in the National Vehicle Residency Coalition, said the bill removes transparency and “bottom line authority” and does not make clear which county agency would be responsible.

The county needs multiple approaches to serve different populations, she said. “We need probably about 10 to start because of all the different needs.”

Lori Jay asked who would be liable if a participant without insurance or a safety check caused a crash.

The Council added $200,000 to the fiscal 2023 budget in 2022 for a safe zone or sleeping space for people experiencing houselessness. The county announced plans for the temporary site Sept. 2.

A separate site in Kahului, which Willis said is still in development, is on a parcel owned by Maui Economic Opportunity off Hansen Road and adjacent to Maui Veterans Highway. The property sustained significant flood damage during the Kona Low storms in March, and Willis said the flooding delayed the project. The contractor for that site is Aegaeon.

Willis said the temporary site would not necessarily close when the Kahului site opens because the two projects would serve different populations. The county intends to have a plan for the next step before the initial six months ends, and has a solicitation out for an operator for a longer-term program, she told council members.

Council Member Gabe Johnson, the committee’s vice chair, cited the 2026 Point in Time Count, which found unsheltered homelessness in Maui County rose 40%, from 285 people in 2024 to 398 in 2026.

“I think there is a need for more tools in the toolbox, as they say, and hopefully this is not the only thing that we’re going to be doing,” he said.

Office of Council Services staff said they are preparing non-substantive revisions to the bill for Friday’s vote.