#amala place

Advocates for houseless people say sweeps are not the long-term solution, with some residents kicked out of Maui Lani on Wednesday the same people who were booted out of Amala Place in Kahului during a previous sweep three months earlier.

A bill to establish a process to decommission encampments in Maui County will be discussed in the Water Authority, Social Services, and Parks Committee on Thursday, Sept. 4, Council Member Gabe Johnson announced.

The state says there will be a transition period to allow residents of Pu‘uhonua o Nēnē, the temporary shelter set up for houseless Lahaina fire survivors, to move into the kauhale or find alternate housing.

Amala and Kaʻa streets, along with Kanahā Beach Park in Kahului, reopened to the public Saturday morning, July 19, 2025 following a two-day cleanup and maintenance effort by County crews.

Maui County said that of the 46 people living there, 21 went into shelter and two entered recovery programs. On Thursday, 10 truckloads of trash were removed and two truckloads of personal items were put into storage, where residents have 30 days to claim them.

All belongings left on site by Thursday morning will be impounded, and residents will have up to 30 days to pick up their items, the county said.

County is already removing some trash but says it is all consensual, and nobody is being forcibly removed.

A morning fire at an office trailer on Amala Place in Kahului caused $150,000 in damage Thursday. The incident was reported at 5:08 a.m. at a commercial recycling business.

A group of unsheltered residents living on Amala Place in Kahului sued the county in 2021, saying they weren’t given enough notice and weren’t granted a hearing to make their case before the sweep.

Two nēnē born and raised on Maui were killed by cars in separate incidents on Sunday, according to the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. Endangered nēnē are the Hawai‘i’s State Bird. One of the birds was part of a pair that witnesses report were being fed by someone in a stopped car on Amala Place in Kahului. The other nēnē was hit near the air cargo bypass of the airport.  

A Maui judge rejected the County of Maui’s request to dismiss a lawsuit filed against it by residents of a “houseless encampment” at Kanahā during “sweeps” conducted late last year. The County of Maui plans to appeal, and is asking that the matter be reviewed by the Intermediate Court of Appeals.

In the wake of a controversial encampment cleanup at ‘Amala Place in Kahului, a Maui County Council committee is considering a proposal that would set standards for houseless sweeps, cleanups, interventions and other such responses. Introduced by Council Member Gabe Johnson, the measure would set procedures for the removal and storage of property located in public places and would require that the county give people 45-day notices before removing encampments.

A lawsuit has been filed against the mayor and County of Maui arguing that the seizure of houseless peoples’ shelters and belongings at ‘Āmala  Place near Kanahā Beach Park without first providing a hearing “violated their constitutional rights.”

The County of Maui produced a video in an effort to reassure the public that actions taken during the ‘Āmala Place cleanup “were sympathetic to care for those in need.”

The county led cleanup effort of ‘Āmala Place in Kahului resulted in the removal of 58 tons of solid waste and 54 derelict vehicles this week, but not all are happy with the process and its impact on the unsheltered homeless individuals who were living in area encampments.

Since the cleanup began on Monday, social workers were able to assist eight individuals to move into shelter with support services, and 11 have moved out of the area. As of Wednesday, county officials say five occupants remain temporarily camped on “privately owned land.” Two are planning to move into shelter on Thursday and the other three will relocate by Friday at the landowner’s request, according to a county press release.

On Monday, Lt. John Yamamoto of the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement and his officers posted a half dozen camps in the bushes next to the beach, warning people they’d need to move today. State officials say the crews encountered at least two illegal campers who were told to leave before the contract crews and heavy equipment moved in.

County officials say the temporary closure is needed to safeguard public safety during the area’s planned clean-up that will require heavy equipment to remove derelict vehicles and solid waste from the area.  

A couple attempting to recover a stolen vehicle on their own led to a dangerous confrontation and multiple arrests according to Maui police.

An estimated 1,305 gallons of wastewater overflowed along Amala Place in Kahului on Thursday morning, Feb. 9, 2017.